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Freedom Fibre Awards

Fri, 10 Nov 2023 12:22:44 GMT

Friday 3rd November 2023

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Safeguarding standards

183:833758566 (Claire Benson) — Wed, 23 Nov 2022 15:46:43 GMT

Wednesday 23rd November 2022

It's November already and the end of the year is looming over the horizon. It's given us the push we needed to complete a project we started a while ago - getting accreditation from Salford City Council for meeting their Safeguarding Standards.

While we already do all we can to keep the children and young people we work with safe, it will mean a lot to us to have our efforts formally recognised - and will open up lots of doors for future projects.

We're really looking forward to finally completing the process over the next few weeks. For now, here are some resources for anyone interested in improving their own practice or keeping up to date with the latest developments.

NSPCC

The NSPCC Newsletter has lots of important information on the latest updates while the Serious Case Review page is a valuable resource for learning from cases of the past. They also have some great online and e-safety resource s for anyone working with children.

SSCP

The Salford Safeguarding Children Partnership also have a wide range of courses available for anyone wanting to learn more about keeping children and young people safe. They're constantly monitoring and coming up with improvements: to keep up with the latest developments, check out their News page . We've also found signing up to their e-Bulletin really helpful in staying on top of the latest info.

We know that though safeguarding is important, it can be a heavy topic to think about. If you've used any of the resources on this page, remember to take time for self-care afterwards. Why not have a look at our socials if you need some ideas?

That's it from us for now - see you soon!

Walks, Talks and Wellbeing

183:833758566 (Claire Benson) — Tue, 27 Sep 2022 11:18:14 GMT

Thursday 1st September 2022

We've got something to announce!

Starting next week, we'll be holding our brand-new Walk and Talk sessions in Monton every Monday and Friday! Start and end your week right with a wander and a chat (and some adorable pups).

Every Monday and Friday we’ll be meeting in Monton at midday for an hour-long walk and talk. Betsy and Bonnie will be joining us on some of the walks and would like to make new friends both doggy and human (as long as they’re well-behaved). You don’t need a dog to take part though.

The walks come with an opportunity to request 6 fully-funded counselling sessions via Zoom with our fantastic counsellor Mike. Just come along for a stroll and let us know you’re interested.

Mondays: Meet at Dukes Drive car park entrance at 12pm

Dukes Drive off Parrin Lane, Eccles, Manchester M30 8AP

Fridays: Meet at Tesco’s Monton at 12pm

Monton Rd, Eccles, Manchester M30 9GF

Summer’s gone (and we can’t wait for the next one)

183:833758566 (Claire Benson) — Tue, 27 Sep 2022 11:02:31 GMT

Friday 19th July 2022

What a summer!

We had a wonderful time with our summer club children in Little Hulton and in Cadishead.

With visits from all kinds of local clubs and organisations like Winton FC, Swinton Lions Rugby Club, the Fire Service, the police, BMX biking and a trip to the RHS Bridgewater, we (and the kids!) had an amazing time. The children junk modelled pirate ships, learned circus tricks, got out and about helping their community litter pick and grow delicious fruit and veg and even got some cooking lessons from Salford Health Improvement Service as well as super-important First Aid training!

We can’t wait for next summer so we can do it all again. In the meantime, keep an eye out for our Christmas Holiday Activity and Fun days - sign-up will open soon.

Summer fun with Recreate-U

183:833758566 (Claire Benson) — Tue, 27 Sep 2022 10:47:30 GMT

Wednesday 20th July 2022

School is winding down for the summer and that means lots going on at Recreate-U - our staff have been working hard to get everything ready for the start of our summer clubs. We’ll be back again this year with our wonderful school partner in Little Hulton as well as running our first-ever summer club in Cadishead.

We’ve got loads of exciting activities planned, with visits from Swinton Lions rugby club, Winton FC, Dave Morris Boxing and Active Sport’s BMX coach as well as trips out to local allotments, Irlam Fire Station and of course our Recreate-U Community Grow plot at the RHS Bridgewater. We can’t wait to share these exciting experiences with the children!

