Open Day Report
''WOW!''
That was the wide eyed reaction of a little 2 year old girl when she first saw the new Oasis Children's Centre at our Enfield hub. Her response still makes me smile today.
As a parent myself, I know that so many other places - from doctor's surgeries to advice bureaus - usually have a small number of second-hand toys and games for the children to play with. So seeing her come here with all these brand new toys, in our fantastic new Academy building, I could understand her reaction.
But there is a lot more to our children's centres than just toys-while children like my little friend are playing happily and safely, their parents, who often don't have access to many other resources, can learn about parenting, health and nutrition, job seeking and even breastfeeding, in their own language too if needed, thanks to our team of translators. Our centre allows access to many other services, but our main aim is to provide a listening ear and friendly encouragement.
Parenting is so important, and it breaks my heart that so many children don't receive the affirmation and encouragement they need when they're young. They should be told every day that they are special, so that one day, they will believe it for themselves and in time pass the message on to their own children. This is how together we build strong families and supportive communities.