Practical, face-to-face support for new parents can be hard to come by – but new Bristol events company From Little Seeds Grow aims to plug the gap.
Launched by experienced events manager and parent Mel Bound, it will give parents information, practical guidance and support in sociable workshops across a wide range of topics from sleep and the early days to weaning, fussy eating and nutrition. There will even be sessions just for dads held in a pub.
Mel, pictured, whose wide events experience includes heading up the team that managed all the televised athletics events for UK Athletics and running event programmes around the world for clients such as Pepsico, Walkers, Orange, Clarks and SAP, has drawn on her experience as a new parent to start From Little Seeds Grow.
She said: “During the early weeks and months, we found it incredibly tough to get hold of information we trusted on the things we were finding tricky but felt were really important. We found a bewildering array of conflicting information and advice online; an overworked health visitor tried her best, but had thousands of other families to look after too.
“I was surprised that even going to mum/dad and baby groups, it could feel really lonely. It was nice talking to other parents, but people were in their own tired little bubbles a lot of the time – including me. The best sessions were those lead by a teacher with the rare skill of running a class, while encouraging chat and interaction so that everyone was involved. In my experience, these were few and far between.”
From Little Seeds Grow’s workshops, which launch next month, will be held weekly in popular venues across Bristol and feature industry experts and professional speakers who have been there, seen it and solved it.
The first events will cover nutrition in pregnancy; weaning; fussy eating; sleep issues; poorly babies and dad’s-only ante-natal classes.
Each workshop will last approximately two hours and will be held at different days and times to suit all schedules with prices starting at £15 with some classes including food.
The workshops aim to provide informative and sociable sessions giving attendees the opportunity to meet other parents facing similar challenges, share anecdotes, listen to other experiences and build new friendships.
From Little Seeds’ launch comes off the back of Government parenting class scheme which started in May. Under the scheme mothers and fathers of under-fives will each be eligible for £100 vouchers, which they can use to buy lessons offered by independent organisations. The scheme is not yet available in Bristol, but Mel says it demonstrates the Government commitment to providing parents with help in understanding how to raise their children.
Information about the classes can be found at:
www.fromlittleseedsgrow.co.uk
http://www.facebook.com/FromLittleSeedsGrow
https://twitter.com/growlittleseed