Coffee and Langauage Lovers

183:833758566 (Claire Benson) — Tue, 27 Sep 2022 10:47:28 GMT

Thursday 9th June 2022

Our new beginners’ Mandarin programme at Transcend Studios in Eccles started today. Our first group had a great time learning to say hello, introduce themselves and explain where they're from. It was really fun to discover a new language and culture (some of our staff even popped down to see what was going on) and the group are really looking forward to joining us again next week.

We’ll be there every Thursday evening for the next 6 weeks learning simple words and phrases in Mandarin Chinese.

Keep an eye on our Youtube channel to see what we’ve been learning each week.

一会儿见！

Egg-citing Easter

183:833758566 (Claire Benson) — Thu, 26 May 2022 13:02:11 GMT

Monday 11th April 2022

Well, we had a wonderful Easter!

After our successful summer club last year, Recreate-U was funded to offer HAF provision in both Cadishead and Little Hulton in 2022.

Over Easter, we planted bulbs, made music shakers, created Easter cards, cooked up chocolate crispy cakes, shaped salt dough, held our very own X-Factor style talent show and lots more. Not to mention our special trip to the RHS Bridgewater Gardens on the last day of the provision. We got to know lots of new children and families and had a wonderful time sharing our Easter fun activities for kids.

Our local Tesco also very kindly donated Easter eggs for all of the children to take home - a huge thank you to Bex for all her hard work in arranging and to Tesco for their generosity!

All the children who attended the clubs loved it - check out all our exciting activities and what the children had to say about them here .

We’ll be back again in summer so keep an eye on our social media to find out when sign-up opens!

Dog-Walking Tails

183:833758566 (Claire Benson) — Tue, 24 May 2022 13:17:55 GMT

Thursday 19th May 2022

Have you seen our new Youtube video?

Our amazing Recreate-U team member Emma has been working wonders with her filming and editing skills - check out our cute video about the benefits of walking (with a dog).

Not only does walking with a dog give you the benefit of fresh air and exercise, a furry friend can be a great reminder to enjoy the simple things in life. And sometimes, you make new friends - just look at Betsy and Bonnie’s example at the bottom of this post!

Watch the video here to get your daily dose of wellbeing inspiration (and cuteness).

Have Fun - Doctor's Orders

183:833758566 (Claire Benson) — Tue, 24 May 2022 13:10:44 GMT

Tuesday 3rd May 2022

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The Us Report

183:833758566 (Claire Benson) — Tue, 02 Nov 2021 13:25:58 GMT

Tuesday 2nd November 2021

We did it! After weeks of revising, remembering another thing we did and revising again, we finally got our Impact Report off to print. It's been an amazing process remembering all the incredible experiences we had in our first year, all the things we learned and goals we achieved. We can't thank our volunteers, grant funders and business support people enough for all the invaluable help and support they've given us this year. Read all about what we got up to here (when we work out how to add it to the website).

Connected Launch

183:833758566 (Claire Benson) — Mon, 25 Oct 2021 11:31:46 GMT

Saturday 9th October 2021

Tomorrow is the launch of Connected , the new self-help book and directory of the UK's top wellbeing services by author and resilience coach Gemma Margerison. We were delighted to be chosen as one of the featured services and got straight down to writing our chapter through spring. The hard part was cutting it all down to fit in our allocated chapter length, but we got there in the end. We talk life audits, making changes and the best things you can do today for a wellbeing boost, so check out Chapter 4 for some of our best advice for maintaining your wellbeing and mental health.

We're really excited to go and celebrate the book's official launch at the Ribby Hall Hotel tomorrow - keep an eye on our social media for pics and video! Connected will be on sale soon in our web shop.

Happy New (School) Year

183:833758566 (Claire Benson) — Mon, 25 Oct 2021 11:21:17 GMT

Monday 6th September 2021

It's back-to-school time already! Summer has just sped by - we think it was all the fun we were having with our Summertime with Recreate-U summer school programme. Luckily, our lifestyle leaders are on hand with their top tips to get prepared for the new school year. Check them out on our Youtube channel here to make the most of your new start this September!

Look at us grow!

