July 2021 Newsletter 🌈

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July 2021 Monthly Newsletter

Welcome to our Monthly Newsletter!

Hi families,
We hope you are doing well!
This month we have lots of fun activities for the whole family alongside our information about the family friendly launch of our exhibit at the People’s History Musuem - the ‘Unseen Community’. Please be mindful we will continue to follow government restrictions and will try to notify you of any changes as and when we know them.
All of our activities can be found in our dates for your dairy below or on our Proud 2 b Parents events page. It's going to be another fun packed month!

The ‘Unseen Community’ exhibit at the People’s History Museum, is a selection of LGBT+ parents and carer images of their family. This project was developed in 2019 but had to postponed due to COVID. We look forward to seeing lots of our families at the launch. But if you can’t make it you can still visit the exhibit as it will be open from July - September 2021 in their engine room.

The Anna Freud organisation (The National centre for children and families) is looking for early years dads and adoptive parents who can help to develop a Parent Platform for online mental health support.

The platform will include videos, podcasts, training, Q&As and opportunities to speak to other early years dads and adoptive parents. For some of these projects, they are planning to provide a gift voucher of £10 at M&S for every hour of service.

They want to develop the Parent Platform with the people who will use it. Getting involved can range from completing a one-off survey, to sharing your thoughts and experiences at each stage of development. To learn more please review and complete their expression of interest form (https://forms.office.com/r/Mq5aziq9kt).

We've had a fantastic response to our annual survey this year - the most ever! Thank you for taking the time to complete it and this feedback with importanlty help us to shape our services going forward. We look forward to seeing you at our activities this month and remember our Community Engagement Worker Katie will be there in case you haven't attended our sessions before or to support you back to meet ups after this long-time of restrictions. If you have any questions or need any further information or support please do not hesitate to get in touch.

Take care,

Dates for your Diary

Don't forget all our digital activities can be watched after the event to fit in with your family's schedule.
PLEASE NOTE: Our physical meet-ups are subject to change in line with government guidelines.

Physical Monthly meet up:

Sunday 25th July 1-3pm @ The People’s History Museum
This event is bookable currently due to the restrictions still in place. However this may change after the 19th July so please keep an eye out on our Facebook page for further updates.
Join us at The People’s History Museum for our family friendly launch of the ‘Unseen community’ exhibit. The activities today will run in the engine hall where the exhibit will be until September. We will have Matt Hill doing his protest song sessions, a face painter, arts and crafts with Mandy and story times with our Resident Drag Queen the lovely Vivienne Lynsey.
Proud 2 b Parents workers will also be on hand. Please email info@proud2bparents.co.uk ASAP to book your place.

Physical Mid Week Meet-ups:

Monday 5th July 10:30am
This week's mid week meet up is at Let Loose Soft play Centre. This morning has it all from burning off energy on the slides and climbing frame to a catch up with other parents and carers over a brew. We look forward to seeing you there. Please book onto the session so you can be notified of any changes. Katie will be on hand for any newbies coming along to the event. Please email info@proud2bparents.co.uk ASAP

Friday 16th July 10.30am onwards

This week's mid week meet up is at Tree Top Nets, Heaton Park. This fun filled morning starts high up in the tree canopy with giant trampolines, walkways, slides, and tunnels all made out of netting and suspended up to 12m off the ground. The bouncy nets feature giant ball parks, super fast slides and aerial walkways through the tree canopy.
This activity is suitable for ages 3 and above. However the meet up is open to all ages as after the tree top fun families can enjoy everything Heaton Park has on offer with their two playgrounds, farm, walks, garden centre and cafe.
So bring a picnic and make a day of it! Katie will be on hand for any newbies coming along to the event.
Please book onto the session by emailing info@proud2bparents.co.uk

Physical Proud 2 b Me Youth Group (8s and over):

Saturday 10th July 2-4pm
We're heading to Challenge 4 Change with our young people this month. There will be a range of experiences on offer to build confidence, belief and resilience. These include an assault course, High Rope Activity; Leap of Faith AND Giant Swing. With supportive and experienced instructors on hand our young people be will be able to give things a go that they may never have tried before and feel proud for doing so! Meet Myrtle promptly at 2pm at the main entrance of the venue. Parents and Carers can drop their young people off and be back for 3:45 to collect or stay on site. Please make sure your child/ren has a drink with them. We look forward to seeing you there.
Only 10 places available so please book ASAP by contacting Myrtle on info@proud2bme.co.uk or 07400 891117

Parent Support Session

Thursday 15th July 8-9.30pm

Join us over on our Proud 2 b Parents Social Facebook group for a Parent Support Session with Emma from Everyday’s a School day. Emma will be covering everything you need to know about getting our little ones ready for starting school in September. Emma says ‘The leap to starting Primary School is a big one and it can feel scary for grown ups and children alike’.
In this reassuring session Emma will chat through the key skills children need for school, what to worry about and what to chill out about! She will cover what sort of information you should expect from school and how to get organised for those first few weeks and months of doing the school run! You will need to be a member of the Facebook group before the session starts so if you are not already make sure to send a join request and answer the three joining questions. We look forward to seeing you there.

Thursday 23rd July 19:30-9pm
Join us over on our Proud 2 b Parents Social Facebook group for a Parent Support Session with Leanne a local Parenting Practitioner. The session is aimed at parents and carers with children aged 11+ and will aim to support you to relate to your teen with a focus on
building a positive relationship with your teenager and using positive parenting strategies. There will be a top tips guide shared after the session to help you further. You will need to be a member of the Facebook group before the session starts so if you are not already make sure to send a join request and answer the three joining questions. We look forward to seeing you there.

Tell us what you would like to see at our Parent Support Sessions by filling out this survey

You may have already met Katie at a couple of our meet ups last year or on our digital sessions but from April she will be who you'll see at our mid-week meet ups.

"I’m Katie, originally from Derby but moved to Lancashire when my wife Debbie got into uni. We have a 2 year old son called Freddie, who we co-parent with Freddie's father. I have worked as a support worker for children in care and also in a dementia unit while studying my access to Midwifery. I am currently working on palliative care and of course as part of the wonderful Proud 2 b Parents team. I’m really enjoying the role and looking forward to meeting everyone in person once our physical meetups recommence."

Help us to help you by selecting Proud 2 b Parents as your cause on easyfundraising.org.uk. By clicking through the website or app when you shop online you can help us receive donations from online retailers at no cost to yourself! Just click the image above to find out more.

Not already a member of our Facebook group then search 'Proud 2 b Parents Social' and send a join request. This is a closed group where members are approved by moderators. Here you'll get updates about P2bP activities, other relevant news and events and a chance to connect with other LGBT parents before coming along to one our our meet ups.