After hard work and fundraising Gleniti Playcentre has a new deck and has also had an increase in families attending.
Mother Nicole Ogg said the old deck was falling apart more than the parents realised, so they applied for some grants which they received, and also managed to raise $3000 on their own through a mega raffle.
‘‘We worked really, really hard. We are very grateful for the local businesses and families who helped support us. It is massive and amazing to have the new deck. We want to thank the Scarborough Carpentry guys who did an amazing job.’’
The deck also comes with storage and is up to code.
‘‘It has really changed the look of the playcentre. It’s somewhere we all want to be and it makes us proud as well. We want to be outside and using it.’’
In addition to the new deck, the playcentre had also had a significant increase in families attending, from two families to between 12 and 15, Mrs Ogg said.
‘‘The centre has come a long way. It is a fantastic place to be as a parent as it makes you feel like a part of the community and it is a great place to meet new people.’’
The playcentre is numbers based, so at present it is only open two days a week but Mrs Ogg is hoping the opening hours can be increased.
‘‘There are some misconceptions about playcentres. It can be seen as alternative, I hadn’t heard ofit until about a year ago, but it is like a playgroup in a kindergarten setting. We all share our wisdom with one another.’’
Since the centre was run by parents, they could design each day to suit them, such as field trips, she said.
‘‘For example, if there is a child at the centre who enjoys bugs, we can try and get someone from the museum to talk and bring in some bugs.’’
There are open days coming up next week which were free for families to attend and they were planning some messy play sessions and music and movement, she said.
‘‘We are rebuilding the playcentre to fit in with the modern working world.’’
The open days are Tuesday and Thursday from 9.30am to noon.
