Summer is here, and HOPE has lots of interesting news, from Contact Centre accreditation to free Adult Learning courses – it’s our summer newsletter.
Summer News from HOPE
Summer has most definitely arrived this week and as I write the temperatures are over 30 degrees – so welcome after such a rainy June! Preparations have been coming along nicely through Family Support for our annual support at the Nozstock Festival running the lost children’s tent, and Oscar’s is busy preparing for the Centre’s hosting of local artists for h.Art running from 10–18 September. We’re delighted to be welcoming some new artists to the Centre this year. Full and further details are available at www.h-art.org.uk.
We have just held our Leaver’s graduation and Early Years summer fête at which we said goodbye to those children going to “big” school in September. Thank you to everyone who came and witnessed such an important event in our calendar and the families who helped us raise nearly £200 on the day. Thanks must also go to the staff from Early Years who organised and ran all the stalls and made sure the children and parents had such a great day!
We continue to welcome new faces to the team and to the Centre and are working hard to make sure we continue to offer as many services as possible to the community in Bromyard. We are delighted that customers continue to find Oscar’s such a welcoming place, and pleased that we are attracting more interest from organisations who use our modern facilities to host meetings and events.
Our team has seen a few changes over the last few months as we’ve said goodbye to some Early Years staff and welcomed some new faces to Family Support and our Admin and Cleaning teams. We’ve also welcomed three new babies over the last few months with Sam, Sarah and Mickey all welcoming Lola, John and Oakley to the world – our congratulations go to all of them and their families! Sadly we say goodbye to Jane Nicol as she furthers her career as Local Services Coordinator at the Children’s Centre in Leominster. I am sure they will benefit greatly from her experience and expertise and we all wish her very well for the future!
I’m delighted to say that when audited recently by NACCC we passed with flying colours – in no small part due to the hard work of our staff in preparation. This is a great endorsement of our service and professionalism. We’re currently seeking new staff to help us deliver supervised and supported contact sessions so if you would like to know more please get in touch!
Next time I write the rain and autumn weather will be on its way so I hope everyone enjoys and makes the most of this beautiful weather!
– Sarah Eardley, CEO
Summer time in Early Years Education
Our toddlers have been exploring our seaside tray, filled with sand, stones and shells – feeling the variety of textured shells and the different textures of the smooth stones. They’ve been learning about the seaside and the animals and fish they may see there.
We’ve discussed how to keep safe from the sun, protecting our skin and making sure to get plenty to drink.
The children have also been exploring our water wall, using different sized containers to transport and pour water from one container to another.
The children’s hand-eye coordination develops as they do this as does their concentration as they play alongside each other. They need to take turns to pour and collect the water and try not to spill it as they move it around!
Our smallest children have been outside too. Here a little one learns how to get onto the trike! Forwards next time perhaps!
Contact Centre
We’ve had another busy quarter with 15 new enquiries, 7 new referrals and 6 new families attending sessions here.
Happily some of our families have progressed and no longer need our services but we still have 16 families using HOPE’s services this quarter.
We are continuing to make links with other organisations and sign-post families to specialist support where there is a need.
We’re delighted to announce that the Contact Centre has been re-accredited through NACCC and received a glowing report.
HOPE’s Contact Centre is unique in the resources and facilities that it can offer, which are very much centred around child-friendly and activity-based sessions.
We would like to say a huge thank you to all the staff whose hard work has made re-accreditation possible and hope that we can continue to grow and maintain these standards in the future.
If you would like more information or would like to get involved in the work we do please contact us.
Oscar’s Café News
The past few months have been busy and exciting at Oscar’s Café. We’ve started unstaffed Soft Play sessions every Friday, where every child gets a glass of squash and a biscuit.
We’ve also started our Take Away Friday, where you can order your take away in the morning and pick it up later in the day.
Our staff and the children at HOPE Early Years Education got together to make a scarecrow for the Scarecrow Festival in Bromyard.
And we partnered with Myrtle’s Kitchen to celebrate National Cream Tea Day in June. Yummy!
News from Supporting Families
The Supporting Families team are as busy as ever. Heidi has settled well into HOPE and has been running both the Wednesday and Thursday groups and they are proving very popular.
We would also like to welcome a new volunteer Tanya who will be helping out in both groups.
Summer Event
We will shortly be advertising our summer events so please watch the HOPE website, Twitter and Facebook page for details. A copy of the timetable will be available at the main HOPE reception desk once the summer event is advertised.
We are also very excited to be having Creature Class animal encounters coming on Wednesday the 10th of August. The children will have the opportunity to handle a range of exotic and unusual animals. See What’s On at HOPE for the summer groups schedule.
I will be saying a sad farewell to HOPE as I move onto pastures new. I wish the best for everyone at HOPE, and for everyone who uses the services HOPE provides to the community.
Free Courses at HOPE
We still have a couple of FREE workshops running in July:
- Paediatric First Aid (Friday 22nd July 9.30am–12 noon) Increase your confidence when dealing withal basic emergency situations. FREE if you are not working/ £12 if you are in employment
Be Creative with your Compact Camera (Thursday 28th July 10.30am–3pm) Have fun with this non-technical class and learn the basics of how your camera works, how to take better pictures and how to transfer pictures and do basic editing. FREE if you are not working/ £18 if you are in employment.
Pre-enrolments being taken NOW for the following FREE September courses:
- Maths (Thursdays 12.30pm–3pm) If you are 19 and over you can study up to a Level 2 in Functional Skills (equivalent to GCSE level)
- English (Tuesdays 9.30am–12noon) If you are 19 and over you can study up to a Level 2 in Functional Skills (equivalent to GCSE level)
- Parents with Prospects (Tuesdays from 20th September 10am–12 noon) Build confidence in all aspects of parenting such as bonding, development, language, health, diet and relationships. A great stepping stone to more advanced childcare qualifications.
Places are limited so please put your name down for your chosen course as soon as possible in order to avoid missing these great opportunities.
If you are out of work or looking for a better job we also offer a FREE Job Club on Wednesdays (1.30pm–4pm). With support from Fortis Living we are able to offer help with job searches, CV writing, confidence building and interview skills. This really works and many of our members have already moved on to new jobs. Come along and see if we can help you too.
If you need help with any aspect of using a computer, tablet or smart phone our ICT SOS group is currently running as a drop-in for Friends of HOPE. Join up for the bargain price of £10 and take advantage of the skills of our fantastic volunteer, Paul. Wednesdays 10am–12noon.
Please pop in or contact us for more details.
Next issue
The next issue of the HOPE Centre newsletter will be in the autumn. Have an enjoyable summer!
