North Tyneside families have been getting busy outdoors thanks to a new community led project from a local health and well-being charity.
North-East charity Rise set up a pilot community family programme called Step Outdoors, due to the need and demand from their nursery and school offer.
The programme gives pre-schoolers and their families the chance to try a range of different, fun activities which helps families get active in nature, build new skills and create new family friendships across their communities.
The Step Outdoors family programme, made possible by a £2,000 grant from North East employer the Banks Group, delivered a series of themed outdoor sessions for pre-schoolers and their families over the winter months.
Each session was linked to nature and aligned with the early year’s curriculum, giving children the chance to build skills, confidence and new friendships in a safe outdoor environment.
After welcoming over 50 attendees and volunteers to the sessions, feedback from both parents and children have been exceptional.
All participating parents (100%) reported that Step Outdoors supported improvements in their child’s physical development, communication skills, and personal, social and emotional development – all essential foundations for school readiness.
Parents also reported significant benefits for themselves, including improved confidence to engage in outdoor play, new ideas for low-cost and nature-based activities, and reduced isolation through meeting other local families.
All the participating parents also said they were now more likely to engage in outdoor play with their child as a direct result of the programme.
Headquartered in North Shields and County Durham, Rise works closely with organisations across the health, education, community, transport, housing and other sectors to show how movement and physical activity can tackle inequalities and help solve some of the biggest issues affecting local communities across Northumberland, Tyne & Wear, and County Durham.
It also runs a wide variety of other projects and programmes that are targeted at people of all ages groups who live in some of our most underserved communities.
Lindsay Peach, trusts and foundations manager at Rise, says: “Physical activity is not just important for health; it underpins all learning in the early years, as well as being vital for ‘school readiness,’ but statistics have shown that a staggering 91% of children under five do not meet the Chief Medical Officers’ physical activity recommendations.
“Step Outdoors aims to address these inequalities through active outdoor informal education, giving local families the chance to get active in lots of different fun ways while also building parents’ confidence and skills for active learning at home.
“We know just how much the children loved being busy outdoors and how much this helps to increase their confidence. The feedback from our pilot showed enormous demand to carry this work forward, and without the support from Banks, this simply wouldn’t have been possible.”
Jamilah Hassan, community relations manager at the Banks Group, adds: “Rise has a clear vision for how it can help more families and children in North Tyneside thrive by getting more active and it’s one that we’re very happy to support.”
For more information on Rise North East and their Step Outdoors programme, please visit https://www.risenortheast.co.uk