Our small, grassroots charity, running since 2004 has never been more needed by our community. Many of the children that we help were already struggling to thrive before the pandemic that has brought additional challenges for them and their families – we have particularly seen an increase in children referred to us with social and emotional needs and those coming to us hungry. Funding raised will be used to provide activities and playworkers as part of our 4 week play and respite scheme this summer reaching 180+ children aged 5-11 years-old from Westborough and Stoke where up to 1 in 3 children live in poverty. Activities, such as cookery, music workshops, den building and archery will give the children a chance to try something new and exciting, improve their self-esteem and have fun in the school holidays!

What we'll deliver:

• Up to 60 play and respite spaces per day for 4 weeks during the summer school holidays in North Guildford
• A minimum of 1/3rd of spaces allocated to children needing support at no cost to their families
• Remaining spaces available at a maximum of £10 per day per child
• A cooked, nutritious two-course lunch for every child attending for free
• Exciting, challenging, fun activities!

Why it's a great idea:

In 2022 we are focusing on supporting the children to improve their emotional well-being, develop their physical health, increase their self-belief and develop and maintain positive relationships with peers. To help this we will be based activities around the theme ‘Celebrating Me’ – enabling the children to explore their uniqueness, focus on what’s important to them but also learn about others. Our outcomes are therefore anticipated to be as follows : Children living in families affected by poverty and/or in need of respite: • will be happier. • will have improved physical health through participation in active play and sports activities and access to good nutrition. • will have increased self-esteem. • will have better social skills developed through participation in engaging creative, social and physical activities.

Steps to get it done:

• Using feedback from the children plan weekly activities around the theme 'Celebrating Me'!
• Liaise with local school partners to receive referrals to the project of children most in need of support
• Advertise the project within our community to welcome children from Westborough, Stoke and immediate surrounding areas
• Commence playscheme delivery on the 25th July 2022
• End playscheme on the 19th August 2022