The Square Start Levenmouth team have adapted very well to the Coronavirus Lockdown, we posted an article a few weeks ago on how they embraced the digital world taking all of their services online in a very short period of time, let’s revisit the team eight weeks later and see how things are going.
Every week Claire and Tanja from BRAG Enterprises and Annie from Fife Gingerbread have provided one to one support with families in the Levenmouth area, as well as promoting peer support via a private, families only facebook group. This gives a safe space for clients to interact with each other and the team. Within this group the team have a weekly timetable of events that take place remotely. These include a zoom coffee morning, cooking on a budget sessions, a ‘play your cards right’ themed budgeting game, family fitness with Caroline from Boogie Bounce Buckhaven, arts and crafts guided play, growing at home sessions, a monthly quiz night with prizes and virtual third party events are shared eg. Museums, Edinburgh Zoo, Blair Drummond Safari Park, virtual dog walks and much more. A weekly bookbug session in conjunction with the Scottish Book Trust is also broadcast live however, this is open to everyone so takes place outside of the private group. Families receive weekly food boxes with ingredients for the cooking on a budget sessions and activity packs for the guided play sessions.
The team are constantly looking at new ways to engage with the families and share wellbeing and relaxation techniques with parents. They also help to guide them with coping strategies for the children. The families that the team work with come in various forms and each have their own individual support needs, some families have members on the autistic spectrum while others have individual health issues, but the team strive to offer inclusive support packages that ensure that every family member feels valued. Square start Levenmouth have also supported their parents to gain their elementary food hygiene certificate pre lockdown and are currently exploring other ways for the parents to gain new skills and qualifications in their new remote setting including an online first aid class to support families to have the confidence to be able to deal with minor ailments. Square Start Levenmouth’s regular funding comes from the Scottish Government’s aspiring communities fund and with a recent cash injection from Corra Foundation’s wellbeing fund to provide extra support during the coronavirus crisis. This will allow the team to work with more families who are socially isolated and need some extra parenting support. Annie our Gingerbread worker has now gone on annual leave before taking her maternity leave. She will be missed, we wish her all the best and we can’t wait to see photos of the new addition.
If you would like more information on Square Start Levenmouth please click here.