"I was a bit nervous of coming. When I came to parent cafe at school T(2) was into everything and I felt a bit guilty and I haven't gone again. This is just lovely. I've felt so welcome and I wish I'd come sooner."

Tots lunch has become a meaningful way to support parents from school and a reason to invite them into our church building.

One specific thing we started to pray for before Easter was for 15 new adults to turn up at St Stephens (in our mind so that they could support with all the kids!) Since Easter, 6 new adults have turned up, two bringing two more children with SEN and the other 4 are big burly men new to faith! We love how God answers prayer but not in the ways we expect!

After focusing heavily on performances over Christmas, we've taken time to return lunchtime choir back into a 'play' activity for those who don't want to be on the playground.

The older children love taking it turns to do solos or try songs with different parts. I've loved watching one particular year 6 girl join choir and blossom in her confidence over the past couple of months.

This will be a fun new challenge for us. We'll keep you posted!

Discussion topics range anywhere from struggles with getting children ready in the morning due to sensory issues to deep backstories and emotional support.

Some mums are learning to bake and have been bringing their creations to share with us! We've taste tested some interesting recipes!

The instrumental worship music, low lighting, blankets and candles create a little haven in the middle of Canley.

In recent months we have begun praying for each other.

The much quoted proverb "It takes a village to raise a child" rings true, but how much more support does a child with additional needs need?

This week we have had parents accessing Breathe and Parent Cafe who are dysregulated and overwhelmed. Many of the parents we work with face barriers financially and socially.

A therapeutic, holistic approach to supporting them is so key. Underpinning our work is the notion of holding the parent so they can hold their child. It is a joy to see parents leaving our sessions calmer and in a better head space than when they arrived.

Our Vision and Values were set jointly with the school over a course of a few months. These help us to stay focussed on which projects we prioritise.

Cycles of poverty, poor mental health and loneliness broken in the name of Jesus enabling families to live life in all its fullness.

🫂 Belonging and inclusivity

♿ Accessible

🧑‍🧑‍🧒‍🧒 Whole family

🤍 Compassion

❤️‍🔥Courageousness

As a church, we aim to support all parents to hold their children so that they can grow up knowing they are safe and loved.

This is what I heard:

"I like cake" (R, 6)

"We know what to expect." (Mum with SEN child who has been unable to step into church for a while)

"It's so calm - I know there are kids everywhere but I can feel peace when I'm here. I drive 25 mins to come every month. I like that the kids play with no screens. There's a sense of community you don't find in other places." (Non-christian Mum of 2)

"...

In the end about ten year 1s joined in with this activity, all drawing things they were thankful to God for: family, their homes, angels, Jesus, bluebells and friends.

Worship doesn't always have to look like everyone standing singing facing the front :)

Bishop Sophie and other senior clergy members were enjoying dancing along!

It was a joyful celebration.

Parents supervised their children at the event and all had positive things to say.

"I've never been to a church before, only a funeral. This was good."

"I went to Orthodox church in my country but not in England. I like this church. I might come again."

"It was so peaceful here. We'll definitely come again"

"Are you doing any more fixtures?"

"I might come on Sundays."

Staff who attended mentioned feeling peace in the building and one said, "When the children were singing I could feel it. I could feel something. We should sing more religious songs like this in school."

The garden is also where we run The Bridge (our Benefice) Youth work from so it was lovely to encourage the year 6s to visit our youth group sometime.

To honour the 1950s theme we were given, we did a ribbon dance led by our friend Carrie from St Oswald's to Give me Oil in my Lamp - what a classic!

Again, we were asked by the school to work with year 3. Carrie, a local artist from St Oswald's helped me with this project.

We ran three focus groups to gather the children's ideas for our group's float. We asked, "What do you like about living in Canley/Tile Hill." And, "what makes a community?" The children stated that they liked playing in fields, paddling in the brook, going to the woods, watching the trains, going to the park, playing with friends and going to school.

After collecting the children's ideas about their memories and favourite things about where we live, we settled on a theme of Outdoor Play.

A few weeks before the parade, the event organisers told us that our 'Era' was the 1950s. We had to adapt our float ideas slightly but decided that the local children in the 1950s probably enjoyed outdoor play too.

We ran two classes where we discussed what childhood looked like in the 1950s and made props for the parade.

Disappointingly for the children and myself, this year's Canley parade was rained off and cancelled.

Despite the lack of the actual parade, the Big Lunch afterwards was a great event, St Stephen's gave away lots of free burgers and Bibles and we displayed the children's art work (it got a bit soggy!). We saw many of our school and local families at the Big Lunch instead.

However, all our hard work was not to waste as we still had our mini parade in school to look forward to.

We invited church, local and school families to join the fun and we had a good and enthusiastic attendance.

I felt these were really valuable as we reached new families and got to welcome them into the church building. We had a lot of fun creating our really big banners!

During the first workshop we paired up with the church's children's work and overlapped a half term film event and for the second workshop we ate fish and chips together while we created.

A few weeks ago one of the mum's asked if the school had a PTA and was told that the PTA has been run by a single teacher for the past 7 years as they couldn't find any parents willing to join. The group as a whole said they'd like to support the school in this way and so a new unofficial PTA has been born!

This morning we spent time chatting, talking about bereavement and grief, while folding tombola tickets for this afternoon's Summer Fayre.

I am taking a back seat now and merely facilitating the coffee mornings while letting the parents guide the sessions.

It's really exciting what can grow when you spend time investing in creating safe environments.

Praise God for her courage to step out of the house and join our group.