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Fantastic family engagement activities in Warsop

In their latest report to Big Warsop, Sure Start Children’s Centre has provided a comprehensive update on some of the fantastic family engagement activities that are taking place locally, supported by Big Warsop as part of our Empowering People and Having Things to Do themes.

One of the opportunities on offer has been a ten-week breastfeeding training programme aimed at encouraging more local parents to become breastfeeding supporters, thereby contributing to greater life chances for children, improved health benefit for children and adults, and providing peer support for parents.

In all, eleven people completed the training, including four from the wider community. By attending the course, participants acquired greater knowledge and increased confidence and gained access to peer support, including through a newly established closed Facebook group. Here’s what two of the successful course participants said about the training:

“I feel that I now have more confidence. I am more knowledgeable and have an insight to breastfeeding support.”

“I would like to be a support worker to educate mums to be on the benefits of breastfeeding.”

The Big Warsop support funded additional crèche workers to ensure all babies had quality care and an on-site provision to remain breastfed while their mothers attended the course. Big Warsop funding also supported the provision of additional study resources to enhance the delivery of the course and course materials.

The Incredible Years parenting programme focuses on parent-child interactions and attachments and positive behaviour management strategies. The long term goal of the programme is to prevent and reduce school dropouts, delinquent behaviours and promote long term academic success.

The Incredible Years programme was delivered by trained facilitators through the Children’s Centre, but was initially due to run without childcare. This lack of childcare was identified as a barrier to attendance for parents with younger children. Support from Big Warsop offered the funding needed to provide sessional crèche workers to work alongside regular workers. This enabled parents with younger children to benefit from the Incredible Years programme. Ten parents attended and completed the course.

Two Baby Heart Start/Savers sessions have been delivered and ten people attended in total. Here’s what two of the parents on the course had to say about the new skills they learned:

After completing the course I feel more confident that I can help my baby in an emergency.  Being part of a group learning session also helped my confidence in general.”

“I have four children aged 13, 11, 8 and 9 months so this heart start session helped me to feel confident that I could deal with an emergency. I have also shared what I learned with my partner.”

As a progression opportunity, parents were offered a six week paediatric course, funded through Inspire Community Learning. As a result of Big Warsop taster sessions, parents signed up to these places and completed this course. Childcare was offered through Shaping Futures for parents with no other support.

A Baby Yoga activity has also been delivered locally to encourage and enhance playful interactions between parents and their babies. Baby yoga can bring early physical benefits, early attachments and improved wellbeing as it re-educates correct breathing techniques. Big Warsop funding allowed trained workers to deliver baby yoga for six local adults and their babies. Comments from parents attending the session included:

“A lovely session, definitely something we will continue at home.”

“Encouraging and insightful. A great way to bond with the little ones.”

“A great session. I learned a lot of new exercises to use when bonding with my baby.”

“I really enjoyed yoga. It’s great and creative. New ways of bonding and promoting play.”

Having Things to Do

As part of Big Warsop’s Having Things to Do theme, we provided funding to Sure Start Children’s Centre to support them in the delivery of two Easter Bunny Hops parties: one at Warsop’s Tudor Barn and one at Meden Village Hall.

The events were delivered through a combination of funding from Celebration Funding (via Family Action) and Big Warsop and included clothes sales, raffles, tombolas and hook-a-gift fundraising opportunities which raised a total of £408.22.

Local families were involved in advertising and promoting the events through social media, helping to make the Easter parties a success. The families that attended included mums, dads, grandparents and great grandparents.

ChildrensCentreThe photo (left) shows families at the event along with Vision West Notts workers and Cllr Adey