183:833758566 (Claire Benson) — Sat, 07 Aug 2021 16:50:42 GMT

Tuesday 29th July

After weeks of anticipation we got to take a look at our brand-new Community Grow plot at the RHS Gardens Bridgewater today! We're super excited to get planting some veg with our volunteers as well as showing the plot off on our Summertime with Recreate-U trip in a couple of weeks. We'll even get our very own plaque on the plot - fancy!

We'll also get to use the Wellbeing Gardens for some of our events and activities while we've got the plot. Watch this space.

We'll be there every Wednesday afternoon between 1-3pm so come on over and dig in. Just send us a contact form or message us on social media first so we know you're coming. We'll meet you at the main entrance.

Summertime with Recreate-U

183:833758566 (Claire Benson) — Sat, 07 Aug 2021 16:40:42 GMT

Monday 26th July 2021

What a fab start to our 6-week Summertime with Recreate-U programme! We've got a fantastic group of Lifestyle Leaders working with us - they'll be spending the next six weeks learning about healthy lifestyles and finding ways to help people in their communities live healthier lives. Today, they made their Lifestyle Leader ID badges, made a start on saying 'hello' in Mandarin and French and did some painting. We've tons of activities planned, with arts, crafts, gardening, languages and outdoor sports to name just a few. Not to mention our visits from the Dinobabies and upcoming trip to our brand new community plot at the RHS Bridgewater ! Can't wait...

Get moving with Mile-A-Day May!

183:833758566 (Claire Benson) — Fri, 30 Apr 2021 19:30:45 GMT

Friday 30th April 2021

What's Mile-A-Day May?

Mile-A-Day May is a simple commitment to walking a mile every day during the month of May to raise money for children and families who've been hit hard by the effects of Covid-19.

Why are we doing it?

Recreate-U is passionate about promoting walking because it's one of the 5 ways to wellbeing. Walking in nature is proven to improve people's overall wellbeing and mental health. By asking people to walk a mile, just 15-20 mins a day is realistic and achievable target for most people. If people have been sponsored or have set an intention to support Recreate-U's #MileADayMay they are more likely to stick to their intention.

Who is participating?

As many people as possible!

The Recreate-U team will be walking a #MileADayMay to raise funds for Recreate-U to support children, families and communities who have been adversely affected by Covid-19.

How can I help?

Recreate-U is asking people to get sponsored by friends and family, or to sponsor themselves to walk a mile a day in May and then donate that money to Recreate-U via our donation page .

Why donate?

Recreate-U provides an desperately needed support to hard to reach communities. Our communities are telling us that children and families are struggling with poor mental health and learning loss as a direct result of the pandemic. We want to help these children and families and we need your support to do that.

Please give as generously as you can, we sincerely appreciate the financial difficulties many of us are facing right now and we value every single donation.

Finally, please share #MileADayMay and follow us on social media. Thank you for participating!

Tea, Madam?

183:833758566 (Claire Benson) — Tue, 13 Apr 2021 10:08:18 GMT

Saturday 3rd April 2021

Despite us saying we were taking Easter off, Claire can never resist the chance to do something good for the community. She decided that keeping all the Easter treats to ourselves wasn't the example we want to set. So as an Easter surprise, she popped over to the Cadishead Tenants' and Residents’ Association to deliver some afternoon tea gift boxes to the unsuspecting residents. Delicious!

Happy Easter!

183:833758566 (Claire Benson) — Tue, 13 Apr 2021 09:59:48 GMT

Friday 2nd April 2021

We can’t believe it’s Easter already! Time’s flown this year between our Warrior Women event, giving our best tips on School Return at our talk for Salford CVS, and of course getting stuck into tutoring with some amazing students. We just wanted to wish all our supporters and everyone who’s helped us out, attended one of our events or just taken a look at this page a big Happy Easter. Now we’re off to eat our Good Friday chippy tea and munch on some Easter eggs. (Nobody said we had to be healthy *all* the time, even if we do work in wellbeing! Moderation is half the secret....��.)

Sensory Bags Are Here!

