We were recently involved in a partnership with Community Learning and Development, Greenlaw Primary SchooL, Gr8 (Greenlaw Youth Club) and Connect (Berwickshire Youth Project) to develop and deliver fun family activities during the summer holidays.

Activities were offered over three days and open to parents of primary school children (and their children!). The two days that OTB helped to deliver left no room for boredom. They included the chance to hunt for, and identify bugs, make lavender bags, collect “treasures” on a nature walk (and play nature bingo), try some new games, and make (and fly!) paper planes. Parents and children alike got stuck in to the craft sessions on offer – producing creative and colourful dream-catchers and birds delivered by Borders artist, Sheila Anderson Hardy.

The consensus was that fun was had by all. We found out that parents don’t always have the chance to meet other parents and costs of getting out and about in the summer holidays for some families can be prohibitively expensive. These activities focused mainly on making the most of local places and natural resources without travelling far or breaking the bank. We heard that eating together with other children and parents was an important part of the session. This was helped by the fact that lunch was free, thanks to donations from OTB and FairShare.

We heard that it can be difficult to have time to fit in your own activities and if you live rurally the situation is exacerbated. Many parents, especially those who don’t work, can find the holidays a long and lonely time. Connections were made with families – and the sessions offered a great stepping stone to initiating further work to connect families. Now we know what activities are enjoyed by adults and children alike, we are keen to coordinate more such sessions. We think this model could be used Borders-wide, in other rural areas

The event was part of our Mental Health and Families work.