Cookie Island Ilford

The service was slow waited ages for a kids meal ! And £6.95 for a this kids meal is a joke! A small slice of pizza and 15 chips! Very disappointing

New, spacious and looks great, with some really good facilities inside, including a cafeteria serving hot drinks and snacks. The play area is huge, and there is also a small sensory room on the side. However, I feel I must raise a serious concern regarding the safety of children with autism and other additional needs, particularly children who have limited awareness of danger and may be prone to running off or hiding. Inside the soft-play apparatus, the background is quite dark, and during busy periods it can be extremely difficult to spot a child once they are inside. There are also numerous entrances and exits, including several fire doors, some of which are not immediately visible. Unfortunately, we experienced this first-hand. Despite visiting once with my husband and another time with two of my sisters, we lost sight of our daughter on both occasions. We have never experienced this anywhere else before. On one occasion, thankfully, she was found inside the toilets. On the second occasion, she managed to get through a fire exit at the back, which leads towards the car park. After an extensive search, we eventually discovered that she had walked out wearing only her socks and made her way into the shopping centre. What was particularly frightening was that nobody stopped her or appeared to realise that something was wrong. We informed the shopping centre security staff. Although there was initially a delay, they were eventually able to communicate with each other via walkie-talkies, and our daughter was thankfully located at the NHS centre. A lovely member of staff there noticed that something was not right and alerted security. We are incredibly grateful to her for recognising the situation and helping to keep our daughter safe. The staff at Cookies Island were also very helpful and did everything they could to assist us in finding her. We genuinely appreciate everyone who helped. However, after our daughter was found, we returned to the soft-play area to collect her belongings and inform the staff that she was safe. A European lady, who we believe was the manager, came out. Seeing us as extremely distressed parents, rather than offering reassurance or support, she made remarks along the lines of “you should keep an eye on your children at all times.” That comment was extremely hurtful and, in the circumstances, completely inappropriate. Of course parents and carers have a responsibility to supervise their children. But children with autism and other additional needs can behave very differently and may suddenly run, hide or head towards an exit without understanding the danger. This is precisely why environments like this need to consider accessibility and safety from the perspective of children with additional needs. I am therefore making this request to the centre and to other parents/carers: To parents and carers: Please be extremely vigilant if you bring a child with additional needs, particularly during busy periods. If possible, consider visiting at quieter times and having another adult with you. To the centre: Please consider introducing dedicated sessions specifically for children with additional needs, including SEN-friendly sessions at quieter times. Most importantly, please review the accessibility and safety of the exits, particularly the fire exit that our daughter was able to access and which leads towards the car park. Consider measures that can prevent children from wandering out unnoticed while still complying with fire-safety regulations. This is not about blaming anyone. It is about learning from a frightening experience and preventing another family from going through the same thing. The centre has a lot of potential and many families will enjoy it, but for families of children with additional needs, safety needs to be given much greater consideration. Please take this feedback seriously.

It’s a nice and big soft play with a range of activities for kids, but the prices are very expensive. Food is so low quality here (all frozen aside from eggs) and priced like it’s premium restaurant food, if you do decide to come either eat at home or bring a packed lunch. Could be better.