Happy New Year! Christmas may be over, but December at SPACE was full of buzz and cheer. Forget about those January blues and lets enjoy looking back at what we got up to last month.
(More on our events later!)
Autumn term workshops and training courses
As the autumn term for workshops and training courses for parents and carers came to a close in December, we took a moment to reflect on how busy we have been. We’ve rounded up the numbers
- Over 50 workshops were delivered across the months of September, October, November and December.
- More than 4,000 parents, carers and professionals booked onto a workshop.
- SPACE ran 6 of courses including Navigating the SEND World Course – 4 week course, 2 x Neurodiversity in Girls and Women (ADHD and Autism) – 4 week course, 2 x First Steps – 6 week course and Sleep Tight – 3 week course.
- Over 170 parents and carers attended one of the above courses.
- SPACE also held 2 Starting SPACE groups providing parent and carers with the opportunity to meet others new to the world of Neurodiversity, and learn more and support options from SPACE, and local and national organisations.
Thank you so much Sophia. You have no idea how much your insight will help me not only support my own daughter, but the autistic girls in my school. Thank you
Parent of a neurodivergent child and school professional
First Steps – a free 6 week course for parents and carers of autistic children in the Early Years was added to the SPACE offering. The course was first launched in October held in West Herts and East Herts and proved to be a great success. Families who attended the face-to-face course had an excellent chance to connect with others, receive peer support, and gather valuable knowledge and tools to further support their children.
The course provided an opportunity to be able to speak openly and freely – we were given advice that makes you look at things differently.
Parent (Attendee of First Steps)
To explore our free spring term courses and workshops, please visit the SPACE Hertfordshire Eventbrite to book a place.
Community and Engagement
December got off to a cracking start for our Community Engagement team when they were invited to attend the Brookland Junior School Christmas Fair. The fair is a popular and well-attended event, and we were thrilled to be a part of it. It certainly got us into the Christmas Spirit and we would like to thank Brookland for inviting us along to share in the buzz.
Our Community Engagement team had the opportunity to attend the DSPL8 Dacorum SEND Fair during December and they couldn’t wait to share how incredible it was with us – it was a joy to spread awareness about SPACE.
Positive feedback was received from attendees at the event, with a great turnout and engaging conversations – it means the world to us knowing SPACE are making life just that little bit easier to navigate. There was a wonderful energy in the room and the team was delighted to be a part of it.
Our Hoddesdon Support group certainly tuned into their festive vibe at the most recent get together.
Tasty nibbles and hot drinks were enjoyed as they channelled their inner creativity and had a relaxed chat. From glass painting to decoupage, twinkling lights, and even a few Christmas jumpers, it was an enjoyable experience for everyone involved.
Watching the support group grow this year has been a joy to behold – we have loved seeing our regulars each month and it’s been a delight to welcome new faces into the SPACE community.
It’s been an honour to hear members share their journeys with the group and we look forward to catching up with everyone in the New Year.
SPACE publishes first Impact Report
Just before Christmas we shared our first Impact Report with our community – when we became a charity in 2017 we never would have even dared to dream that together with you – our amazing community – we could empower and support so many neurodivergent young people, their families, and other professionals across education, social care and healthcare.
This is our story of 2023 – read our impact report here.
Festive fun at SPACE
This month’s events news brings highlights of our Christmas specials that’ll make you smile and a round-up of festivities that took place throughout December.
Christmas really is the season to be jolly. From Breakfast with Santa to Jump City Christmas Special, chants of “ho ho ho!” during Doughnutting to exclusive Wildlife Mosaic Making, we loved celebrating the magic of Christmas with our SPACE families at the wonderful events that happened leading up to the big day.
We had not one but two of our outdoor fun sessions at The Patch cooking over and keeping warm by the fire.
Everyone enjoyed some frosty farming and some especially snuggly therapeutic cuddles with the animals to stay warm.
