Tamworth- Free Play activities for under5s +Goody bag

superflygal

Official MoneySavingExpert.com Insert:

As part of National Children's Centre Week Surestart centres across the country are being encouraged to hold an open day to show parents the facilities they provide for pre-school children. To find a participating Surestart centre check the list on the Department for Schools website then find its contact details on the Direct Gov website.

Back to the original post....

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It is national children's centre week this week, so Surestart centres are doing open days every day. You can do all sorts of activities to see what your child enjoys, and you also get a goody bag containing a lovely CD with a lyrics book with the music written for musical folks to play the tunes.:T

Call Tamworth 01827475222 for information.

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tryingtobegood

Looks as if this only applies to England. (Which is probably why it was originally potsed in the "England " thread...sorry followed the link from the email...)

sophiedb

Just a quick addition: most Children's Centres run free activities *every day* - these open days are just trying to highlight what they do

Some might be charging 50p on the door though, I'm not sure why.. the ones in Poole are all FREEEEEEEE however.

Soph
(no prizes for guessing where I work *lol*)

roosterpotatoes

there are no surestart centres around here (st helens, merseyside) that DO NOT charge, they all ask for £1 minimum and with bus fares on top its just not worth it.
Great for people who live in an area where its free
:cool:

rebecca_jane

we have lots of children's centre's in my area (lancaster & Morecambe) who put on some fantastic groups for all children under 5 and they are all free of charge. as a childminder i use these centre's everyday and my minded children love it. they put on a good range of activities and offer courses and advise. they also promote healthy eating and the children are given lots of fruit and juice. keep up the good work surestart.:j

Bobbly_2

Hi There

I've worked for Children's Centres for several years and they are supposed to be about inclusion not exclusion, if you feel you are being excluded because of the fee why not write and complain, I personally do not think they should be able to charge any fees at all, however small, it all adds up and the services should be accessable to absolutely eveyone. They should be consulting with the local community about how and what services are provided, why don't you get involved and find out more, they should welcome your opinions, so feel free to have your say!

Nici

My local SureStart (Berwick-Upon-Tweed) run loads of free activities, drop in play sessions etc. All free and most offer fruit snack or breadsticks to the children as well. It hasd been great for meeting new people with children when we moved into the area. The staff are great sources of information as well, and well worth popping in to see what they can offer.

headcrash27

In the city i live in we have two surestart centres which are located in the poorer areas. Unfortunately they are only available to people who live in those areas. I think this is really unfair and they should be made available for everyone to access. I don't know many people locally and i would love to be able to take my little girl along to one of the centres but i would get turned away for not living in the right place.

Love_it

Headcrash27- I'm a centre coordinator and i'm really disappointed to hear you've had that response when you tried to access the centres in your area. Any parent should be able to access any centre anywhere in the country. the centre may ask you to register but you should still be able to use their resources. Children's Centres are supposed to proritise services to those families most in need (e.g family support or sometimes nursery places) but we should still be offereing services on a universal level which by the sounds of it you'd like to access (e.g parent and toddler groups). sorry if i've used lots of jargon. In the old days (a few years ago) surestarts were a post code lottery but now every community should have one. Go and fight your corner! Your local famiily information service might have some more advice to you too

baxbya

roosterpotatoes wrote: »

there are no surestart centres around here (st helens, merseyside) that DO NOT charge, they all ask for £1 minimum and with bus fares on top its just not worth it.
Great for people who live in an area where its free
:cool:

I dont know if you're refering to a one off that they charge but The Thatto Heath St Helens centre do most of the activities (if not all) for free. I spent a lot of the summer at Peep O's, Story makers, Musical Mayhem and the galas each Wednesday - BRILLIANT - RECOMMEND

aitchykate

roosterpotatoes wrote: »

there are no surestart centres around here (st helens, merseyside) that DO NOT charge, they all ask for £1 minimum and with bus fares on top its just not worth it.
Great for people who live in an area where its free
:cool:

I live in Liverpool and use a couple of different surestart centres. What's weird is that they ask for money for their stay and play sessions, where you're just in a room with toys but they have loads of much better activities that are free: baby massage, baby yoga, toddler dance, toddler sports, music and singing, baby sign, yoga for mums (with free creche)...