Children's Activities at Fetter Lane, London - April 2025

In June 2023, the first meeting of our new Outreach Group took place to discuss how to build on the pioneer work that had been done by Sr Claire Maxwell. Br David and Sr Naomi met with the two of us, and one of the things we decided to do was contact Phil and Abby from the nearby Salvation Army to see if they wanted to work with us on some children's activities.

We met again with Phil and Abby in September and planned an activity afternoon during the October half term called Awesome Autumn. The programme for the first afternoon has become the template for all our activity afternoons: arrivals at 2pm, a treasure hunt in the Close, craft activities in Studio 1, drinks and snacks, story and songs with puppets in the Chapel, ending at 4pm. On the first activity afternoon we welcomed about 20 children and their parents.

In 2024, in the February half term holiday, we ran another activity afternoon called Love and Pancakes, as it was close to both Valentine's Day and Shrove Tuesday. The treasure hunt involved finding the ingredients for making pancakes, after which we decorated some pancakes and even had a pancake race. This time we had about 30 children.

The next activity afternoon was during the Easter holidays and was called Amazing April. The crafts included making chocolate Easter nests and planting bulbs in a pot which was first decorated. About 20 children attended, and it was good to have a number who were with us for the second or third time.

Due to availability of our helpers, the next activity afternoon was held on a Sunday in June and was called Champions, as it was held just before Wimbledon and just after the opening game of Euro 2024. This time we paid for someone to come and run some sporty games in the Close instead of our usual treasure hunt and crafts. We had less than 10 children, perhaps a reflection of how busy Sundays are for a lot of families.

At the end of August, we held an activity afternoon called Back to School. This time we had both outdoor games and indoor crafts. This time the numbers were back up to 25 children.

In the October half term holiday, we had another Awesome Autumn activity afternoon. We had some additional help from some trainee officers from the Salvation Army, and welcomed about 35 children, our highest attendance so far.

One of the other things that the Outreach group organised in 2023 was an outdoor event called Carols in the Close, with music from one of the Salvation Army brass bands. When we repeated this on a Saturday evening in December 2024, some of the families who had come to the activity afternoons came along to do some Christmas crafts and take part in a nativity play.

Our first activity afternoon of 2025 was in the February half term holiday and was called Fabulous February. The theme was kindness. February can be an inhospitable month, so we were pleased to welcome around 20 children and their parents or carers; some regular attenders and others here for the first time. The weather permitted an outdoor nature quiz and some bulb planting, while indoor events focused on 'Bee Kind' crafts and cupcake decorating. As usual, Abby and Phil from the Chelsea Salvation Army closed the afternoon with a kindness themed puppet show and songs.

What advice would we give to other churches? Firstly, make the most of what you have. Perhaps our greatest asset is the outside space at Moravian Close, so we make sure that we use it for all our activity days. Secondly, make the most of the gifts of your volunteers. We couldn't do what we do without the help of Phil and Abby from the Salvation Army who lead the story and songs, and the creative gifts of our own volunteers. Thirdly, communication is key. From the first event we got everyone attending to fill in an information form with contact details so that we could let them know about our future events, and we now have an email contact list which reaches parents and carers of about 60 children. We also advertise through a local school and nursery so making those sorts of connections is really important. Fourth, keep it simple. Having a simple programme that we use every time means that we know what we are doing, and the children and parents know what to expect.

Br Michael Newman and Sr Cynthia Dize