Another show stopping Saturday at Studio Fly whirling and twirling. For some it was a relaxing session hanging out in the hammocks.
Little City – Children’s Role Play Christmas Special: Little City was alive with excitement as our mini SPACErs got lost in a world of imagination and wonder during a lively role play session. Youngsters took bikes and tractors for a test ride, took charge of the Elves Workshop helping Santa and made sure the supermarket was fully stocked ahead of the big day. Festive magic swirled around the Little City’s Christmas Cottage, everyone had a brr-illiant time!
Another wonderful Independent Shopping experience in ASDA Ware – our young people took on the challenge of completing their own shop with such determination and enthusiasm.
Our furry friends were given a warm welcome when they returned to Lending SPACE – they loved meeting new people, seeing familiar faces again and giving therapeutic cuddles to the children and young people.
We were delighted to team up with the Herts and Middlesex Wildlife Trust to run some exclusive mosaic sessions led by Monet Designs in the beautiful setting of Panshanger Park.
Exclusive Breakfast with Santa at The Red House, Croxley Green: Ho! Ho! Ho! Santa arrived at SPACE in style. Christmas was swiftly arriving and that meant a lot of things… magical twinkling lights, Christmas music ringing all around and busy places but for our children and young people that may not be their idea of fun at all.
We teamed up with Greene-King to make Christmas extra special for our community and delivered an ‘Exclusive Breakfast with Santa’ enjoyed by many families. Kids got to meet the jolly man himself in a safe and comforting setting, enjoy a breakfast their way and felt the magic of Christmas all around them, Everyone had a lot of fun speaking to Santa and received a gift to take home to put under the tree.
If you think Santa and his reindeers are impressive… wait until you see how fast our children and young people spin down the slopes at Gosling Sports Park in partnership with the Herts Disability Sports Foundation.
As always the air was alive with sounds of laughter and chatter, with a few festive chants of “ho ho ho!” during our December Doughnutting sessions.
The group had a fantastic time!
Jump City Trampolining – Christmas Special: Do ‘the dab’ if you’re excited for Christmas… everyone at the trampoline park most certainly were!
Our children and young people bounced, swung and danced their way through the exclusive session wearing Elf tops. They received a visit from a very special guest and families grabbed the perfect opportunity to snap a picture on Santa’s sleigh alongside Rudolph.
The group left full of festive cheer and excited to return in the New Year. Thank you Jump City, we had a bast! An extended thanks to our friend and supporter Trevor from Amwell Rotary Club for his special hot line to Santa and to Jump City – you put a lot of smiles on the faces of our SPACE families.
Fundraising spotlight: Tractors on Tour
The latest fundraiser is revving up after the Tractors on Tour road run, which zoomed in with a grand total of £1,823.29 raised for SPACE on New Year’s Eve!
39 tractors of all colours and sizes were raring to go with SPACE coloured balloons, rosettes and logos for the tractor tour across Brickendon, Hoddesdon, Stanstead Abbott’s and Ware.
There was a tremendous buzz of excitement raised through our neighbouring towns, it was just wonderful seeing the SPACE colours being paraded with pride and huge smiles on the faces of our local community.
The day ended perfectly with a raffle as drivers and supporters enjoyed food and drink at the Farmers Boy pub, soaking up the New Year’s Eve festivities.
We have all been overwhelmed by the support of the team at Tractors on Tour, their families, our families and members of our local community who showed up along the route or at one of the pub stop offs.
A special thank you to Tractors on Tour charity road run for selecting SPACE for their charity of the year and a huge thank you to everyone for their support in making this event possible – The Jolly Fisherman, The Farmers Boy and our staff and volunteers.
See you soon
If we haven’t seen you yet – everyone at SPACE wishes you a very happy New Year, we are excited to see you soon and already looking forward to creating new memories with everyone in our community. Our events, workshops and courses are already in full swing – you can have a look at what’s going on and book tickets by heading over to the SPACE Hertfordshire Eventbrite.
