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Thank you for your for replies

To I

Do you know how I might be able to contact the parents of  children who go back and forth on the Eurostar?  For instance, I can have my child taken to St Pancras Station by taxi from the school in the Guildford environs. This will bypass the train to Waterloo station and underground to St Pancras.   But the key problem area is that short unaccompanied walk from the taxi into the station and to the Eurostar section. Anything could go wrong.

I would be grateful if you could  point me towards someone in the same position. I could leave my email for instance.

Many thanks

 

 

t PaéncrasE

 

I

I don't know any of these children personally, but I have seen them passing through the Eurostar terminal frequently, a few even go in school uniform on Monday morning so they are unmissable.

At 12 years old, a good proportion of children take themselves to school, in Belgium, children take themselves to school, sports, friends, without being taxied by parents from an even younger age than 12 years old - at children's school, they are allowed to leave the school with parental consent and take themselves wherever from the age of 8 years old. I suggest you start letting go a little, giving your 12 year old the responsibility to go to the local shops or some other small unaccompanied walk, to get used to taking control, assessing risks, making their own choices. Once they are are used to that, then take them to St Pancras, teach them the route between the taxi rank and the check-in, it really is not very far, what on earth are you imagining could happen in those few hundre metres? I imagine your child is already probably more independent than you think, being at a boarding school, really that short walk into St Pancras station should not be a hard thing to do, I'm sure your child has already taken far more risks already.

Is it not perhaps worth contacting your child's school to see if there are other children doing this route already? You could ask Eurostar if there is a specific Sunday evening train which carries the most unaccompanied minors - Eurostar will not always know due to self check-in but some parents use the Eurostar unaccompanied minors form and they must fill them in at check-in.

Oct 5, 2011 09:43