Tue, 13 Apr 2021 09:53:35 GMT

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The wait is finally over. After weeks of planning, the sensory bags are ready to go! When our child steering group heard that some children with sensory needs focus better when using fidget toys, they jumped into action. Together, they came up with the idea to pop some of their own favourite fidget toys and sensory objects into a bag and make it available for anyone to buy. Our amazing director Aimee jumped on board to deal with the grownup stuff, and the sensory bags are now available to buy on our web shop . Can’t wait to see where these kids end up in ten years if they’ve got this much drive and innovation!

Happy Mother's Day

183:833758566 (Claire Benson) — Tue, 13 Apr 2021 09:46:41 GMT

Sunday 14th March 2021

Wishing a big Happy Mother’s Day to all the mums, stepmums, mums-in-law, godmothers and like-a-mum-to-me’s out there! The Recreate-U team have all been spending the day with their mums whatever way they can in the circumstances. Claire’s in her mum’s bubble so they went for a socially distanced stroll together and had a lovely time. Jen’s mum lives in care so she couldn’t have a visit in person, but she still enjoyed opening her gifts over Skype, while Aimee was getting her own Mother's Day treats from her daughter. We hope all our lovely Recreate-U mums and mother-figures have had a wonderful day with their children (big and small) and hope to see you all soon.

A Talk to Remember

183:833758566 (Claire Benson) — Tue, 13 Apr 2021 09:38:15 GMT

Tuesday 9th March 2021

It’s all go at the Recreate-U offices! After playing host to tons of inspiring local ladies on Sunday, it was our turn to be the guests last night. We were lucky enough to be invited to speak at Salford CVS ’s own Women’s Day event, talking about the best ways to help your child ease back into school life now that home learning is officially over. It was another great chance to see inspirational local women in action, discussing what they do best, and has given us a real motivation boost to see what we can do and how many more people we can reach in the year ahead.

Warrior Women Event

183:833758566 (Claire Benson) — Tue, 13 Apr 2021 09:30:51 GMT

Sunday 7th March 2021

What a day! A huge thank you to all the wonderful women who spoke at and attended Warrior Women. We had an amazing time getting stuck into all the workshops and chatting to inspiring local women from Smart Girls’ Tribe, Holly’s Brunch Club, GLC Resilience Coaching and many more. And of course enjoying our delicious G&Ts courtesy of Sis4ers Distillery! Keep an eye out on our social media over the next few weeks for snippets of our favourite moments. For now, here are some links to all our amazing guest speakers and performers:

Smart Girl Tribe

Diamond Hypnotherapy

Magma Effect

GLC Resilience Coaching

Holly's Brunch Club

Sis4ers Distillery

Serena Smith, Mortgage Advisor

James J. Marketing

Jenny Berry Poetry

Storytime Sessions

183:833758566 (Claire Benson) — Mon, 15 Feb 2021 17:42:05 GMT

Wednesday 10th February

If you've been looking for something for the kids to do over half-term next week, we've got a story for you! Our lovely Recreate-U community members Naomi and Bella have come up with a great plan for a half-term treat. They’ll be going live at 2pm on Thursday 18th February with the story of Stick Man and his amazing adventures.

Reading stories to children can improve their literacy skills, develop their vocabulary and even increase their attention span. And honestly, who doesn’t love listening to a good story? Set aside some time on Thursday and tune in on Facebook Live to listen to Naomi read. If you’ve got an idea for a community activity, go ahead and drop us a line on contact@recreate-u.co.uk to let us know.

Warrior Women on the Way

183:833758566 (Claire Benson) — Mon, 15 Feb 2021 17:35:02 GMT

Monday 15th February

En garde! With International Women’s Day is just around the corner on March 7th, we’ve turned into Warrior Women. We've put together a programme of workshops by some fantastic local women. Not only have we got some brilliant stuff in the programme, but Manchester City Council have kindly allotted us grant funding for the whole event. That means no-one needs to pay to get in, so everyone gets a chance to benefit.

During the event attendees will learn about empowerment, goal setting, relaxation and lots more, as well as getting opportunities to network with female-led groups and businesses. It’s all online and Covid-safe – and did we mention it’s free? We’ve seen lots of uptake so far, with more than half the places already gone. If you want to join our celebration of women, register here and we’ll send you the Zoom link. We look forward to seeing you.

