Family Learning Activities @ Viewpark Family Centre (360G-SCVO-a0g0N00001gBKanQAG)

Our organisation is looking to offer additional Family Learning Activities to local parents/carers and children to meet an existing waiting list of available spaces. Our activities target local poverty and social issues and recognise that parenting is a struggle and that the stresses of parenting are heightened for those families coping with poverty. Our aim is to tackle these issues while addressing health and wellbeing topics. A fully inclusive service is available to all. Funding from the Community Capacity and Resilience Fund will allow us to offer additional:- Baby Discovery Sessions (ages 3 months to 12 months) additional 4 x 8 week blocks. Additional sessions to be offered from 3rd December 2018 to 30th September 2019. Sessions will introduce babies to a world of rich, varied sensory experiences in a creative and enjoyable environment to encourage learning and development. Activities are aimed at developing physical, social and emotional, language skills, co-ordination, awareness of the world, a love of music and the concentration so needed for further development. These sessions encourage positive interactions between parent and baby, as research confirms that early relationships play a critical role in babies' development. As well as contributing to better outcomes for the child it will help their cognitive development, future relationships built and their resilience to cope if life gets tough. Through these early experiences baby builds up a store of memories of being cared for – these memories will provide the building blocks for their future emotional health. For parents/carers these sessions will allow them to understand the importance of sensitive parenting to develop a loving, consistent and secure attachment with their children. This will also allow them to reduce any risk to the early parent-infant relationship i.e. by helping to prevent isolation, anxiety and low level depression. Also, this funding will help us to offer an additional:- Tweenies Group (age 1 to 2 years) additional 1 session per week. Additional session to be offered from 3rd December 2018 to 30th September 2019. Fully inclusive, Early Learning & Play, shared parenting skills and knowledge. Incorporating Play @ Home and Play, Talk Read sessions. Sessions provide activities and free play which allow adults to be more involved with their children's play and learning. Provides our children with an environment in which they are able to play independently with other children, while still having the security of their parent/carer close by. This can be a great help in building children's confidence. Allows children to experiment with independence, socialisation with peers, learn to share and make their first friendships. Provides parents/carers with an opportunity to play with their child, giving them their undivided attention, away from the distractions of home. It is also a way of meeting other parents/carers in similar circumstances and it can be reassuring to realise that there are other people going through the same experiences. For some parents/carers it can be their only social contact during the day and this group will provide a great support network. Lifelong friendships could be formed as many parents/carers do not have family support close by. We constantly evaluate our services through local needs surveys, questionnaires and focus groups. We are flexible, representative and responsive to our local community – not one size fits all. We are constantly approached to be proactive members of other local initiatives. We are one of the top 20 third sector organisations of importance operating within the field of children and families within the North Lanarkshire area. We have been offering services locally for 17+ years, and have a vital role within the area as a thriving third sector organisation. We are best placed within the local area to help tackle and prevent social inequalities. We are supported fully by the local community; an organisation that is complimentary to other statutory agencies locally. Our organisation offers local services that are available from birth to the elderly - Crucially meeting our local authority's priorities. This is evidenced through our engagement with families, children and volunteers - all from the local community. The feedback from services, and the support we provide to individuals has been positive and described as being fully inclusive, invaluable and much needed. Our specific client group are local parents/carers/families and children. Our organisation supports key transition periods in many of our children's lives. The direct/indirect benefit from our activities will allow us to continue with the increased support to parents allowing them to maximise their parenting skills, promote a sense of belonging, encourage and raise moral standards, taking a more active role in shaping Viewpark – thus improving economic opportunities and outcomes locally. This funding will allow a staff member to be fully trained to facilitate the Family Learning Activities. They will understand the early years, child development and the importance of attachment and early intervention. We are based within Viewpark Community Facility - Our geographical area covers North Lanarkshire Council, Ward 14 – Thorniewood. The defined data zones in Viewpark (S01011533/535/539/541/542/543/544) ordered by SIMD 2016, rank our area as having 4 out of a total of 7 data zones as having the most deprived (worst 10%) communities nationally – all 7 data zones are ranked overall as Decile 1 or 2.