The urban goats eating into children's screen time

Four goats brought to live temporarily in a city's suburbs are entertaining children and distracting them from phones and TVs, a charity has said.

Families and pupils on school trips have been meeting and feeding the goats, two of which are living in Barton Fields in Speedwell, Bristol, with another two in the gardens of St Aidan's Church in nearby St George.

The goats were introduced in the hopes of boosting wellbeing and uniting communities – under a project titled Goat Busters.

Rani Fernandez, from the Rethink Mental Illness charity, said: "Families have said because of the goats being here, children have come back out into the green space, reducing their time on screens."

Ms Fernandez said she had come up with the idea to bring the goats in after seeing the benefits brought to the community in Purdown, Bristol, by goats grazing scrubland.

She said: "The reaction has been so profound. People have said the goats are the reason for them getting out of their beds in the morning, it's been the reason for them to come to the [Barton Fields] park."

She added: "There are people who have lived next door to each other all their life but never spoken – but have after coming to see the goats."

The goats will remain in Speedwell for another month.

They are supplied by Street Goat, a volunteer-run scheme that started in Bristol to help people connect with where their food and milk comes from.

Pupils from Briarwood Special School in Soundwell visited the Barton Farm goats for a special feeding session.

Teacher Georgia Batziou said the children were very excited.

"All of the pupils were really curious to look at them and have a go at feeding them, so it was really amazing for them to have a chance at the new experience," she said.

The scheme was made possible thanks to a £3,000 grant from Glastonbury Festival.

Ms Fernandez now hopes to secure more funding to bring the goats to other parts of Bristol.

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