GroW Families | Grove & Wantage Family Community Group

Update: August 2021 - Summer Holidays 2021 - Bumps and Babies groups running, but no Toddler Groups until 6th September.

Now we have reached the summer holidays, our staff are taking some well earned holiday. We are not running Toddler stay and play groups, and we will return on Monday 6th September. We are running some Bumps and Babies (includes babies and crawlers) groups during August. Dates are on our online booking calendar, and bookings open 7 days 4 hours before each group.

Although the Governement has removed the legal requirement to wear face coverings and social distancing, GroW will continue to encourge visitors to our groups to do all you can to keep our community, and our staff as safe as possible. We will welcome the continued use of face coverings and social distancing where possible. Thank you for your support and understanding.

Our full programme will return from 6th September. Our programme will be advertised in late August, when we have finalised venues and staffing.

All groups need to be booked on to and bookings open 1 week before each group, and close 30 minutes before each group starts. Bookings are taken through the 'book on a group' page on this website.

All groups are free to attend, donations welcome but not expected. Suggested donation of £3 per family. We will have a pot for cash at the welcome table. Please see a member of GroW staff during the session to donate by debit or credit card, or by Apple Pay or Google Pay.

Nurturing Programme for Parents:

We are excited to be running the Nurturing programme for Parents, a 10 week course starting in September. Use the menu at the top to go to the page all about this fabulous course.

If you are pregnant or have a baby under 12 months old, we have created a What's App chat group to create a support network of local parents and carers. If you would like to join the group, please email or Facebook message us with your postcode, and age of your baby/due date and we will send you a link to join. You do not need to provide us with your mobile phone number.

For those with toddlers, we have previoulsy been doing facebook lives and pre-recorded videos of Toddler Time sessions, which can be found on our facebook page. They are now lots of videos, each one has around 30 mins of songs, games and a story for you to enjoy and take part with your little one, all run by our experienced session leaders.

www.facebook.com/growfamilies

GroW is funded by grants and donations, without these we could not continue our important service in our community. If you would like to donate to GroW, you can do so via the links below in the Make a Donation section, or contact Michelle, Manager to discuss other funding options. Michelle can be contacted by using the form at the bottom of this page.

We hope you stay healthy and happy and look forward to welcoming you at our groups.

Michelle, Sarah and Kirsty
and the GroW Management Committee.

Unique baby and toddler groups, providing essential support for families in Grove, Wantage and the surrounding villages.

GroW is a community group run by the community, for the community. We set up in response to the closure of the Childrens Centres in 2017. Our community came together to ensure we have a service that reflects the unique needs of our expanding community, and we have evolved and changed ever since. GroW supports parents and carers in their social, emotional and mental wellbeing. Through play, stories, singing and group activities, we support the physical, emotional, social and educational development of children under 5 years old.

With over 500 families registered with us, and over 100 families per month visit our groups (as at 31 January 2020), we provide an essential and vital service to our community.

Follow our Facebook page www.facebook.com/growfamilies for weekly updates to our timetable including any changes or canacellations.

Contact Us

How is GroW funded?

All of our groups are free to attend, so we are funded by grants, donations and local fundraising. To remain sustainable into the future, we are actively seeking further grants, donations and additional sources of funding. Do you work for a company that supports local charities or community groups? We would be very grateful for any help you can give in terms of fundraising or obtaining grants or donations. If you would be willing to volunteer to support us on our fundraising team, please get in touch.

Amazon Smile:

Do you, or your family, shop on Amazon? Use Amazon Smile instead and select us as your chosen charity and Amazon will donate to GroW every time you make an eligible purchase. We are officially part of St Johns Church, but all of Amazon donations will go into the GroW account and be used to deliver our service. Click the link, or search 'St Johns Grove' at www.smile.amazon.co.uk. Please share with your family and friends! https://smile.amazon.co.uk/ch/1129066-0

Make a donation:

You can make a donation at any of our groups by either cash, card, apple pay or google pay. If you aren't attending a group but are generously donating to GroW, please contact Michelle Rozer, Manager on 01235 376037.

Volunteering for GroW

We are looking for local volunteers to help with a variety of roles, ranging from making drinks and snacks for families at our groups through to roles on our management committee. If you would like to get involved to support our community, either on an occasional or regular basis, please get in touch.