Welcome pack for new families

Welcome to our quarterly newsletter. In this newsletter, we invite your support, share news, upcoming events and plans for OFM.

Your Support

At Our Free Minds, we are building a community where children, families and facilitators can support one another and grow together. We see OFM as more than a drop-off space, and we value the sense of community that you help to create.

As we continue to develop OFM, we find that our time and resources are quite stretched. There is a significant amount of work happening behind-the-scenes to keep everything running smoothly, and we are managing much of this work on a voluntary basis. We would value some additional support so we can focus more of our time on the children. 

With this in mind, we invite you - parents and carers - to contribute a small amount of your time to help the community run smoothly. As a guide, this could be around one day per term, in any way that feels manageable for you.

This could include:

• Spending time at a session (whether simply being present or sharing a skill)
• Helping to organise a family event
• Taking part in our cleaning day
• Resource tidying
• Provision of storage for our resources
• Repairing shipping container window
• Strimming the grass in the field
• Replacing the two lights in the hut
• Refreshing the hut
• Helping to promote OFM
• Fundraising
• Looking for a permanent location or other resources
• Looking for people who understand our ethos and are happy to work with us 

There may be other ways that better suit your time and skills, and we welcome your ideas. If you’d like to get involved, please speak to us. Even small contributions can make a big difference. Thank you!

News on Grants 

We have been working hard to develop new revenue streams for OFM by applying for grants and funds. We are pleased to share that these efforts are beginning to yield positive results.

We are delighted to announce that our application to the Wiltshire & Swindon Community Foundation was successful. The Grants Panel has awarded us £5,000, which will be paid over a two-year period. In their feedback, the panel specifically singled out the significant difference OFM makes to our members and their families. Read more in our blog: https://ourfreeminds.org/our-team/f/we%E2%80%99re-delighted-to-receive-funding-support-from-wscf 

Other recent applications include The Paul Hamlyn Foundation (declined unfortunately!), Tesco’s Community Grants (ongoing), and the Marlborough Area Board Youth Grant (ongoing).

If you become aware of any local grants or other fundraising possibilities, please do let us know, or get in touch with David Norris (at danorris14@gmail.com) who will see if we are eligible for the application.

 A Stronger Team 

Milly joined Our Free Minds as facilitator in February. She has settled in with ease, and members warmed up to her almost immediately. She has a relaxed, grounded presence that sits beautifully within our community. She is with us two days a week. 

Meanwhile, we are all delighted that Hannah agreed to remain on the facilitator team for one day a week, and to take on leadership work outside of sessions.  

This new structure means we will continue to have a consistent number of facilitators throughout the week. We’re grateful for the strength of the team we’re building together.

Family Activities

Family Walk – Sunday 10th May, 3pm (Savernake Forest)

We enjoyed a lovely afternoon in the forest - thank you to everyone who joined us! Also - just to make it explicit - anyone else is more than welcome to arrange and invite for a walk or other activity, using the Parents WhatsApp group!

Family Day -  Friday 5th June, 10am-2.30pm (Scout Hut) 

It will be similar to a normal session, with the bonus that families get to spend time together. 

Arrive from: 10am

Tidy up time: 2pm

Home time: 2:30pm

Things to bring:

- Maybe bring a friend who might be interested in what we do

- Lunch and snacks for yourselves

- Any activities you might particularly like to share or do

- £5 contribution per family towards the rent for the day

Please RSVP if you are planning to join us. We look forward to seeing you there!

Campout - Wednesday 8th July, from 3.30pm (Scout Hut)

You are all welcome to our barbecue and campout in July. When the Wednesday session ends on the 8th, we will start preparing for the barbecue and setting up tents. If camping is not your thing, you are welcome to spend time with us just in the afternoon, and / or have the barbecue in the evening.

The Thursday session on the 9th July will start at the usual time. 

Heritage Crafts Camp - 3rd to 7th September (Scout Hut)

We will be holding a multi-day Community Heritage Crafts Camp at the Scout Hut in September. Camping each night or visiting us during the day is welcome. There will be demonstrations and skills sharing of traditional crafts. If you have a skill to share we would love to hear from you. More details to follow nearer the time. 

All the above are family events - parents are responsible for their own children. If you are unable to attend, you can make arrangements with another parent who is willing to be responsible for your child. 

Ofsted Registration

We are getting Our Free Minds ready for the Ofsted registration process. This decision has been made between us and our Trustees thoughtfully and with the children’s best interests at heart. We believe it is a wise and forward-looking step that prepares us for any changes the Schools Bill may bring, and ensures our setting continues to thrive.

There will be no noticeable change to your child’s day-to-day experience at Group. Our ethos, approaches and the activities we offer will remain the same. 

We will update you when we submit our application. We reassure you that throughout the registration process - and at all times - we fully comply with GDPR requirements. 

Fundraising 

Easyfundraising

Please sign up to our easyfundraising page and choose OFM as your cause - https://www.easyfundraising.org.uk/causes/our-free-minds/. 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. 

Wishlist on Amazon

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!

Board of Trustees

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.

Term Dates

Our term dates for the rest of this year and next are ready. You will find them on the Community calendar on Google. We have also listed the dates out here.