My name is Lucie and I took over as General Manager at the end of last year. This is my first newsletter in my new role so I wanted to take the time to introduce myself and a few new things that The Bridge is working towards.
I’m a local mum with two young daughters, two older step children and a past career in large scale, high profile event management. I became involved at The Bridge as a volunteer in 2013 and really have a huge passion for the centre. It was a lifeline to me as a new mum in the area and I’ve made some life long friends through it. I’m really pleased to be the new GM and hope we can make a big difference to our brilliant community.
Firstly, let me mention that our Christmas event was so successful in 2018, we had nearly 140 children visit Father Christmas in our FREE grotto so thank you for your support.
With Christmas behind us, we really just cannot wait for Spring. So much so, we’ve dedicated a whole new event to it’s arrival…On Saturday 23rd March, we will be hosting Springtime at The Bridge. It will include our much loved Easter egg hunt and trail but also, Mother’s Day gift making, seed planting and pot decorating, market stalls and face painting. We want our events to cater for everyone so entrance to the event is FREE (there will be a small charge for the egg hunt/trail). As usual, the under 5s will take place in The Bridge itself and the over 5s trail will take place in the Pleasaunce.
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Mother’s Day is the following Sunday, so there will be a range of gifts and cards to make and buy. To celebrate the return of our Gardening Club, Ruth will be seed planting and pot decorating. We think it will be a great addition to our events programme so please put the date in your diaries. |
You might have noticed, we’ve made some changes to our weekly schedule. We will be replacing our afternoon stay and play sessions with regular workshops, courses and one off sessions targeting different sectors of the community. We will be posting information on these as and when they are running. Please follow us on Facebook/Twitter @thebridgese10 where you can find live updates.
We are currently planning some Parent Child Attachment groups and have lots of other ideas in the pipeline. If you have any suggestions or would like to run a group yourself, we are always looking for new ideas and new volunteers.
Our morning sessions continue as normal – Tuesday is Stay, Play & Explorewith Kim & Kath; Wednesday is Stay, Play & Create with Kim & Jessica and Friday is Stay, Play & Dig (including Forest School session) with Ruth. The small admission charge includes unlimited tea, coffee and snacks.
Don’t forget, on Monday mornings we host Creation Station, Thursday is Frogprince Music and we hold Toddler Football on a Friday morning before Ruth’s stay and play session. Also we are home to The Holly Tree Club Out of School Childcare Specialists Monday to Friday. Please visit www.thehollytreeclub.com for more information.
How Schooling Group
Our first new initiative is a practical and emotional support group for home schooling families. This now takes place every Wednesday 12.30pm – 2.30pm and is run by Elina and Zoya. We already have a few regular attendees and there’s a Whatsapp group to keep in touch and find out what the sessions will involve. Please get in touch if you would like to know more.
Gardening Club
Gardening Club has started again on Monday afternoons. Please check our Facebook @thebridgese10 for updates.
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Last year The Bridge was awarded £7701 from the Big Lottery Fund for creation of a new “green zone” and improvements to the forest school area. The grant will help to fund Forest School Leadership training fees, gardening and outdoor-play equipment, and installation of gates and benches for the multi-functional outdoor area known as the ‘Green Zone @ The Bridge’. The Green Zone aims to encourage parents and children to work together to develop their understanding of, and skills relating to, the natural environment within the urban setting. It encompasses The Bridge’s existing Gardening Club, which runs weekly sessions for pre-schoolers, the Forest School launched earlier this year, and habitats for wildlife such as bee and bug boxes and a wormery, as well as providing a teaching resource through a series of compost bins, which will be constructed with the help of Age UK Bromley & Greenwich’s ‘Men in Sheds’ group. The compost bins and wormery aim to turn suitable food waste from the centre’s users, such as apple cores and vegetable peelings, into compost and liquid fertiliser to be used by the Gardening Club, helping children to understand and visualise the consequences and benefits of recycling.
For more information about the Bridge, including timetables, visit its website or its Facebook group.