Summer term (April 2023 update)

SESSIONS

Little Fish meets on Tuesday 18th April in Claines Church (instead of Claines Parish Hall).
Little Friends resumes on 25th April at Claines Parish Hall.
For additional dates please visit the Sessions page.

HELPERS NEEDED

I'd like to take this opportunity to thank our existing helpers: Ruth, Louise, Ally, Jo, Chloe and Heather. All of these volunteers started coming to Little Friends as attendees and then kindly stepped up to keep Little Friends running smoothly. Without them there would simply be no group.

We're fortunate to have a lovely team of volunteers, but we could always use more help. We all have busy lives and understand that it can be difficult to squeeze anything else into packed schedules, but any time you could spare would make a real difference to Little Friends. Volunteering is straightforward and there is no commitment required. All you need to do is come 15-30 minutes early to help set up whenever you are willing and able. We don't mind if this is only once a month or even more occasionally. If there's any possibility you could help, please email me or speak to any of the volunteers at Little Friends. You'll be added to a WhatsApp group and you need only respond to messages or come early to the group when it suits you.

Our hope is that we can keep the number of helpers at a healthy level so that we never have to worry about Little Friends being able to continue. At this moment we're anticipating a bit of a change as I will be stepping down from my role as Little Friends organiser as of July 2023. This summer term (April to July) will be my last term as a volunteer and it would be amazing if we could add a few more volunteers to our team to help us transition into the new term in September.

REGISTER

Roughly every six months I endeavour to remove individuals who haven't attended Little Friends for a while. I'll tidy up the register again soon, but do feel free to email me at any time (claineslittlefriends@gmail.com) if you'd like to be de-registered immediately.

As ever please also feel free to email me if you have any questions or concerns.

- Jennifer (on behalf of the Little Friends team) x

Little Friends resumes on 10th January 2023

Hi all, I wanted to post a quick update regarding dates and 2023 planning. 

Little Friends is back in the new year on Tuesday 10th January 2023. Just as a reminder: sessions are term-time only and run 10 to 11.30 a.m. at Claines Parish Hall. For general information please refer to our FAQ page and feel free to email me (Jennifer) at claineslittlefriends@gmail.com if you have any specific questions.

I will be retiring as the main organiser of Little Friends at the end of the school year (July 2023). We have always asked for more volunteers from amongst our attendees. As our group looks to the future, now would be a good time to get involved if you'd like to help ensure that the group continues running without interruption. If you're interested, simply turn up a bit earlier to a session (from 9.30 a.m.) or speak with any of our volunteers.

Additional Little Friends and Little Fish dates will be posted on the 'Sessions' page soon - please bear with us while we co-ordinate with the Little Fish team.

In any case, we look forward to seeing you at the parish hall again soon.

- Jennifer (on behalf of the Little Friends volunteer team)

Autumn term begins on 6th September

Little Friends starts again on Tuesday 6th September. Sessions are term-time only and run 10 to 11.30 a.m. at Claines Parish Hall. For general information please refer to our FAQ page and feel free to email Jennifer at claineslittlefriends@gmail.com if you have any specific questions.

We are still hoping for more helpers to emerge from amongst our attendees. If you're interested, simply turn up a bit earlier (from 9.30 a.m.) or speak with one of the volunteers during any session. Meeting dates will be posted on the 'Sessions' page soon - please bear with us while we co-ordinate with the Little Fish team over the next few days. As soon as the dates become available they will be added here to this blog. 

We look forward to seeing you again soon!

July 2022 update

 LITTLE FISH

The Little Fish picnic on Tuesday 19 July 2022 will now be held in Claines Church (instead of on The Patch at the Parish Hall). The session will run from 10 to 11.30 a.m. as usual. Please see the message below from Reverend Jo for details:

"In view of the prediction for dangerously hot temperatures on Tuesday we have decided that Little Fish will be held in church this month.It's a lovely cool place to be and will be totally safe. We are having a Teddy Bears Picnic. So bring a Teddy and a picnic. Cold drinks will be available throughout. We have a gift for all the Little Fish as well as the Leavers."

