SURESTART: mine is brill what's your's like?

[bigbaubleeyes]

After recovering from my CS I eventually made it out to my local childrens center and I am overwhelmed by the excellent provision for babas

I am currently going to baby massage, splash n swing (in local pool) mother n baby (under 12mnths) and 'fit families'.

All the staff n mums are great and I feel v privelaged to live in a Sure Start catchment area.

Anyone else wanna compare notes - i just think its worth sharing COS IF NOT YOU WANNA GET DOWN THERE!!!

my parents live in a surestart catchment and so when i moved i listed under their Gp so that i could qualify. i havent been to anything yet but the list they provide of local events is very good.

I am actually just out of a catchment area but they let you go to their activites anyway.

I also go to a baby massage via sure start, and jelly babies which is yoga and singing combined. They do a swimming class but as I have 2 littlies I cant go due to health and safety.They also do stay and play sesions over the holidays which DS loves.
Also go to a toddler group out of my area part funded by sure start.

its fab mine has baby massage, went last week i loooove it, its such a good initiative

How do you find out if ou are in or out of a catchment area?

phone up and ask them, or ask your HV. Even if you aren't in a catchment area, people running the groups/classes are often not bothered (but if the groups were oversubscribed, then people in the catchment would get priority). HVs can refer people out of catchment to nearby Surestarts anyway.

My Surestart was fab for DD1 and me and really recommend getting in touch via hv or gp. But 2 years later there's not much I can attend with DD1 and DD2. Mostly geared towards first time mums. Don't think surestart's too bothered as they already have me signed up.

i live in one too and love it . i set up a mother and baby group when dd2 was tiny and they helped out alot and even took it over when me and my friend had our hands full and could no longer keep it up . we have a center on our shop precinct , its for under 5's and its great . they have and do anything and everything . i have just started to make the most of there free "time-out creche" on a monday morning . its sole purpose is that you take the babies there and leave them for 2 hours 45 mins so you can go to appointments or town or catch up on house work or just to go home and have a bath in peace . its free and the staff are lovely . might be because a few are freinds but it really is a great privaledge to have available to us .

also have baby massage , fathers groups, swimming sessions, frequent trips to zoos/themeparks/seaside all affordable, yoga for pre-post natal/food for thought courses/i also became a breastfeeding counsillor through a course they ran/ they have their own midwife who offers drop in if you are worried between appointments with own midwife/rhymetime for babies/ ethic group sessions/run regular fundays with clowns-rides-facepainting and bbqs/womens days / and now and again they will have oneoff things going on ,

all this and they will send a time table to you through post to keep you informed. have another buliding 10 min walk with a full time nursery, which is very affordable. they give away free smoke alarms and baby safty packs including stair gates.

AND EVEN i got a letter through my door when i had dd3 congratulating me and it had free smples of stuff and a time table with groups and sessions for a newborn !!

god i sound like im a fanantic lol

Mine is amazing, we are in Hackney; I would have gone crazy without Surestart's activities.

is it for everyone?

Yeah mumma3 if i wasn't going back to work becomming a parent volunteer is something I would like to have done.

We've been to 'fit families' today which included a free swimming session!

Google suretart to find website and then rom there you can find your area.

Mine is rubbish.

You have to be a "member" to go to their activities - how is this inclusive for all? (Probably some nonsense about them having to collect numbers for their monitoring).

They kept changing their boundaries so I didn't know if I was in or out.

They have just given a bit of money to existing provisions e.g. playgroups and pretend that they are "Sure Start Activities".

Having not sent me anything for ages they now send me 3 of everything.

They have a play bus (we live in London so everything is walking distance) which sits about pumping out fumes and only providing play space for about 4 children. It parks outside existing playclubs - why not just give some extra money to the playclubs?

They are starting a community interest company to run a new nursery & although I have been to several of the consultation meetings about it and offered my help, they have never followed it up and have failed to keep me informed about what is happening.

I really do not like the whole philosophy behind Sure Start which is to divert money from existing experts in child services e.g. Local Authorities and the Health Service and to farm it out to unelected unrepresentative community based Boards.

It may appear that Surestart is successful in some places but I would question whether it is just a new wrapping for something that was already there.

Yours very cynically ..