“Stay Calm and Christmas Craft” workshops!
Both children and adults from our 5s to 13s Befriending service were invited to participate in Christmas craft activities this week. Both sessions were facilitated by ex 5s to13s befriending parent Joan, whose son had received support from the service two years ago. Joan, who now runs arts and craft sessions for many different groups in the local area, offered to provide these two sessions for free as a way of giving back to the organisation. She said “Craft is a great way of bringing people together in a non-threatening way. It is very relaxing and gives everyone the chance to have a sense of achievement.”
The parents attended their session on Wednesday 27th November and had the opportunity to make a variety of Christmas cards and gifts for their loved ones whilst chatting with other parents and enjoying delicious homemade cakes and coffee. One parent who had never sewn before decided to be brave and created a beautiful fabric decoration for her Christmas tree. Another mum who incorporated symbols on her tree decoration to represent her four children said “This is wonderful, I feel so calm and relaxed I could do this all day!”
The children and volunteers then had their chance to craft the following day. The ten focus children and their befrienders got stuck in straight away to the different activities that Joan had provided. They all made a range of wonderful items to take home using the wonderful array of recycled resources that Joan had provided including buttons, scraps of fabric, ribbons, charms, stickers and stamps. One volunteer said “It’s wonderful to see the children having the chance to express their creativity using these wonderful resources. They get such a great sense of achievement out of these events.”
Sam Hunt said “We are very thankful to Joan for providing these craft workshops for the children and parents for free. It’s been magical to see them all engaging so positively with the range of wonderful resources and to see how everyone’s creations have been so unique! These workshops give everyone the chance to feel part of the organisation and to be less isolated. We hope to provide more opportunities like these for both our parents and children in the future.”
