Crossing Together Toddlers was formed in March 2024 following the project being approached by two local new parents who felt there was a need for a group locally in Bourtreehill. Both mums, along with another four mums who joined the scaffolding core team last year, are the lead participant, along with our Mission Pioneer in running the weekly sessions on Tuesday mornings for 2 hours at the Relief Mission Centre. The group lost 9 children at the end of last session to nursery and 4 families where the mum returned to work, but since advertising during the summer we quickly reached capacity of 40 babies/toddlers again, who attend with a least one adult per child. The sessions are free to ensure it is accessible to all.

At Crossing Together Toddlers we aim to provide a fun, warm, safe, welcoming and accessible space for babies and toddlers to come along with their grown-ups from Bourtreehill and the surrounding areas of Irvine. In setting up the group we initially looked at accessing funding to purchase equipment and toys however a toddler group in Troon had recently folded and they gifted us items that meant we could launch the group immediately. The group is free of charge to families to access and weekly snacks and craft materials are provided through donations and fundraising. It is important for us to maintain a no charge policy to maximise accessibility due to the cost of living crisis and our locality being significantly impacted with regards poverty. Weekly snacks provided are balanced with items like fruit, toast and juice/water being provided for the children and a warm drink and biscuits/cakes for the grown-ups. As well as the weekly sessions we want to continue to provide the families with new experiences that can include their older children and partners which will extend the community spirit that is being built in and around the group already. These new experiences include family fun days, parties, trips and days out locally and further afield. 

Many of the families who attend the group rarely travel outwith Irvine and it would be great to improve the health and wellbeing through a summer trip to a farm park, which would provide a new experience by seeing the animals we sing about and read about at our weekly song and story time. A Christmas Party with entertainment, hospitality and a visit from Santa would also encourage positive mental health during the festive time that brings much stress with extra financial outgoing in winter. A weekend family fun day using the local park space would enable us to include working parents and older children and through hospitality/food and fun activities create a positive aspect to a park area that carries much saddness in the community and encourage resislience and new owership of the local space. In addition we supported the local community to attend all ages art sessions this year and to host a day just for the toddler families to engage and empower them to see how art together can aid mental health wellbeing and be a positive bonding experience we plan to offer this at Easter this year.

For Crossing Together to provide these experiences at no cost to the families in our locality we would be applying for the PB Locality Funding to help meet these costs as well as doing additional fundraising and seeking donations.

Examples of costings to provide such experiences are:-

Farm park admission (approx 80 people includes under 2s free) = £650

Childrens Party Entertainer = £125

Family Art for the Soul Session with Art Therapist and art/craft materials = £150

Hospitality Party/Funday = £130

Additional costings for items like craft materials and additional hospitality would be sought through donations and fundraising.