Family Drop-in

Our Drop-in

The Family Drop-in meets once a month (almost always the 2nd Saturday of each month). Each session is open to ALL families with children with special needs. Our Drop-In is a chance for the family to relax and play in a welcoming, non-judgemental atmosphere. Parents get the chance to chat with other parents, make new friends and share experiences. For children we have plenty of sensory toys and equipment, plus Arts and Crafts, ending the afternoon with a music session. You do not need to book a place to attend our Drop-in.

Lending Library

Our lending library has a wide variety of books on offer, bought with a generous grant from Tesco’s Community Fund. Various diagnoses and conditions are covered, as well as one or two books that are aimed at the young person or their siblings to help them understand. There is also an iPad available – only for use at the Drop-in, which contains a variety of applications and games.

Our lending library has a wide variety of books on offer, bought with a generous grant from Tesco’s Community Fund. Various diagnoses and conditions are covered, as well as one or two books that are aimed at the young person or their siblings to help them understand. There is also an iPad available – only for use at the Drop-in, which contains a variety of applications and games.

Play Equipment

At the drop-in, we feature a range of play equipment, purchased with a grant for £9,625 from the National Lottery’s Awards for All scheme Fund. These items include specialist trikes, a soft play train, a trampoline, a large ball pit and lots of crash mats! There are other toys on the crash mats including the colourful step leading up into and away from the ball pit and smaller toys.

Chilled Zone

In the main hall is the book and dressing up corner, which features a host of reading material for all abilities, a dressing up box containing dressing up items and uniforms for both girls and boys and the award-winning “story phones” – robust wire-free mp3 players for little ears, equipped with various stories and nursery rhymes.

All of these are surrounded by a host of cushions and beanbags, ideal for quiet reading or listening to a story.

Sensory Music

Each month, towards the end of the drop-in, is music time. This enables the volunteers to quietly start to pack up the drop-in session, whilst keeping the children focused on a fun activity. The actual music activity varies, with regular visits from Ruth Whitelaw and member parent Kevin Tant (whom some of you may know).

Parking

The Mercread Center is on Mercread Road, where there isn’t any parking. Instead, head for one of the town’s car parks or for Cornfield Close (shown on the map below), (A259 to Highlands Road, then as close to Cornfield Close as you can) where there is plenty of parking. At the end of Cornfield Close is an alleyway that will bring you out directly opposite the Mecread Centre (You can see the alleyway if you examine the map below carefully).

COVID-19 and Variant Precautions

With COVID-19 (and its variants) causing issues for some, we ask that you do NOT attend this event if you have or suspect you have COVID-19. The NHS has some guidelines here about what you can do.