HELPERS NEEDED

In other news, thank you for another lovely year of Little Friends. We've enjoyed welcoming you and your little ones to our sessions and we appreciate all your support in keeping our group running smoothly. However, we are now appealing for more help. We are fortunate to have a small team of dedicated volunteers but we simply need more people. There have been times in the past year when we were on the verge of cancelling sessions simply because we did not have enough hands available. Helping takes only a bit of your time and there is no long-term commitment. 

What we need is for more people to join our WhatsApp group and say if they can turn up 20-30 minutes early once in a while to help set up. There is no pressure and no formal rota, and you need only participate in the chat and come help out whenever you are able. For example, we would be delighted if you could turn up 20-30 minutes early a few times a year. It's really as simple as that.

If you are willing to be added to the WhatsApp group please contact Ruth on 07779424373. If we aren't able to add reinforcements to our helpers group then we may need to reduce the number of sessions that we run, but we hope it won't come to this.

In any case, thank you for helping to make our group a success, and we hope you all have a lovely summer.

Jennifer
on behalf of the Little Friends team x

December 2021 update

Thank you to all of our attendees and volunteers for making the entire Autumn term of Little Friends such a positive one. It's been wonderful to see some familiar faces again and to welcome those of you who were new to our group. Yesterday (14th December) we enjoyed another lovely session which included some Christmas activities. We were so pleased to be able to squeeze in this last session in December as things are starting to shift again due to rising Covid-19 cases.

Please read on for a few very important updates.

POSITIVE COVID-19 CASE (14th DECEMBER)

Yesterday evening I received notification that one of the children in attendance had tested positive following the session.
Those of you who were in attendance may be wondering: what should I do now? 

Here's a quick summary from the current government guidance:

• If you're an unvaccinated adult, you should self-isolate for 10 days. 
• If you are a fully vaccinated adult (2 jabs), you're advised to take a daily lateral flow test for 7 days.
• Anyone who has symptoms or tests positive must self-isolate.
• Under 5s are exempt from daily testing and self-isolation.

For the complete guidance please read this press release: 
https://www.gov.uk/government/news/daily-rapid-testing-for-covid-19-contacts-launches-this-week

LITTLE FISH (21st DECEMBER) CANCELLED

This morning I received a message from Rev Jo: "The general feeling is that it is too risky to gather so many children in a small space so we have decided to cancel. We are all sad about this, but we hope the parents [& carers] will understand. Instead we will give out a small Christmas gift to all those who come regularly whose names & addresses we have."

WORSHIP IN THE PARK
For those who would still like to get together next week, Rev Jo mentioned the 'Worship in the Park' event on Monday 20th as an option: "It's outside so it will be very safe and the last one we did went down really well. It's a nice thing to start the holidays with." Please see the flyer for details.

DE-REGISTRATION

If you would no longer like to receive e-mails from Little Friends you will need to de-register completely which means you will be taken off our active list. To make de-registration easier you can now complete this form:

https://forms.gle/vY7arTov5Ympcn6s9

When I find the time I will also start removing anyone who did not attend in 2021 from our active list. (If you attended any session between May and December 2021 then you'll remain registered.)

2022

The first Little Friends session of the new year is planned for Tuesday 11th January 2022. For other dates please check the 'Sessions' page on our blog. I will update this page with 2022 dates after Christmas and by the start of January.

As ever please feel free to e-mail me anytime (claineslittlefriends@gmail.com) if you have any questions. I'm not always able to respond immediately, but I will get back to you as soon as I can.

Wishing all of you a very happy Christmas and we'll look forward to seeing you in the New Year.

Jennifer (Little Friends organiser)

CANCELLED: Little Friends session on 23rd November 2021

Apologies for the late notice, but Little Friends won't be running this morning. Two of our volunteers are unable to attend this morning for reasons related to Covid-19 so we've taken the decision to cancel the session. We should be able to run a session next week, but if not then I will post again.

As you may know, our sessions are entirely volunteer-run. At the moment all of our volunteers are mums who attended the group and simply decided to get involved. If you'd like to join our lovely volunteer team to help keep our group running smoothly, please e-mail claineslittlefriends@gmail.com. Volunteering is always at your own convenience and your commitment could simply be coming 30 minutes early to the session whenever you have time (e.g. once a month).

