Wow, what a month. Firstly it was amazing to see so many of you at our conference with Tony Attwood at Tewinbury Farm. The room was packed full of parent carers and professionals from across Hertfordshire and the feedback has been brilliant. We are looking forward to our next conference in September which we are running with the ADHD Foundation – watch this SPACE for when bookings open.
We ran our first Introduction to Golf sessions at Hanbury Manor this month. These sessions were hugely popular, selling out almost immediately – watch this SPACE for some additional dates coming up in the future.
The first sessions at our new SPACE to Grow garden plot, kindly donated by one of our SPACE families were also introduced in May. Some of our families enjoyed a beautiful afternoon in the sun planting an assortment of herbs including Moroccan Mint and Rosemary. While they were there they made sure that all our growing veggies – including potatoes, beans, carrots and lettuce – had a good watering.
If you would like more information on SPACE to Grow and how to get involved please email events@spaceherts.org.uk.
May also saw the launch of Saturday Morning opening hours at our wonderful Lending SPACE facility in Stevenage. This was in direct response to feedback from families looking to access us outside of working hours and also bring school age children along to discover our treasure trove of sensory and educational toys, books and resources for SEND children and young people.
You can now visit Lending SPACE Monday, Wednesday and Saturday Mornings 9:30-12:30.
We were thrilled to be joined by Steph Curtis, a local Hertfordshire mum of two teenage daughters, now aged 17 and nearly 15, who talked to us about her family’s PDA journey and hosted a very busy Q&A session for our May Check In and Chat.
Amongst the many things that Steph covered were some specific PDA approaches that work for her family and daughter.
There was a huge amount of interaction, chat and questions – thanks to everyone who took part.
It was also wonderful to be back at Cloud 9 at their amazing new venue in Hemel Hempstead in May.
Participants enjoyed a range of inflatables at our SPACE exclusive session – we are back in June so book your tickets now.
And there was another first with the launch of our new after school Lego Club in Stevenage, joining our already established Saturday club in Standstead Abbotts and our monthly online Lego club.
Our Girls Group started their Jubilee celebrations early, with jewels, sparkles, crowns, flags and biscuits.
All of this plus our regular programme of workshops and courses and family activities including graffit, cooking, art, outdoor play, driving, pre-school SPACE and Studio Fly!
May also saw us celebrating Volunteers Week.
Volunteers are the beating heart of SPACE. Without them we couldn’t run so many social activities for children and families or our programmes of workshops and courses for parents. They are so often there, organising things in the background, oiling the wheels to make sure everything runs smoothly, chatting to families to ensure everyone is happy and comfortable, supporting children at activities and our trainers in workshops.
We literally can’t thank them enough! If you are interested in volunteering for SPACE please come along to a short online talk on Thursday 30th June to find out more – there are no obligations, but you never know, it could open the door to something lifechanging!
Finally, during May we were very happy to see we now have well over 7,000 members of our private group on Facebook!
This means over 7,000 parents, carers and professionals in Hertfordshire are getting help, support, and advice from a community of people who ‘get it’.
It means over 7,000 sharing stories, lifting each other up, celebrating achievements.
It means over 7,000 virtual cheerleaders for each of the families in the group
THANK YOU for supporting each other and for allowing SPACE to be a part of your journey – we never underestimate what a privilege that is.
And if you aren’t already a member of the group, please do join us.
So, that is just some of our highlights for May – we can’t wait to see what June brings!
SPACE activities are always very popular. To receive details of upcoming activities as soon as they are available to book, please join our community on Facebook and follow us on Eventbrite .
