The first week of school holidays brought another action-packed summer scheme at Jewish Care’s Redbridge Jewish Community Centre. Over 150 4-11 year olds attended the first week of Summerworld 2017 enjoying a wide range of activities including cooking, arts and crafts sports, parachute games and messy play.
The holiday scheme, rated outstanding by Ofsted, is run by the centre’s professional staff team supported by 50 young people (school years 9-13) trained through RJCC’s MIKE youth leadership programme.
Senior Youth Worker, Adam Nickels, explains more about the programme:
‘Summerworld’s first week has been brilliant and we look forward to seeing the children and leaders having a great time over the summer. Parents and children love it, because it’s non-stop fun and each person is listened to so we find out what they will really enjoy doing each day. It’s also a great place to make new friends and get messy and convenient for parents as we provide snacks and lunch. I want to thank our fantastic leaders and volunteers, many of whom have attended the summer scheme themselves when they were children.”
Summerworld leader, Katie Rich, age 19, who volunteered through the MIKE programme, says, “I enjoy getting involved with the kids and making sure they have a good summer. There’s loads of activities and it’s a great team, we always get new volunteers growing in their leadership roles. We take the children’s ideas on board to help everyone to stay engaged through the day.”
Parents agree with the leaders as Rochelle and Simon Power say, “We send our daughter to Summerworld because we know she can’t wait to run through the door with a great smile on her face. She spends time with her friends making yummy cakes. And we know she’s in a friendly and safe environment where we know she is enriching her cultural background.”
Amy Harman feels the same, adding, “My son has been able to make more friends socially. He feels comfortable to be himself. The staff are great and make the parents feel confident to leave their kids here”
As for the children, they all have their reasons to love Summerworld. 8 year old Mia’s favourite activity is the cupcake making for Jack, age 7 it’s the art says, “There’s lots of things to do in the art room. There are lots of different things to use like paints, which is really cool.” Whilst for Hannah, also aged 8 it’s all about the big outdoors, she says ‘I love playing outside. We do lots of sports sessions outside which I love’.
Summerworld has been running at the Jewish Community Centre for over 35 years and with breakfast and after school clubs it offers a great summer holiday solution for working parents.
For more information about RJCC’s holiday programmes coming up, call 020 8551 0017 or email rjccyouth@jcare.org
For further information or photographs please contact: Lisa Wimborne T: 020 8922 2761 or
E: lwimborne@jcare.org