Gong Xi Fa Cai

183:833758566 (Claire Benson) — Mon, 15 Feb 2021 17:13:04 GMT

Friday 12th February

恭喜发财 everyone! January has flown by, and the lunar new year is here already. February 12th is Spring Festival, also known as Chinese New Year. We’ll be moving out of the Year of the Rat and into the Year of the Ox. Our director Jen speaks Mandarin and lived in China for several years, so she's put together a few videos with some fascinating Spring Festival facts. Click through the links to learn how to say Happy Chinese New Year in Mandarin, what personality traits are associated with the Ox sign , and just what that red symbol on people’s doors really means. Why not support a local business and order in some tradition new year dumplings or longevity noodles while you’re at it?

Christmas Crafts with CalmChildren

183:833758566 (Claire Benson) — Tue, 08 Dec 2020 16:20:30 GMT

30th November 2020

Here at Recreate-U, we love crafts and we love Christmas. And what could be better than both at once? This year, we're running Christmas crafts course under our CalmChildren brand. During the five-week, twice-weekly course, you'll get to make Christmas decorations, come on a nature walk, create gifts for your family and lots more. All of it's Covid-secure of course: we're posting out bags with the equipment to participating families in good time for them to be quarantined and ready to go for the first session. And best of all, the course is free for anyone to join as we have received full funding from Forever Manchester! We're really excited to be receiving funding to make sure our offerings are accessible to all, and we can't wait to enjoy Christmas activities with local families.

Christmas Hamper Giveaway

183:833758566 (Claire Benson) — Tue, 08 Dec 2020 16:02:46 GMT

4th December 2020

To celebrate our first Christmas as a CIC, we've put together a Christmas hamper full of goodies! Some of them are from us, and some are from other fabulous local companies we think you all should know about. Included in the hamper are:

• Family Mindfulness Session

• One to One Language Lesson

• Personal Decluttering Voucher

• Book of Eco and Lifestyle Tips

• Relaxation Bath Set

• Manchester Bee Coaster

We're going to be announcing the winner on Sunday 20th December. To enter, pop on over to our social media, like the Facebook page , share the post and tag someone you think would love this hamper - and you're in with a chance to win. Good luck!

Shed-Building Adventures

183:833758566 (Claire Benson) — Tue, 08 Dec 2020 15:47:31 GMT

14th November 2020

Today, some of our team got their own chance to learn and grow by taking part in a community workshop run by the fantastic Platt Fields Market Gardens . PFMG collaborated with several other community organisations as well as us, with each one building a portable hut for the upcoming Winter Gardens Fair. A big shoutout goes to One Manchester , who also got in on the community support action with a generous grant to pay for building materials and participation in the workshop.

Sadly, PFMG's Winter Fair has had to be postponed indefinitely, but they went ahead with the socially distanced outdoor building workshop anyway. Despite the cold weather, Claire and David overcame all challenges and did a fantastic job turning a pile of timber into a mobile home for Recreate-U. By the end of the day, they had brand-new building skills and we had a brand-new hut! We're super excited now, because we'll get to keep the hut we built. This means in future we can set up shop at different community events around Manchester and bring our services to local people. Look out for us at winter markets and summer fairs once public events are back on the cards. We're looking forward to seeing you.

Halloween Quiz

183:833758566 (Claire Benson) — Tue, 10 Nov 2020 13:03:04 GMT

31st October 2020

We went live last night on Facebook for the very first time for our Kids' Halloween Quiz ! Despite a few nerves everything went smoothly. Emma did an amazing job hosting and feedback was that the kids who were watching loved getting stuck in and having a go and answering our spooky quiz questions. Even Albie joined in – after all, what’s a black cat to do on Halloween? We loved doing our live quiz and we’ve got lots more live events planned, so keep an eye out on our social media feeds, and remember, if life gets busy you can always catch up by watching the videos afterwards. See you on Facebook!

