Even more Helping Hands at Eureka! Children’s museum.
Eureka! Museum’s innovative Helping Hands Project has announced the next round of free Saturday and Holiday Clubs for disabled children and their families from across Kirklees, Leeds, Wakefield, Bradford and Calderdale. The regular clubs offer families the opportunity to take part in specially designed activities, supported by trained members of the Eureka! team, before exploring a different part of the popular children’s museum each week – all completely free of charge.
Eureka! The National Children’s Museum in Halifax, West Yorkshire, launched Helping Hands at the end of 2011 thanks to funding from the Esmée Fairbairn Foundation. The three year project provides a range of services that enable the whole family enjoy a great day at Eureka! and reduce the stresses and strains that a family day out can often entail. The first club will take place on 29 September and is open to the families of visually impaired children. A Saturday club specifically for children with Down Syndrome is set to start in March 2013.
Trizia Wells, Eureka! Helping Hands Project Lead said “We’ve received fantastic feedback from the 85 families that have already taken part in our free clubs, so we’re really pleased to be able to open this fantastic free service up to even more families this year. The clubs are great opportunities to explore, play and learn new skills, but I know many of the families have also benefited greatly from meeting and talking with other families.”
•An Extra Pair of Hands– a bookable service providing families with a specially trained enabler who will support them throughout their visit
•Saturday and holiday clubs – a chance for families to play and learn together at sessions run by trained enablers
•Ambassadors – Eureka! wants families to help by telling us what they think of our galleries and activities, giving us their ideas and suggestions and telling other families about the Helping Hands project
Saturday & Holiday Clubs
At each of our Saturday Clubs we will have trained enablers on hand to support your visit, additional activities and parking, all completely FREE. Our Helping Hands clubs are a great opportunity to:
•Meet other families
•Enjoy Eureka!’s fun filled environment
•Discover new ways to play and have fun together
•Take part in specially created sessions will be run by the Eureka! team
The sessions will include a visit to a different museum gallery each week
Pre booking is essential for these sessions. Places are limited and we will be asking you how we can help make your family’s time at Eureka! as enjoyable and stress free as possible.
Coming up…
•Visually Impaired Club
29 September, 6 and 13 October 2012
•Wheelchair Users Club
10, 17 and 24 November 2012
•Autism Early Years Club
8, 15 and 22 December 2012
Dates for 2013!
•Down’s Syndrome Club
2, 9 and 23 March 2013
•Hearing Impaired Club
20 and 27 April, 4 May 2013
•Autism Primary Club
8, 15 and 29 June 2013
Holiday Clubs 2013
Easter: 26, 27 March
2, 3, 9, 10 April
Summer: 25 & 26 July
1, 2, 8, 9, 15, 16, 22, 23, 29, 30 August
To book your place on any of the Saturday or Holiday clubs, please email trizia.wells@eureka.org.uk or jenny.goodall@eureka.org.uk or ring us on 01422 330069.
Here’s some feedback from our Holiday Clubs:
•”The children were well supervised with plenty to do.”
•”Great that the children were playing with their peers, getting a bit messy and doing activities they can’t normally do at home”
•”Parachute games were great – more please!”
•”Family time spent together and it was free! had a great time!”
An Extra Pair of Hands:
Our bookable Extra Pair of Hands service provides families with a specially trained enabler to support them throughout their visit. The service will be available on Tuesdays, Thursdays, Saturday afternoons and Sundays throughout the year.
The service is free with an annual pass, and each family is entitled to two supported visits (each visit lasting two hours) per year. The service must be booked at least two weeks in advance of your visit.
FOR MORE INFORMATION VISIT EUREKA’S WEBSITE!
