'Do Try This At Home' sessions will continue during Lockdown Two
The Glastonbury-based charity running sessions for children to teach them activities to try at home say they will continue over the next four weeks and into next year.
Last updated 5th Nov 2020
Children’s World International, which is currently struggling for funding, received grant money for the sessions - which have been taking place in socially distant settings such as an outdoor tent or big barn.
The 'Do Try This At Home' sessions are aimed at all young people but during school times have proved popular with young children or those not in mainstream education and cover everything from magic to creating stories.
Director Kristen Lindop says it’s a boost to families - as there’s very little else on offer at the moment - and the sessions can continue during the second lockdown because they are educational.
She said: "The idea for the sessions came from, well, not being able to carry on with what we normally deliver because our usual work - most of it - is either in schools or it's in large groups of people.
"We had a lot of community that felt really bereft that those things weren't happening and also a lot of community who'd been the sole resource for their children for a long time - with schools being closed and other activities for families not happening - that were feeling quite isolated.
"It's also to get some energy and ideas for what they could do with their kids. Bring a bit more of a spark back to what was happening at home.
"So what they are, there's a fantastic live session that families turn up to.
"It's in small groups, there's all the hand sanitiser and track and trace and say a big ventilated barn - it's really carefully held in terms of keeping people safe.
"With a workshop bit where they might learn to juggle or they might make puppets or they might do some art, help write a story - involving some aspect of performance, because that's our remit we use performance to support families and children of all abilities.
"Then they take those things home. With the magic they did a magic workshop and they went off each with their own little magic kit to do more magic at home.
"They go off with their puppets and some ideas of how to write a puppet story and how to put on a performance so they can do that at home.
"There's that immediate impact that they love but then there's some energy they can take home with them and keep them going through these difficult times."
The funders that supported the project are Somerset Skills & Learning, Somerset Community Foundation, Glastonbury Town Council, Police Commissioner’s Community Action Fund.
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