HEY! Fund Initiatives

Thanks to the Happy Early Years (HEY!) Fund, mum Sima can run a weekly messy play session for families with 0-3s in the Barkerend area of Bradford.

Sima said: “When I found out my HEY! Fund application had been accepted, I was absolutely thrilled. I had really benefitted from going to a stay and play group when my daughter was 6 months old as I had started feeling very anxious and isolated as my husband, close friends and family were all working. When the opportunity came up to apply to the Happy Early Years (HEY!) Fund, I wanted to give something back and run my own stay and play group.

“I know there are many parents feeling like I did and I wanted to run these session to help parents get out of the house and socialise with one another. I also wanted to help them understand how their actions and emotions affect their children and how through play, they can support their children’s brain development.

“The most important thing is for children and parents to enjoy and have fun in these sessions.”

And indeed they do have lots of fun as the following feedback illustrates:

“Messy play has been a fantastic opportunity for me and my daughter to meet new people and make friends. It’s also been fab to meet old friends I’ve not seen in a while. My daughter is able to develop new and old skills and is happy to come.

“The staff are really welcoming and make me feel relaxed and most importantly you can’t put a price on the smiles on everyone’s face.”

“I would like to say a big thank you to Sima for everything that you do to entertain the kids and also the mums. It’s really nice to come to your group. We get to socialise with other mums and our children get to kneo each other. To think you were a normal mum with a toddler attending a playgroup like is to now running a playgroup of your own is amazing!

“My daughter doesn’t eat at home – it’s a mission to get food down her, but she always loves eating your snacks. She has also learned to sit with everyone and wait patiently and learned how to share.”

“Messy play is interactive, fun and creative, hence why my daughter loves coming here. She has really developed her fine/gross motor skills. Additionally every week there is something new for children to explore. I look forward to coming here every Monday as Sima has created a warm and friendly environment where mums can form friendships with one another.”

“What a brilliant day I had at the playgroup. Thank you to Sima and Maryam for making it wonderful for my children.”

“The messy play group has been a life saver…not only has Sima gone out of her way for the children, but also for the mums. Sima has become an amazing friend, mum and teacher to most of us. Keep up the good work and keep being amazing.”

Mum of three, Nadia, 36 appreciates what feel like to be lonely in pregnancy as she felt scared to go out in her third pregnancy, however having young children she went to Parents in the Lead funded Crystal Tots stay and play group and felt the benefits of social interaction with other expectant parents and parents of young children.

This social interaction and positive impact on her own mental well-being made her think of new expectant mums, who don’t have English as their first language and how lonely that must be. Nadia was inspired to apply to the Happy Early Years Fund to develop the Happy Mama group.

She said: “I feel so excited and amazed to have been awarded this money to be able to set up the Happy Mama group. It will be lovely to reach out to expectant mums who are feeling anxious and isolated through lack of social interaction and barriers to language and know that they are not on their own!”

The group will have a welcoming holistic environment and will provide antenatal education, hypnobirthing sessions, pregnancy yoga, healthy eating advice in pregnancy, mental health and stability and hand massages.

It will culminate with a celebration event.

Babies and toddlers will now have be able to enjoy animal themed play sessions at Canterbury Nursery School thanks to local mum Maryam.

Each week, the focus will be on animals from different habitats including farm, arctic, sea and jungle. There will also be trips to a swimming pool and Tropical World in Leeds.

Maryam Kausar, who received £1,258 for her Animal Explorers play group said: “I am really excited to start this group in Canterbury because nothing like this is going on here, I want children to experience hands on messy play without parents worrying about them making a mess. During the sessions children will learn about different types of animals and their habitats through play.”

Mum, Valeria Florea has been inspired by Eric Carle’s book The Very Hungry Caterpillar to set up a stay and play group for families with 0-3s all themed around the book. Activities include open-ended craft and messy play and food themed songs for the rhyme time.

Valeria said: “Thank you for Better Start Bradford’s support. Without the support of the Happy Early Years (HEY!) Fund, all these ideas could not have been realised.”

West Bowling Neighbourhood Worker, Ludmila attended the first session and said: “Let us congratulate you on your first HEY! funded session of ‘Hungry caterpillars’. We are so proud and excited to see your group in action! Everything, from the planning, themed activities, healthy snacks, a trip to the library to collect themed books and a huge amount of preparation hours, worked – it was amazing!

