Our Place
NEWS
www.ourplacecommunityhub.org
May 2012 - Issue 5
SNOWDOME
family day out
Our Place Family Events and Trips have been extremely popular since they started in January this year. To keep the kids busy in Whitsun half term we are offering families from Our Place Schools the chance to join us for a day at the Snowdome in Tamworth on Wednesday 6th June. The day includes an Ice Skating session for everyone followed by a choice of Tobogganing or Snow Play...return transport is also included in this price with pick up points at: Penns Primary School – 9.30am Our Place Community Hub – 9.45am New Oscott Primary School – 10.00am As always we are subsidising the cost of the trip for our cluster schools to make it an affordable day out! Prices are: £10 per person £7 each for the 2nd child £4 coach travel only (This is for non participating adults) This is a family trip but some of the activities are not suitable for children under 5, they are however very welcome but please bring your car seat for the journey.
We have a limited amount of places for young people aged 16 and over that wish to attend without a parent/carer. Booking opens on Wednesday 16th May and places will be offered on a first come first serve basis. To book call 0121 354 40 80, please leave a message if your call cannot be answered as bookings will be taken from the answer phone in the order they were left. Families from schools that are not a part of Our Place are still welcome to attend at the full price of £20 per person.
Report on our Eggstatic Egg Hunt Sutton Park Visitor Centre at Town Gate, hosted the first, Our Place Easter Egg Hunt on Thursday, 5th April. We had fantastic support from our cluster schools who where able to attend the event free of charge, other local schools, showed good support too and many passers by joined in the fun for a small charge. Cold wet weather could not deter us and the marquee kindly provided by the Visitors Centre helped greatly, nothing could dampen peoples enthusiasm for the event, and fun was had by all. Forty two parents and children attended, many of the youngters scrambled and hunted through the wooded area, adjacent to the Visitor Centre, to find as many of the hidden Easter eggs as possible in the allotted time, with team Jacob of St. Annes R.C. Primary School and Paul from Town Junior School, collecting 85 eggs; the highest total and recieving a certificate “Well done lads!.” A raffle was held and the prize a lovely teddy with an Easter Egg was won by Cole of Wylde Green School, congratulations to him!! Refreshments were provided free of charge for parents and children.
All of the youngsters, received a bag of Easter Eggs and Chicks at the end of the hunt from the ‘Our Place Community Team’. We’d like to express our thanks to ‘Systec Fire Engineering Ltd’, for kindly sponsoring the event. Article by Ann Harden (Our Place Volunteer)
Geocaching - fun at the Hub Children who joined the geocach session at the hub had a brilliant and fun day out. Some of the parents and children were a bit confused as to what geocaching was. It is in fact a modern take on treasure hunting with a twist. Instead of a a map with X marks the spot you use a GPS device or you can download a geocach app to your phone which will navigate you by giving you co-ordinates to hidden treasure that other people have hidden around the world! The children started their two day adventure by going out into Sutton Town N Centre to see what they could find. Their exploring led them to finding different types of geocache and then led them to Rectory Park where they had fun running around trying to find more treausure! On day two the children started W own caches putting different objects in to waterproof their day off by making their containers, the children used tiny plastic dinosaurs and other little nick-naks and wrote special messages for people to find. Once E they had done this we then went out to hide the treasure and set new co-ordinates so others could find their hidden booty.
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For parents/carers who feel their children are spending too much time indoors or just want to motivate them to do more exercise then geocaching is a brilliant way to get your children out and about and they will have so much fun hunting they wont realise that they are getting their daily exercise at the same time. A big thank you goes to West Midlands Police who offered £240.00 through the Proceeds of Crime Act to purchase the GPS devices for the project. We are planning to do another day of geocaching in whitsun half term. For details and to book a place call 0121 354 40 80 or email
[email protected] Article written by Sarah Tatham (Our Place Volunteer)
Help us just by doing your online shopping! Our Place Community Hub has signed up with www.easyfundraising.org.uk so that anyone who wishes to help our fundraising can do so through their online shopping. Easyfundraising is simple and quick. All you need to do is register and then select Our Place Community Hub as your chosen cause. From then on each time you do some internet shopping visit your chosen site via the ‘retailers’ section of your Easy Fundraising page and a percentage of your spend will be donated to Our Place Community Hub. It costs you no more and your internet shopping experience will be unchanged.
We are now fast approaching the Sutton Coldfield Community Games 2012. Taking place on 14th and 15th July this event inspired by the Olympics is set to be the biggest sporting and cultural event Sutton Coldfield has seen.
Just visit www.easyfundraising.org.uk/causes/ourplace
The event is free to access and has a tremendous variety of activities and demonstrations on offer.
As many of you will know we are a self sustaining community hub which means we do not get any regular funding from the council or elsewhere so fundraising is hugely important to us. Remember to support us via Easy Fundraising next time you’re shopping online!
We are still looking for people to join the team of volunteers supporting the event so please register your interest at www.sccg2012.co.uk We look forward to seeing you there!
Our Place Mentoring Scheme Our Place started delivering mentoring support to children and young people in Autumn 2011. Since then the demand for this service has grown significantly and so we have teamed up with 50:50 mentoring, GAP, Praise and FWD Mentoring to create a mentoring network for Sutton Coldfield. We have also recruited 7 new mentors who will be working with us within Our Place Schools offering our children, young people and their parents/carers one to one support on a whole variety of issues.
Mentoring Scheme
Schools, parents or young people themselves can request mentoring support from Our Place by calling 0121 354 40 80 or emailing
[email protected]. The service is confidential and free and can be delivered in school, at the community hub or other venues as requested.
Registration success Throughout February and March, Our Place has acted as host venue in Sutton Coldfield for those wishing to register in person for this year’s 10th Anniversary Great Midlands Fun Run. Over 250 people visited Our Place during the eight-week registration period to secure their place, alongside the record breaking 7000 entrants who will line-up on the start line on Sunday, 10th June. Project Manager, Kelly Round is leading by example, and with 34 other entrants, will be using the Fun Run to raise money to support future projects at Our Place.
New home We’re delighted to confirm the Great Midlands Fun Run has become the latest organisation to have a permanent residence at The Hub having taken office accommodation on the first floor.
When you next visit Our Place, please consider sponsoring Kelly. Her official sponsor form is available on main reception at The Hub.
Event Director, Tracey Spare explained: “Following the closure of the Sutton Observer office last June, we’ve been looking for a new base in the town. The Hub agreed to be host venue for personal registrations this year. The success of that process and the continuing growth of activities and service provision at the Hub, suggested this was an ideal venue to be the new town centre base for the Fun Run.”
Summer Fayre
Sutton Coldfield Carnival – ‘GLEE SUNDAY’ Sunday 24th June
Town Junior and Holland House Schools are holding their summer fayre at Town Junior School on 19th May from 12 noon – 2pm.
We are looking for Local Choirs or Theatre Groups to showcase their talent at this years Carnival.
There will be a BBQ, football shoot out and a tombola with the grand prize being an iPad 2. Lots of stalls and things to see and do.
Contact Laura at
[email protected]
For more information contact: Kelly Round on 07962 593 645 or email:
[email protected] Contributions for the newsletter should be emailed to:
[email protected] Our Place aim to provide children, young people and families with as much information as possible in regards to activities and services on offer in your community. However, it remains the responsibility of parents and carers to carry out their own checks on organisations to feel completely satisfied with the safety of their child and quality of the service offered. Anyone with disabilities or additional needs are welcome but we ask you or the parent/carer contact us/the activity provider in advance to provide details of the care required and ensure the child’s needs can be met.
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