Brand New Website

183:833758566 (Claire Benson) — Tue, 10 Nov 2020 13:03:03 GMT

10th November 2020

We’ve been busy behind the scenes now the new lockdown has kicked in and have we got something new for you: a brand new revamped website! We’ve got new offerings, an easier booking system and even some fabulous new profile pictures thanks to our brilliant photographer Nathan. Claire and Jennie have been working hard on designing new programmes and getting all the site text written out, as well as getting a new Christmas surprise lined up for you all, while Emma deserves a huge shoutout for all her hard work on the new site. Look at how new and shiny it is!

Lockdown Live

183:833758566 (Claire Benson) — Tue, 10 Nov 2020 13:03:02 GMT

5th November 2020

If you're anything like us, you might have been finding celebration days like birthdays and Bonfire Night some of the tougher ones to be locked down for. We were definitely missing getting the sparklers out this November 5th , so Claire jumped on Facebook Live to help everyone feel a bit more positive about the weird year we're all living through. Claire's an amazing positive thinker who can find the silver lining to the darkest thundercloud (even while being rained on), so click here if you could use a bit of help seeing a bright side to Lockdown 2.0.

Office Space

183:833758566 (Claire Benson) — Tue, 06 Oct 2020 12:32:46 GMT

6th October 2020

Pictured above: our brand new office! The new desk arrived this morning, so Claire and Jennie have spent a couple of hours organising our office space into a proper work area. Claire turned out to be an absolute pro at flatpack furniture building - you never know the skills you have until you try! After moving things around a bit to make sure we had a productive, healthy workspace, it was time to put the bells and whistles on with a nice fluffy rug and a palm tree. In case you're wondering, yes those leaves may look familiar from the Recreate-U logo. Once everything was in place, Betsy did a quick office inspection, making sure the desks are doggy ducking-under height and checking for rug softness. Luckily, she approves of the location of her new workspace - or at least, she does if the big doggy smile she gave us just after this pic was taken is any indication. Can't wait to get to work!

Rainy Day Fun

183:833758566 (Claire Benson) — Tue, 06 Oct 2020 11:43:38 GMT

1st October 2020

Today was the day of our fabulous photoshoot! A few lucky clients got the chance to be models for our website, and even got their own Recreate-U t-shirts to take home afterwards. To keep everyone safe, we made sure everyone got their own brand-new Recreate-U face mask as well.

Thanks to the camera wizardry of our fab photographer Nathan, we got plenty of shots of our outdoor activities despite the need to social distance. It was a definite welly day, but that didn't stop us getting outside, disconnecting from our screens and enjoying nature. It was a day full of giggles, mud splashing and trying to keep the props dry with a collection of spare umbrellas. In the end, everyone had a great time in spite of the rain. We got some wonderful pics, and more importantly, our clients got to relax, disconnect and feel like the VIPs they are. Now we all just need a hot bath (especially Betsy) and some tea!

Team Meeting

Fri, 25 Sep 2020 15:33:42 GMT

25th September

The team has been hard at work behind the scenes this week getting our Facebook appointment booking system up and running. Now you can book in for a half-hour FREE consultation with us with a couple of clicks! In other news, CEO Claire’s been busy networking with other voluntary sector organisations and the Business Growth Hub, while director Jennie spent the day plotting out ways to link up with schools and make sure our services are reaching the families who need us. But the achievement of the week award has to go to superstar social media expert Emma, whose canny web writing and excellent marketing skills got us to the first page of Google. Go and try entering the search term “Recreate-U” if you don’t believe us! We had trouble believing it at first too...

Luckily, before we forgot about our #worklifebalance too much, our lovely mascot Betsy reminded us to take a break, get some air (oh, and there may have been pizza involved too).

Back to School Session Launch

Thu, 06 Aug 2020 12:24:21 GMT

Launching a range of sessions to get your child ready to go Back to School

Worried your child has lost out on learning because of lockdown? Concerned about the return to school? You’re not alone. We know many families have had difficulty accessing online classrooms, coping with the needs of children of different ages all at the same time, or have struggled because they haven’t been able to access their usual support from school. The good news is, we can help. We’ll set up a consultation between you and one of our team of professionally-qualified primary tutors. Together, we’ll identify any gaps in your child’s learning, then it’s our turn to design a bespoke package of fun and engaging activities to give your child the boost they need. Contact us for more information.