Originally Posted by marietuluse (Post 9838015)

That's so true :thumbsup:

The other thing for us was the cost of kid's activities.
Our daughter has done athletics since the age of 8, represented the county at the age of 10 and 12 in long jump and sprinting and ranked in the top 10 in the UK at various times.
She joined a 'track & Field' club in Red Deer and it was nowhere near the standard of English clubs and the cost was unbelievable:eek:
Now don't get me wrong, I'm knocking the club, they were a great bunch of people and she made some life-long friends there and had a good experience with them at competitions, training and social events.
But it was more of a fun club for younger kids and because it was so expensive, it was a small club.

This is what we paid there compared to here:
Yearly fee to join club -Canada $500.00.........UK: 39pounds (inc UKA membership)
Competitions - Canada: 1 day event $25, 2 day event $50 (Max 4 events) ........UK: 2.50 per event entered
Club tracksuit - Canada: $90 + $50 to 'loan' a club vest.........UK: 15 pound to buy a club vest, 25 pound for club tracksuit.
and then of course you have the cost of spikes, trainers and the massive distances to get to competitions to factor in.

Here, I think because it's a fairly cheap sport to get into it's available to all kids, you don't have to pay a fortune to be an athlete here lol

And again, this isn't putting Canada down as a country for us as a family into the athletics it was just another thing that made us miss the UK:wub:

Originally Posted by gillyd65 (Post 9838034)

Hi I have mentioned this a few times on posts. Our kids did so much in the UK and don't do a great deal here. They were both swimmers in the UK, our son swam internationally at comps in Germany, France, Portugal as well as nationally. It cost us around 500 pounds per year for them both, for their training and all comp fees (transport etc was provided by the club free). Any international events were subbed by the club and cost us around 100 pounds. Here we have a cost of $5000 for them both just for the training, then on top of that each comp, each individual swim, everything we have to pay for, so including national comps with air fares, accommodation etc takes it upto about $10,000 per year? Who can afford that. Also they are both musicians and do other sports including golf, rugby, tennis etc and daughter does dance. We've totalled it all to do it over and its coming in at around $20,000+ mark. So for us Canada just can't offer the same opportunities for our two. They desperately want to get back to their music especially bands, orchestras etc etc without it costing us an arm and a leg (40 pound per term back in the UK for orchestra and band)

Originally Posted by marietuluse (Post 9838042)

:eek::eek::eek: and I thought athletics was expensive!

Originally Posted by gillyd65 (Post 9838050)

swimming, what do you need - a pair of trunks/swim costume, goggles and a swim cap. Can't imagine how ice hockey players go on!

Originally Posted by LucyLovelock (Post 9838077)

Lol at haggis and delish being in the same sentence!!!
I tried it one NYE before the age of drinking!!

I guess see this is where maybe I am lucky, having had my kids out here I have nothing to compare to, so dance for them is I think $350 each for the year, so works out about $10 a week for a half hour lesson.
I have been warned to start saving now for if they want to get into competitive dancing as that can get pricey!!
Xxxx

Originally Posted by Bar66949 (Post 9838081)

I am hoping that I will will be able to rent even from a private landlord and then get social housing. Not sure of the waiting time for social or council housing for a one bedroom flat.

Originally Posted by sallysimmons (Post 9838001)

Have you been to the farm shop at Sizergh? Forgotten the name of it, but the cheese and eggs we got there were amazing!