A little girl arrived at the door of the Tranmere Community Project, where our holiday play scheme was in full flow. We weren’t sure how many children we had, so we told her that there might not be room. “I’m not bothered about the activities”, she replied, ” but please can I come in for the food, as I haven’t eaten today, and I’m starving?”
Since last summer, Tranmere Methodist Church, in partnership with the Tranmere Community Project (TCP),has been involved with holiday play schemes for the local community. In conjunction with the ‘Feeding Birkenhead’ initiative backed by Frank Field M.P. we have invited junior-aged children to take part in activities which are then followed by lunch. The idea is to provide a mid-day meal for children who would normally be given free school meals.
The activities have included circus skills, football skills, balloon sculpture, jewellery making, a bouncy castle, X-Box games, model car racing and many others. The children have enjoyed being together and making new friends as well as having something to do during the holidays.
Our original idea was that the children would be ‘dropped off’ and collected later but we soon found that the parents and carers wanted to stay, and have now formed their own friendship group. Many now come and stay for the whole session. They have even asked for a craft session so once a month, parents, carers and children meet on Saturday mornings. This outreach into the community developed even further when so many parents and children attended our Christingle service on Christmas Eve that we ran out of Christingles.
We pray that the connections that we have made will continue to grow and flourish and that Tranmere will be seen as a place of friendship, security and the love of God in the community. – Chris Conway