ONE WHOLE UNIT, ONE FAMILY
Success4All provided 29 families with a free family day out during the February half-term.
While we regularly take children and young people on day trips, providing families with the opportunity to explore some of our region’s top family attractions isn’t something we’re often able to provide.
However, over the February half-term, an opportunity presented itself for us to do just that!
Thanks to a recent grant, we were able to facilitate trips to three local gems; Gibside National Park, Centre for Life and Beamish Museum.
In total, 29 families from the Tyne & Wear region were able to take part in some much-needed quality time together. At the same time, they were able to visit a new part of the city which they had never seen or visited before, socialise with other families and for a few hours, forget about some of their worries.
By providing families with free travel, food, and entry tickets as well as a friendly and familiar face from the Success4All team to accompany them, the trips proved to be a success for everyone involved.
Now that the children are back and settled into school, we have had a chance to catch up with some of the families to learn more about their time with us.
For many of the families, their highlight from the trips was the community feeling and sense of belonging they experienced. It was refreshing for them to see their children take part in the activities available such as taking on the low ropes challenge at Gibside.
Throughout our conversations, it became apparent just how impactful the family day trips out were to everyone who was able to attend.
This was the first time the Kausar family visited both Gibside and Centre for Life and overall they enjoyed it. “It was a good and comfortable experience. The other families on the trips seemed like our own family. One whole unit, one family. The staff were friendly and caring, and we would not have enjoyed it this much had we been on our own.”
Similar to the Kausar family, the Anber family of 4 mum also had a great time out and would like to go on another trip with Success4All.
The family said the entire trip felt like a big family outing. “The staff were very friendly and supportive. It felt like family. I felt very comfortable and the kids enjoyed it a lot.”
The Irfan family visited Gibside and it was their first experience going on a planned family day trip. The kids loved exploring the park with their newly made friends. As for the parents, this trip was just as valuable, as they too could socialise with the other families and take a minute to breathe.
Mrs Irfan informed us, “It was refreshing. I got to chat with the other ladies and friends on the trip. It helped refresh my mind and kind of revive me. I normally don’t get to go out, especially during this time as my husband works night shifts. Even if we do get to go somewhere far, it is in the evening, so we don’t get to enjoy it as much as we did on this trip.”
During our visit to Beamish Museum, it was cold and wet during our visit, yet that didn’t stop our families from having a fantastic day out.
“It was awesome to see a different part of Newcastle and mind-blowing to see the stuff we saw. We never heard of beamish before so it was our first experience and a great opportunity. You make this happen for us without having to spend money. We are really grateful,” said Anton.
Please email us at info@s4a.org.uk and let us know if you would like Success4All to arrange more family day trips out and where you would like us to take you.
