Newsletter for Members - Q3 2025

Welcome to our quarterly newsletter for Our Free Minds’ members and their families.

Newbury Lido Trip

We are planning to go to the Newbury lido for a swim on Friday 22nd August (with back up plan of Monday 25th August if the weather doesn't play ball). You are welcome to join this family event. Please check the leisure centre for rules about adult ratios. We will book in the week ahead. Please get your own tickets if you are interested.

We the Curious Home Ed Day

We spent a day at “We the Curious” in Bristol on their home-ed day in June. We had a lot of fun and so are planning to go again on its next home-ed day on Friday the 5th September. This isn't live on the website yet so we are keeping an eye and will let you know when we see that tickets are available!

Hannah will also plan to go on Friday 7th November for those who like to plan ahead!

Autumn Family Walk

We will go to Lydiard Park in Swindon for a walk around the lakes and a play at the playground on Saturday 25th October afternoon. All welcome with responsible adults!

We intend to continue inviting you to activities like this in the future. We will pick an activity, place and date, and invite you all to join us. You are also very welcome to do the same! If you are taking your child to a park or somewhere, for example, you are welcome to make use of the OFM - Parents WhatsApp group and see if anyone would like to join you. 

These will be like family get-togethers or playdates. The main aim is to spend time together and have FUN!

We ended the July term with our annual campout on Thursday 10th July, right after the session at Group. It was really nice to see the parents of our members meet and spend time with each other at the barbecue, while some others chat and chill out on the grass. The children also had a great time playing on the field. A wonderful way to end the term!

We have set up a new bank account for Our Free Minds CIO.  You will see the new account number and sort code on the invoices we issue to you. Please use this account when you transfer OFM any payments or donations from now on. Please also inform your family and friends if they may be making payments to us and are not in our contact list. 

If you are about to book your holiday, renew your insurance or make any big purchase, don’t forget to check if there is a good donation amount with easyfundraising first. Sometimes there'll be a cash donation available if you book with a particular retailer. 

If you haven’t done so yet, please sign up to our easyfundraising page and choose OFM as your cause. It’s simple and FREE. Many retailers you already use take part, like John Lewis, Argos, Tesco, Uswitch, Just Eat, Wayfair and GoCompare. Please also share the link with your friends - https://www.easyfundraising.org.uk/causes/our-free-minds/. 

For people who prefer to donate goods rather than cash, we created a "wishlist" on Amazon:  https://www.amazon.co.uk/hz/wishlist/ls/1615ZBX7SL27B/ref=hz_ls_biz_ex . Please share it with family or friends, or donate something yourselves. Thank you!

We are recruiting for one more trustee or task force leader: especially those who are able to specialise in finding investors to support us in our hunt for a permanent home. Please contact us at info@ourfreeminds.org if you would like to be considered for any of these positions.

Apart from the above official roles, there are endless other ways you can help us, e.g.  offering skill share sessions, administration, marketing, financial advice, legal advice, provision of storage for our resources, fundraising, looking for a permanent location or other resources, business management… If you are (or if you know anyone who is) happy to contribute, please get in touch! 

We find that members who attend multiple days per week are more settled and involved in the community. As such, our medium term goal for the future is to have members attending at least two sessions per week.

Our term dates for the year 2026 are ready! You will find them on the Community calendar on Google. We have also listed the dates out here. We will adhere to these dates as much as possible, unless there are unforeseen circumstances.