St Peters Church,
Boyatt Wood,
Eastleigh

There are two sessions for Kids and Coffee in term time. One on a Monday morning run by Chris Hedges under the umbrella of The Chamberlayne Children‘s Centre, which is very popular and has a waiting list, and another every Friday morning run by Barbara and a mum called Louise who has recently joined the team. Ann and June usually come and make the drinks for us. We have over 30 children registered for Friday‘s Kid‘s and Coffee, but usually we have between 20 - 25 attending. We open up the church worship area for a quiet space for the children to play or look at books. We have a story session led by Louise, followed by an activity related to the story, encouraging carers to make something with their child that they can take home.

Every session we have art activities, which the carers enjoy as much as the children. Socialising is an important part for the carers and many firm friendships have been made. We serve tea and coffee, biscuits, cake and fruit. It gives the mums and dads and grannies a chance to chat while their children play or listen to the story. We have lots to do…special baby toys and treasure baskets, toddler toys, jigsaws, play tunnel, games, ride on toys, etc. and we finish our sessions with singing - the adults joining in! Occasional activities have been arranged by Crestwood staff, such as first aid, healthy eating etc. We feel we are part of the community.
A really good spin-off from Kids and Coffee is that a lot of families meet up during the week; they baby-sit for each other and sometimes the ladies have been known to have a night out together. They have made friends, especially good for people new to the area.
Brian is usually around sometime during the morning and we have found that some families have decided to bring their children for baptism, and he is there to talk to them. Other families come to the children‘s workshops and Light parties at church.

Many families support our fund raising events. We have our own sponsored walk at the end of the summer term to raise money for Dr Barnardo‘s. This year we raised £100. All families are invited to church services and special services like the Christingle and Crib services.
If you feel you would like to help out or support us in any way, setting up tables and chairs, helping in the kitchen or playing with the children, please come and talk to me or pop in on a Friday morning and see what we do. [Barbara Rostill]