St Michael's Parent and Toddlers Group

We opened the doors of St Michael's Toddler Group on a Tuesday morning in February 1989with a grant of £200 from Kirk Session to purchase some toys, hoping that a few families would come along for a coffee and chat. On that first morning, more than twenty families came along; after two weeks, the group started to meet twice each week; after a month, there was a waiting list for places; and what had started as the Mother and Toddler Group, quickly became the Parent and Toddler group as our first fathers and, indeed, grandparents came along.

The great variety of toys we now have available fosters good behaviour. Said one grandmother, "It is a delight for me to watch all the children choose their different activities and play alongside one another learning to mix in together." There is also the Quiet Room where younger children can develop confidence.

Parents new to the area have a great opportunity to make new friends. Since its inception, The Parents and Toddlers Group have had contact with almost 2000 families. The group has also proved to be a fertile source of new leaders for St Michael's Junior Church.

As well as providing support for the families who come along, the group has been involved in a number of projects. In March 1992 we began to sponsor a bed in Chogoria Hospital in Kenya. Every month we send money by Standing Order and to date we have sent some £4000 to the hospital.

We regularly support the Romanian Appeal. At home we have contributed to the magnificent new window in St Michael’s, the Restoration Fund, the Manse Fund, as well as providing staging for use in the Church and the Kirk Hall. We have donated books to Linlithgow Academy library, nebulizers to the Health Centre, donations to the local branch of the Red Cross, Ark Housing, Christian Aid and our own Bible Class and Holiday Club.

Each year the Group hosts the Cradle Roll Service, providing refreshments for the adults and gifts for the children who have been baptised in St Michael’s during the previous three years. The Bibles presented by Junior Church at Baptisms are also provided by the Parent and Toddler group.

More recently, the group has supported the work of ‘Care for the Family’, a Christian charity providing help and support for families in all areas of their lives. In particular we have funded the training of Rona Molloy, one of our young mums, to become a presenter of a course for parents which aims to inform, equip and empower parents in such a way that they can help to steer their children away from the harmful use of drugs, alcohol etc. Rona has now run courses in Cross House and the Academy. The course is open to anyone who has contact with young folk whether they be parents, grandparents, youth workers, teachers or even ministers.

The needs and concerns of the families have changed over the years. In the early years major concerns tended to focus on marriage break-up and redundancy. Today, the focus has shifted. Post-natal depression is a real issue, as is the lack of support in cases of miscarriage, stillbirth and neo-natal death. We have encountered all of these and there will always be new challenges for the group to meet.

From text originally supplied by Margaret Henderson, Group Leader.