A huge “thank you’ from all the children and parents, who attended, they left super positive feedback.”

Sessions run on Tuesdays and Thursdays for a total of six sessions.

The play sessions at Bowling Park Allotments, were set up by a local grandmother who wanted grandparents and their 0-3s to get planting and have fun while growing their own produce. Funding paid for raised beds for the children, a potting shed and gardening and play equipment for 0-3s to be able to garden and enjoy messy play.

One mum said: “I attended a play group event at Bowling Park Allotments and I was really happy for making the decision to attend as it was my first outdoor session and especially with Covid-19 and not being at one for ages, surprisingly made it go even more well.

“The kids had so much fun and my little boy who never really got to attend play groups just got on with it and there was lots to do such as planting spuds, sand pit play, story time, snack time and a water and paint activity.

My son was very happy and got to explore stuff outdoors he usually didn’t doing like planting etc. My children were actually sad when they had to leave and we will definitely bring them back as it was a very warm, well organised and great session.”

Little Treasures was set up by a local BD5 mum. It is a community Stay and Play session based at the Mayfield centre – a community venue always was very popular with the local families.

Sessions focus on:

• Speech and language sessions with rhyme time and story time.
• Themed art and craft sessions.
• Sensory and messy play sessions.
• Teddy bear picnics.
• Treasure hunt sessions.
• Gardening sessions.
• Outdoor messy play with the mud kitchen.
• Partnership sessions with Better Place, Early Years Alliance, Perinatal Support Service, etc.

Mum of three, Esther Osakwe, was awarded £1,330 to run Dance Motivation, a series of dance sessions where families with young children can move and groove together freely through the medium of dance.

Esther said: “I was very passionate about bringing motivation through dance into other parent’s lives as I found the transition from pregnancy into parenthood a struggle. Thanks to the funding I can bring mum’s together, but in a fun, accessible way – people learn better and share more when they are having fun!”

Esther’s project received the funding just before the COVID-19, however she didn’t let the pandemic stop her delivering the sessions. She ran them every Saturday morning on Zoom through lockdown and beyond while restrictions were in place.

Babies and toddlers will now have be able to enjoy the fun of soft play at their Tiny Toes Stay and Play session at Horton Primary School.

Through the Happy Early Years (HEY!) Fund, grandmother, Shaheena is able to hire mobile soft play equipment including a ball pool, slides, soft play equipment, sensory toys for toddlers and babies to access. The benefits of soft play include:

• Develop motor skills
• Enhance decision making
• Learning the value of co-operation and teamwork
• Puzzle solving
• Growing spatial awareness
• Experiencing sensory stimulation
• Exploring and discovering

Shaheena, 65, said: ”

“I’m extremely proud to be awarded the HEY! funding and I’m excited about connecting with the families and community through this amazing opportunity!”

Read Shaheena’s blog here: Local grandmother of nine leads the way in stay and play

Dad of three young children, Mohammad Abbas, 33, wanted to do something to keep children fit and healthy, while giving young children something fun to do with their mums and dads every week. Thanks to successfully being awarded £1,000, he set up the Footy Funsters group at the Karmand Community Centre.

Mohammad said: “Having three young children, it is very important to me that they stay active and healthy. I felt that there wasn’t anything sports-based in our area for young children in the community that was free so I came up with the idea for Footy Funsters.

“Humera from Better Start Bradford’s Family and Community Engagement Team told me all about the Fund and said that I could apply for up to £2,500 in a year to run parent-led activities in the area. With the support of Humera and the Karmand Community Centre I completed Better Start Bradford’s simple application form.

“I was really pleased when I was told that I had been awarded the £1,000 that we had applied for. I felt that I had really accomplished something for the community, while giving them something fun and free to look forward to.

“With the award we were able to pay a sessional sports youth worker to help run the sessions. We were also able to buy sports equipment for the sessions and provide healthy snacks each week.

“The children and parents just loved it – we had 12-15 children and they all have so much fun running around with their dads and playing all sorts of sporty games with the footballs. Not only does it allow children to use up lots of their energy, develop teamwork and listening skills, it also gives parents a chance to bond with their children and socialise with other parents and all for free in a safe and friendly environment.”