Dear Editor,
I write after seeing the article in the Spennymoor News (issue 147) about the local toddler time group closing down at the Leisure Centre.
I just wanted to echo my thoughts and give some more points to see if it helps with potentially keeping our beloved playgroup.
My mum has been coming to this playgroup for 10 years with my nephews and I started coming with her last March after the birth of my own little boy in December 2022.
To put it simply, the loss of this toddler group will cause devastation to the community. Not just parents but child minders, grandparents, aunts, uncles and any care givers attending.
This toddler group offers a huge variety of toys that are the perfect fit for the children who attend, it offers tea and coffee to adults who maybe haven’t had the chance to have a sip of water that morning, it provides support, care, love and gives the children the most wonderful memories.
It’s a safe haven where you know you can come and be yourself for an hour while knowing the children in your care are in a safe space to play and learn.
The staff go above and beyond to make every child and adult there feel welcomed and comfortable, and the most important fact is that it’s affordable.
I often can’t afford to take my children to a playgroup every day, so when it gets to Wednesday and Friday each week I have a little sigh of relief that I have somewhere to go – especially during these winter months.
Offering the toddler group parents the chance to go to the soft play is a poor alternative.
The toddler section is minuscule. Our children need to run, run and run some more and the soft play that’s been built cannot offer that.
My child for one will want to go in the older section, my mum is 73 and could never get in the soft play to help him so she won’t be able to bring him and now with the loss of the toddler group she will be alone with a 2-year-old.
I don’t understand why the toddler time cannot run alongside the new soft play! They offer completely different needs.
I cannot stress the heartache that the toddler time regulars are feeling. We feel unheard, unseen and most importantly forgotten about. We are the ones the leisure centre should be looking after, the loyal ones who have been coming for years and years.
It breaks my heart.
Your sincerely,
Caroline Thomas, Spennymoor
Spennymoor's local community newspaper.
