October 17, 2022
A summer to remember!
Over the summer, we organised several activities for mothers and their children in our community, as part of our Women Together project. Emily, a volunteer with the project, reflects on some of this summer’s activities.
Over the summer months, the women’s group takes a break, and we focus on activities that include the women and their children.
This year, we planned 5 weeks of activities for the children (ranging from 2-12 years old), including visiting the National Maritime Museum, creating and decorating cardboard aeroplanes, and a dance and singing class.
My favourite activity with the group was helping them to build the aeroplanes – everyone got involved and assisted each other. It got messy at times (glitter everywhere!) but it was so much fun! The last session included making a banner from letters and numbers to spell out “LRMN SUMMER 2022”, in which the kids decorated each letter. We stapled it together and took pictures to end the unforgettable summer with loads of happy memories.
When we spoke to the women afterwards, it turned out that many of the children had enjoyed the same bits I did. One of the women from the activity said: “My children said they enjoyed it a lot. They mostly enjoyed the arts and crafts session.”
“My children said they enjoyed it a lot.”
The kids seemed to love it, they got to hang out and play with other kids their age and from similar backgrounds. The summer activities gave them a chance to have fun and make new and long-lasting friendships. It also gave the women a short break to catch up with one another and relax.
At the end of each session, we provided lunch packs (courtesy of donations from Sainsburys), although, on the cheeky occasion, we went to McDonalds.
One of the organisers said: “It felt like a warm and welcoming community, bonding over shared interests and stories. I looked forward to seeing everyone every Wednesday and catching up about what they did during the week. It made all the arduous planning worth it to see both the women and children smiling and laughing. I can’t wait for the next summer!”
A really big thank you to Sainsbury’s and Londis for providing food and to Rosalind Hibbert for providing the aeroplanes!
