We live in a multi cultural area and attract people from all ethnicities to our community space. We currently offer English classes for migrants and refugees ,who's first language is not English, twice a week. The attendees often bring their under school age children with them and they are often looked after by volunteers. We have a small room that operates as a crèche and before lockdown we were aiming to open the space for parent and toddler sessions. The garden at the front of the creche needs to be developed so that this becomes an extension of the facility.
We would like to clear the existing grassed area and install artificial grass with child friendly play equipment. Our garden runs adjacent to a main road so we would also like to erect boards on our existing fenced railings that reflect the fact that this is a children's play area. This will also create a safe and private space when children and parents are using the area. Our long term aim is to offer special sessions.
What we'll deliver:
- A community facility
- Child safe and friendly space
- A fully functioning extension of our current creche facility
Why it's a great idea:
This is an important project as the area surrounding the church building are areas of poverty and low income. We aim to offer this as a facility where parents can bring their children as they develop and learn to interact with people from various backgrounds and ethnicities. Our inspiration for this project comes from the fact that we used to have a similar project running in previous years that attracted many people from the surrounding community. Parents and children made many new friends and our volunteers forged good lasting relationships with parents who were struggling with many different life issues at that time. We know there still exists a need for this kind of facility, especially for single parents but we do need funding to be able to set this up and keep it running.
Steps to get it done:
- An increased use of positive activities space for small children
- Advertising the safe space to local parents who are looking for activities for their children to enjoy.
- Sign Posting users to other community initiatives
- Continued use of this facility all year round
We see this as the beginning of what we are hoping to develop within our community. Our vision is to be a local church that can bring a positive outlook in times where there is much fear about the future. For many years our church have contributed to The Walsall Churches Food Bank initiative, Street Pastors, Community Clean Up, The Big Feed, and festivals. We would like to further serve the local community by creating a safe space for parents and children to meet.
