2024’s Busy Summer of Fun!
We were excited to deliver our jam=packed summer play programme once again this year, which also happened to be our busiest summer of delivery ever at Wolves Play Cafe delivering a summer programme for 610 children under 7 and 494 caregivers under 7 across the city of Wolverhampton.
Although summer is often the busiest time to try and find activities to do, we know so many early years activities stop over this period, when they are often needed most! Thanks to our National Lottery Community Funding and a successful grant from the Inclusive Communities Fund, a legacy of the Commonwealth Games, we were able to not only continue but supercharge our early years accessible Pay As You Feel early years activities.
Over the Summer we:
– Sang 228 songs and read over 18 stories
– Delivered 57 sessions offering 6 different ways to play
– Added 2 brand new sessions to our summer programme
– Played in 6 different community-based spaces across our city
6 different playdates to choose from!
We had plenty of ways to play with our weekly play sessions, Drop-in Play Cafe, Wolves in the Woods, Nature Play, along with Play in the Park, and two brand new sessions launched in the summer of Grow, Cook, Play and Super Saturdays!
With support from the West Midlands Combined Authority’s Inclusive Communities Fund and collaborating with the team from Gatis
Community Space, we developed Grow, Cook, Play and Super Saturdays Men’s play. These were a series of weekly outdoor play sessions for under 7s and caregivers to develop knowledge of nature, support skills of outdoor learning and allow caregivers to share stories with one another.
Cook, Grow, Play allowed families to engage with cooking, gardening and play opportunities. Super Saturdays were designed from feedback to enhance opportunities for male caregivers such as Dads, Uncles, Grandads to get together, connect and enjoy time with their little ones in nature.
We were so happy that this project helped widen hyperlocal opportunities for play in Whitmore Reans, with over 91% of attendees coming from the immediate area.
New Fun and Friendly Staff!
We were so excited to be able to expand our team again this summer, welcoming 2 new staff joining us! We are so lucky to work with amazing local people who help develop our vision and impact at Wolves Play Cafe.
Play Leader – Rosie
Play Leader- Karielle
Check out their spotlights on our team page to find more about them!
“One of our play friends came running over, excitedly explaining how he had just made three new friends in the park and invited them to come and play in the session. They played
together right till the end of the session, really making the most out of the open-ended resources coming up with creative ways to play together. It was wonderful to see how a simple invitation to play led to such a lovely afternoon for him and his new friends!”
Rosie, Play Leader, 2024
We are very grateful for the support and investment from The National Lottery Community Fund, West Midlands Combined Authority Inclusive Communities Fund. Thanks to them Wolves Play Cafe has been able to successfully deliver a much-needed fun and friendly summer of accessible early years play opportunities for families in our city.
Also thanks to our partner spaces of All Saints Work Space, Boundary Way Committee and Gatis Community Space, for their continued support in working with Wolves Play Cafe to ensure young children can gain access to community spaces to create a safe, fun and supportive city for children of Wolverhampton to grow up in.
The legacy of this summer means we are delighted that the new sessions will continue into the Autumn programme and beyond, as part of Wolves Play Cafe’s embedded seasonal programme.
“I have loved being away from my work desk and having more time playing over the summer due to how many fun sessions we had! I particularly enjoyed our new Grow, Cook,
Play sessions at Gatis and catching up with play friends I hadn’t seen in a while! I also loved coming along with my little one and making happy memories, as well as a cuppa and a chat for me too!”
Lisa, Co-Founder/Director
Share your vision for early years play in our city
Whether you’ve only been once or 100 times before, your feedback helps to inform us about the future development of our contribution to supporting families and championing play in our hometown!
If you have a little one under 7 and live in Wolverhampton or surrounding areas we’d love to hear from you!
Share your thoughts through our summer survey here with us about play in our city! Every entry will have a 10% discount at The Orchard Cafe and a chance to be entered into a monthly prize draw!
Come and play!
You can get involved by coming to play at a session near you! Book your next session here.
Or perhaps you’d like to be involved by being part of our Play for All team, contributing to shaping the project and feeding back on your experiences of parenting and play in the city. Email us at info@wolvesplaycafe.org to find out more.