Spring Newsletter 2014

Daniel’s Den

Newsletter Spring 2014

This term seems to have flown by and what a term it has been.

Yet again we have been welcoming new families to our groups and it amazing how people

find out about us. People find out about us in so many ways

•Recommended by friends and family

•Googled us on the internet

•Saw the sign outside the venue. At Gladstone Park Primary School we were thrilled when a

new dad came because he’d seen on of the many posters put up by Yvonne, one of our

volunteers.

Don't forget there is someone living down your street who needs to be invited and you are the

best person to invite them. On a personal note, I have been thrilled that I have met 3 new

families who have moved onto my own street in Wembley in the last 3 months! We are

hoping to get some advertising postcards printed for people to hand out to other parents who

they may see in the street, in the supermarket, on the bus etc.

I have had a thought provoking term in many ways. For those of you who don't know, I

founded Daniel’s Den in 1996, when my son was 4 months old. Since then I have seen it

grow and develop in so many ways – just like my son who is nearly 18, 6 foot 2 inches and

about to head off to university. I am personally involved in developing the work of parent and

toddler groups in the UK and this means we are having to look at handing over areas of

responsibility within Daniel’s Den. The team of volunteers we have are great and we need the

right people in the right place. If you would like to be more involved do let us know – there are

various things which need doing ...

Joanna Gordon Managing Director of Daniel’s Den

Hi there …

Website

Our new website was launched on Tuesday October 1st 2013. it has the

capability to being viewed on all devices, such as computers, ipads,

iphones, and all tablets We are delighted with the way Helen and Cris

Barrios have designed the new site and we hope it will be a useful source of

information for many. Check it out

Daniel’s Den was invited to run a parenting course for

parents of children in the nursery and reception classes at

Elsley Primary School. We used the postcards we

designed last year and ran 6 sessions. Each session

started with an ice breaker i.e. what is your favourite food –

this caused lots of laughter but helped us get to know each

other better. We then did group work, question and

answers and explored various topics including handling

challenging behaviour, the power of words etc. The

feedback has been very positive and we hope to run other

courses in the future.

‘We need courses like this before our children start nursery’

Saeed (father of 3)

‘At first, I didn't want to come on the course but I have

found it so useful’

A Parenting course held at

Elsley Primary School!

Postcard Parenting

We have said goodbye and hello to several volunteers this term. Cheryl Tate brought all three of her children to Daniel's Den and was one of the original directors ands treasurer. New opportunities are opening up for her and she feels it is time to step down. We are thankful for all she has done over the years and wish her well. Rhys and Keturah Owen have left Stonebridge to work in a new church in HONG KONG – lets hope they take some of the Daniel’s Den inspiration with them

The group at Elsley were unable to meet at the school one day so decided to visits the new soft play centre in Wembley www.playwembley.co.uk It was great and we hope to repeat this and make it available for ALL groups

St Andrews hosted a Community Lunch in March and a good time was had by all ...

Parent Night Out We were delighted to be invited to a fun night out hosted by Tesco ...

One of our ‘nans’ teaching mums to make Mothering Sundays baskets.

News ...

Shirley French has been volunteering for many years and I recently popped into her home for a cup of tea and a chat ...

Jo: Shirley, What do you do at Daniel’s Den Shirley: Not much! I like to say hello to everyone and its so nice to be around the children. I make the teas and coffees and do a bit of tidying up. Jo: That a huge understatement Shirley. So often you encountered a very messy kitchen but you always left it better than you found it. Shirley: Well, I try. If someone comes in and saw the place looking untidy, what would they think. Especially if they have little children. Jo: What does DD mean to you? Shirley: It means family – a very, very close family. A family that loves and cares for one another. I have my own family – 7 children, 16 grandchildren and 5 great grandchildren and I see them quite often. What I do is natural to me and I love the work in DD. Jo: What is your highlight of DD? Shirley: Your smile and hug – I love it! Jo: Do you have a vision for the future of DD? Shirley: I would love to see DD having a headquarters where people can come and meet. And I would love there to be a space to pray so that people can come in and pray anytime. I love praying for the families of Daniel’s Den.

At the moment people from all over the world come to us but I feel that DD should spread all over the world! People can take it to their country but it must be called Daniel’s Den!

Focus on Shirley

On a trip to Buckingham Palace as a thank you from Daniel’s Den for 15+ years of volunteering!

Shirley gave a piece of her famous banana cake to Cherie Blair to give to her husband, Tony (the then Prime Minster)

A cup of tea

Who…?

Daniel’s Den is a parent and toddler organisation with a simple mission – to encourage and

enrich family life. For more information why not go to the web at to

see all the things we do! What…?

Daniel’s Den is a registered charity 1147172 and a registered Company 5303714. It is

independent and fully reliant on donated money, grants and fundraising activities. Why…?

We believe strongly that we should do all we can to encourage and support family life,

especially those who stay at home to look after their children. The project is faith based and is

based on biblical principles. It is open to all and is faith based, not faith biased.

Contact Us 02089086986 07436273844

[email protected] www.danielsden.org.uk

www.facebook.com/DanielsDenTogetherEveryoneAchievesMore

PO Box 987, Wembley HA9 1FX

The latest Annual Report was published on February 27th

2014 – do check it out to see all the amazing things we do in

Daniel's Den! In May we have a feedback fortnight and this

gives you the opportunity to comment on what we do and

make suggestions for the future – we do value your opinions.

Annual Report

Who?What?Why?