So the coffee morning was my first contact with Sure Start. The number of services and activities available to families grew in the next few months / years. Drop in groups – Pop in & Play, Music Groups, Messy Play. Training courses with creches running alongside – Parenting, First Aid, Back to work, Story Sacks. There were groups for Dads often held on Saturday mornings. Grandparent groups… So many activities for families. There were services for those with more specific problems – Family Outreach Service (FOS later to become the Keywork Service). A Dietician, Midwife, Dentist and assistant, Librarian (sorry Deborah, I cannot remember your title!). So many excellent services provided by dedicated staff. I attended as many as I possibly could (sorry, not sorry). These services became my lifeline. I made so many friends and learned so much. I made story sacks – one of which included a knitted giant, pink Stegasaurus. Callie benefited enormously making friends (children and adults), developing her social skills. She just had fun. My back slowly got better but in the days when it was playing up, there was always someone to help.
One of the most valuable aspects of those early days was that services were founded and adapted to ft the needs of the local community. Local organisations were involved in the decision making as were parents. I spent many an happy hour in Parents Forum and Local Programme meetings. This all meant that the services in Eastbourne were different to those in Hastings or Lewes – because the needs were, and still are, different. The services in Eastbourne Town Centre were different from those in Willingdon Trees. The whole context of the local community was taken into account – transport, deprivation, existing services, employment….
Eventually, before the days of the 12 week volunteer training course, I became a volunteer. I worked with a lovely friend running a fruit and veg store at the Pop in and Play session on a Friday morning at Willingdon Trees. Hence the lead picture. Clare would meet a fruit and veg supplier early on a Friday morning and would buy a pile of fruit and vegetables – whatever he had. We would then make up mixed bags and sell them to the families attending the session. We supplied cooking directions and recipes. Great fun 🙂
So that was my life until December 2004 when I applied for a job at Eastbourne Sure Start as Researcher / Evaluator….