- Jennifer (Organiser)

Link to online registration form

As previously announced (see our last blog post) everyone is now welcome to attend Little Friends with no advance booking required. However, we do need to gather some registration details from anyone who wishes to come along.

Please note that if you previously completed the online registration form from May 2021 and your details are still the same then you do not need to register again.

• If you would like to complete our online registration form then please follow this link:
  https://forms.gle/XUE8p6ppUEhhbtzy8
  Note: If you could please complete the form anytime before attending (preferably before 9 a.m. if you are doing this on a Tuesday morning) that would be most helpful as we do print out an updated registration list shortly before each session.

• If you're unable to complete this form online then please contact us at claineslittlefriends@gmail.com and we will do our best to assist you. 

• Alternatively you can turn up at the beginning of any session and we can either complete the form for you or provide a paper version for you to fill out.

Details of Little Friends re-launch (14th September 2021)

We had a fantastic volunteers' meeting yesterday where we were able to have a good chat with many of the key people involved in our group and with Claines Church. We don't often mention the behind-the-scenes planning we do for our toddler group, but there is a lot of discussion involved in having everything set up properly to provide safe, friendly and accessible sessions to our lovely attendees.

Here are some important details for when we start again on 14th September.

• BOOKING: We are pleased to announce that we can now welcome all registered attendees with no number limits and no advance booking required.

• REGISTRATION: Whilst you won't need to book into individual sessions, we do need everyone to be registered with us. The updated online registration form will be published to this blog by Monday 13th September. (If you are unable to complete the online form, a printed registration form can be provided for your convenience.) 
• If you previously registered online from May 2021 then you are all set and can simply turn up to any session. Please do read through all the details below before you attend. 
• If you previously attended but have not yet completed an online registration form *(i.e. you completed a paper form), you will be asked to complete the new online form.
• If you would like to attend for the first time, you will be asked to register.
• Please note that whilst there is no waiting list for registration at the moment we may need to introduce one in future if interest is very high.
• If you're unsure about whether you're registered or have any other questions feel free to e-mail claineslittlefriends@gmail.com

• SESSION DATES: As has always been the case, sessions will run term time only and Little Fish (a religious-themed session for little ones and their adults) will take place once a month, usually on the third Tuesday of the month. Please see our list of session dates here. 

• TIME AND LOCATION: All sessions meet on Tuesday morning from 10 a.m. to 11.30 a.m. at Claines Parish Hall.

• COST: The cost for Little Friends will revert to the pre-pandemic rate of £1.50 for the first child and 50p for each additional child. We are fortunate to have use of the parish hall (including extensive storage for our toys and equipment) and the cost of sessions contributes to the running and maintenance of the hall premises. Please note that no-one will ever be refused entry if they are unable to pay. If you'd like to contact us about this feel free to approach any of our volunteers for a confidential chat or e-mail Jennifer at claineslittlefriends@gmail.com 
  Please note that Little Fish sessions are always free of charge (donations welcome).

• DRINKS & SNACKS: We will be providing hot drinks again (hooray!) but we ask that you bring your own mug or reusable cup and take it away with you. For the time being there will be no snack time for children so we ask that you please also bring your own drinks and snacks for your child. Your children are welcome to eat or drink at any time but please clear away any resulting crumbs or other debris to help keep the hall tidy.

• CONTACT US: As ever if you have any questions do not hesitate to contact us at claineslittlefriends@gmail.com
  

We look forward to seeing you very soon!

Little Friends starts again Tuesday 14 September 2021

Thank you once again for your interest in our group and for visiting our new blog where you will find regular updates going forward.

For the Autumn term we will be welcoming back attendees on Tuesday 14 September. Weekly sessions will run on Tuesdays from 10 to 11.30 a.m. at Claines Parish Hall.

Following a volunteers-only meeting on 7 September more details about registration and attendance will be made available.

If you have any questions please contact us at claineslittlefriends@gmail.com