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Firm tracks your phone to analyse how you shop


Gail Isted (left) and Vanessa Brown created KidzCoins


Screen time trading scheme


TWO mums from Wateringbury have come up with a novel way of raising awareness among children about the time they spend in front of television and computer screens. Gail Isted and Vanessa Brown’s “screen time trading scheme” is already earning top flight support from the Royal College of Paedi- atrics and Child Health in London. KidzCoins – aimed at helping families to manage children’s screen time at home – encourages parents to negotiate a time limit with children, who then “buy” screen time trading tokens in 15, 30 and 60 minute denominations. The mums say the launch of their scheme comes at a time of increas- ing concern among parents about the impact too much screen time is having on children’s mental and physical health and social skills. Mum of two Gail said: “After chatting to lots of parents on the school run it became clear that many shared our frustration about the growing impact of gadgets on family life. We sat round a kitchen table and, over a few cups of coffee, created a simple and positive way to help parents with managing screen time while motivating chil- dren to take some responsibility. It’s about trying to establish good habits early on which should mean our children will have a healthier lifestyle balance in the long run. All the feedback we’ve had so far has been extremely positive.” Vanessa, a mum to two boys, ex- plained how KidzCoins works: “Families agree a screen time limit each day or week with their child and when they run out of screen time they quickly learn to manage their time.”


Speaking about KidzCoins, Pro- fessor Russell Viner, officer for health promotion for the Royal Col- lege of Paediatrics and Child Health, said: “KidzCoins is a fan- tastic idea which will allow parents to hand over some responsibility to children themselves, teaching them the importance of time manage- ment as well as the need to live a balanced lifestyle.”


For details and coins visit www.kidzcoins.co.uk.


20 Malling February 2016


BUSINESSES in Maidstone town centre are being urged to embrace mobile phone tracking to keep pace with online shopping. Tracking software is now avail-


able which can monitor shoppers’ movements and habits. The data gathered can be used


by retailers to counter shoppers’ drift away from town centre stores to the comfort of their computer. The systemwas trialled in Maid-


stone on Black Friday in November – supposedly the busiest day for bargains prior to Christmas – on behalf of Maidstone Council and Maidstone Town Centre Manage- ment. By tracking shoppers’ mobile phones, Scout Solutions Ltd was able to discover that 3,135 people visited the area between McDon- alds in Week Street, the bottom of Gabriel’s Hill, the High Street and King Street between November 25 and December 8. The busiest days for unique visitorswere November 28, December 2, 6 and 8. The busiest times were at about


noon and between 4pm and 7pm. The highest footfallwas in the area around The Mall and Gabriels Hill. A series of six nodes positioned


in the town was able to capture mobile phone activity and also de-


tect how many shoppers logged into Google, Facebook, Amazon and Twitter to potentially compare prices of goods for sale in shops. Town centre retailers could soon


take up the service to retain their market share.


Scout Solu-


tions director Pete Hotchkiss (pictured) said: “Increasing numbers of people are making their purchases on- line. If high street shops are


to retain their share of the market, we need to encourage people to buy in the high street.” The company can track shoppers


whose mobile phones are switched on. However, they cannot identify individuals nor any of the content on their phones – just their location and usage. Analysing the data en-


How do you feel about your mo- bile phone being tracked? Email stephen@downsmail.co.uk


Kent faces police bill for Operation Stack


KENT taxpayers are likely to have to foot the bill for the polic- ing of Operation Stack. Home Secretary Theresa May


was asked to use her discre- tionary powers to reimburse Kent Police for the additional costs incurred in 2015 – more than £570,000 – but the answer was a definite no. The county’s independent Po-


lice and Crime Commissioner, Ann Barnes, has spoken of her surprise and dismay at the deci- sion. She said: “‘Operation Stack is acknowledged as a national problem, and yet policing serv- ices in Kent have been put under strain to deal with it. Local tax- payers should not have to pick up the bill for the inability of others to solve the problem.” The request for the “reason-


able, additional costs” of £576,925.59 was sent to Mike Penning MP, Minister for Polic-


ing, Fire, Criminal Justice and Victims, on November 17 last year, seeking funding under the Home Office Special Grant Process. Mrs Barnes said: “I need to discuss with theHomeOffice, as a matter of urgency, about how we can take things forward from here to make sure that Kent Po- lice is not left carrying the can in the future. “It would seem from the


Home Secretary’s decision that should Operation Stack be called again the taxpayers of Kent will be unfairly expected to pay for policing it. This misery has been going on for years and will continue until we get a long-term solution. “It is simply not acceptable to


have to routinely divert police resources to cover Stack and for those extra costs to be borne by the taxpayers in Kent.”


ables the company to eliminate multiple signals – so the 3,135 shopperswere individuals and not the same people identified in dif- ferent locations. Mr Hotchkiss said: “Data scien-


tists understand in minute detail how people usewebsites.We need to obtain insights into how people behave if we are to remain com- petitive. Data such as this can be used to reveal what are the busiest times, how often shoppers return to a particular location and how long they spend in that environ- ment. “We can also find out how many people are simply browsing, then ordering online via their phones – or possibly shopping later at home.” November 2015 was the eighth month in a row that shopkeepers had noted a decline in footfall and Black Friday shoppers were 3.4% down on the previous month. Tracking services can be com-


bined with Google analytics and other software, such as weather forecasts, to more accurately pre- dict and monitor trends.


Swimathon


GET fit for spring and raise money for charity by joining this year’s Swimathon at Larkfield Leisure Centre.


The pool will hold exclusive ses- sions on Saturday and Sunday, March 19 and 20 from 6pm to 9pm in aid of Sport Relief and the Swimathon Foundation. Funds raised will help vulnerable and dis- advantaged people in the UK and beyond. Challenges suit all levels of fitness, ability and age, with an in- dividual 1.5k, 2.5k or 5k challenge or team 1.5k and 5k challenge. If you can’t make a session over the Swimathon weekend you can register for Simply Swim, so you can compete at any pool at any time.


For more details, visit www. swimathon.org, pick up a leaflet from the leisure centre or call 0845


Castle boost


FRESH investment is being made at Leeds Castle. Improvements are being made to the kitchen that serves the visitor restaurant, and its education centre will be doubled in size.


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