To worry there are not enough free weekly events for mums or dads and their babies in UK

[Mammajay]

I just visited my local library and it was chock full of baby buggies and the children's section was packed to the doorway with mums and their babies ( didn't see any dads). I commented to the librarian about how essential such events were when my children were babies. He replied that this was that second session today and that there had been 50 mums at the earlier session. To be honest they were both so crowded that mums standing at the back probably won't have fully enjoyed it. So I googled free mum and baby stuff in my area but most were private charged for events in church halls. So, what is on offer where you are? I had no parental or family support and didn't belong to a church but the library and local mother and toddler groups put on by various churches in their halls were wonderfully supportive.

Although our surestart hasn’t shut it has massively, massively reduced its groups. It’s virtually shut. I’m sure the poor offering of children’s centres is playing a part.

How about children's centres - they usually have free groups, we have lots where we are.

Plus there are lots of groups run in church halls near us - they usually ask for a donation of £1-2 to cover tea biscuits juice etc, but it's not compulsory if people can't afford it.

And NCT run a weekly 'bumps and babies' group near us.

Our leisure centre runs a daily soft play for babies at toddlers- under 1's are free, others are £2, or can have a membership for them for £20 a month which also includes a weekly swimming lesson.

I agree they are pretty essential both for the children and the mums.

tenbob

The thing is, no council's going to plough the money they've saved by cutting a well-attended service into services for deprived families. They're generally different budgets - libraries vs. children's services, and libraries rely on visitor numbers to make the case for their budget. The more likely scenario is you'd lose both services, which would disadvantage not only the yummy mummies, but everyone who uses the service, not all of whom would be able to afford an alternative.

We're at risk of making assumptions of what we should be doing for families in need when we should be asking them what they want, and what would help them.

These things cost money to run, why should they be free? Church halls cost money to heat, tea and coffee isn't free, toys need buying, cleaning etc and staff need paying. I'm fed up with peoples attitude that churches should be free to those who don't attend, don't contribute etc.

motherwol
I get that, I really do

And I don't think they should be shut down, I think they should be charged services with free admission to those who can't afford it, similar to the Healthy Start vouchers.

This is the weekly timetable for the centre in my local park. All of those activities are offered by private companies/cafes on other days and cost £5-10 per session. And they are busy because the vast majority of local families can afford it.
So instead of the local council laying on £50 of free entertainment for me every week, why not charge enough to cover the cost of the lights and heating, and use that money to provide more or better services of those on low incomes or in marginalised groups?

This is just one park in the borough. They are probably a dozen other timetables for the rest of the local area...

search3.openobjects.com/mediamanager/wandsworth/fsd/docs/stay_play_time_table_april_2018_1.pdf

This week ive been three free events and one paid. Theres loads. Look at the toddle book as theres one in each area with a list of groups.

There's far more about than ever before.
Just one generation ago there was nothing like this at all. There could probably do with more but you can't expect things to be free when they cost to staff and manage.

tenbob

There's so much about the way councils are funded that just doesn't make sense. One of the children's centres I used to attend was on a borough boundary; one of the councils has cut their funding to it, while the other hasn't. So technically now it's free to parents living in one council area, but not to the other. It's utterly insane.

I do agree with you, it shouldn't be the case that better-off parents are monopolising services they could afford to pay for, to the exclusion of poorer parents, but the system's such a blunt object at the moment. I think the best we can do, as parents, is encourage services we like and use to make it easy for those of us who can afford it to make a contribution - e.g. by having an Amazon wishlist for craft supplies, or a PayPal link.

In my immediate area (large, deprived Council estate) there is very little. Just two sessions run by the children's centre. However, within a 45 minute walk of my house (which I'm happy and able to walk) there's 4 libraries and at least 6 churches offering free or very cheap groups/sessions. Plus 3 other children's centres.

I expect there are more in your area than you realise op. I moved to a new area where I knew no one when my dc was 6 months old. It took me months to find out about playgroups (free or not) because they weren't advertised very well or at all. At one point I walked to a new church each day within an hour of my house just to look on their notice board to see if they had a playgroup. I expect this is why my local rhyme time is so busy - it's in the centre of the village and there's a huge poster advertising it so everyone goes there.

Feel free to start running your own free parent and baby group?!

Who do you think should be running them?

Most of the groups run in halls or the library in my area are "suggested donation".
Money goes in an honesty box so no one really knows if you've donated or not, ans I'm pretty sure they'd never throw you out if you didn't.

Absolutely nothing free here. One or two session per month low cost (£2-£3), the rest commercial (£8 upwards).
On the other hand, loads of playgrounds and parks, so we are busy (and i returned to work after 6 months anyway)

There's a few free or cheap weekly groups where I live. One is £2 a session, the others are free. By the way, you don't usually have to be a member of the church to join the ones held in church halls, they are for anyone.

There is a whole lot less for older children, it seems, it gets very specialised into dance and sport activities. And bugger all when you get to early teens.

This is so true - there is a lot of free (or nearly free) stuff for babies and toddlers, but by 3 they have aged out of all those groups. I suppose it's because they are mostly in nursery by then, but low cost activities outside school become very scarce.

This is why I'm so sad about what's happened to children's centres. I live in what's considered a deprived area, we used to have a fantastic centre that offered something free almost every day, this was 5/6 years ago. They hosted parenting courses, breastfeeding support, access to mental health services, all things I think are really important in an area such as this. I used to take DS to baby massage, sensory play, they had a music group too and lots of stay and play sessions. They were all free but I would have happily paid. The building was fantastically set up, it even had a soft play area and ball pit. It's now been turned into a private nursery. Children are definitely missing out round here.
There's currently one free story time session at the library, and one of the churches has a play group and that's it, it's a bit depressing really.

There are loads of groups near me these days. However, when DS1 was tiny (he's now 14) there weren't - so I started my own group. £1 per family held in my church. It's still going strong 12 years later, and still costs the same to attend.

I used to help at a toddler group run by my church. The only thing to do with church was the building, it was in no way religious although mums and toddlers were invited to kids christmas services. It cost around £1.50/family which included tea/coffee/biscuits, craft activity, an easter egg for kids at easter, a christmas present at christmas etc. It was all run by volunteers and the 1.50 only just about covered tea biscuits and craft materials. It was very oversubscribed and there was a long waiting list to join.

Lots of free stuff where I am, but I do live in a big city.

Three different libraries within walking distance with 2 or 3 groups each a week. All the museums have free story sessions at various points through the week.

We still have children's centres here and their groups are £1-2 however I don't think they'd turn someone away for not being able to afford it. There are free groups for 2 year olds run by the children centre as well that they really push. There are also other groups for younger parents, mums who are learning English, parents of twins, and infant feeding drop-in sessions.

Also church groups that are £1-2 and a plate for donations for tea/biscuits. It's run as a put money in a tin thing so if someone couldn't afford it they wouldn't be turned away at the door.

Agree with the PP that says making these things free isn't the best use of resources, and better to target resources to those who would benefit most.

We do not have any free ones £2 for church ones which are oversubscribed or the franchised ones which are more expensive.