St Lawrence Tots & Co

Click here for Tots dates.

Tots & Co is a parent toddler group run by a team of volunteers from St Lawrence Church.

It's a good place to meet friends and make new ones. Have a coffee and a chat on a Friday morning.

Young babies, toddlers and pre-schoolers can join the fun each week (see link in left hand column for term dates) with the responsiblity for their care and safety remaining with the adults who bring them.

Regular get-togethers provide a place for you and your little ones to relax and meet others. Mums, dads, grandparents and carers are very welcome!

Due to the popularity of this local church run group we now have a membership policy with waiting list, as the group is currently over subscribed.

Bidborough, Bounds and St Lawrence linked families will be given priority for places.

Local families are welcome to come along for a taster session and can fill in an application form to join. We will let you know when a place becomes available. If you have a place, please use it or let us know if you are moving on so that we can offer it to someone else.

A typical session starts off with playtime with plenty of toys to play with and a chance for grown ups to have a coffee and a chat. Drinks and a biscuit are available for children too!

There is a play-dough table, jigsaws and books and a splodgy, creative activity each week.

At 11.00am (approx.) we have some tidy up time before gathering in a big circle for our ‘together time’ - a fun time with songs and rhymes. As a church based group, we have a special bible message in the ‘together time’ each week, sometimes illustrated with puppets and a craft activity to link with it. We also have special celebrations at Christmas and Easter.

We are happy to help celebrate birthdays with the candles on our ‘special’ Tots & Co cake but you can bring your own real cake to share if you wish! Then its time for more play before we end at 12:00 noon.

We are a non-profit making group and all we ask is £2 per week for each family group to cover costs.

From time to time, we have guests to come and speak or help with the songs and storytelling. We also have special events including celebrations - teddy bear’s picnics, etc. We are also developing social evenings for grown ups including inviting presentations on issues of interest to parents and carers.

We arrange for craft, book and nearly new sales and we collect second hand items for families in need in other parts of Tunbridge Wells and for a charity overseas.

We now sponsor a child's place at one of the homes run by The Toybox Charity - helping children from the streets of Latin America. We receive regular news from a little boy called Antonio who has found a home with Toybox in Guatemala. We hope to fundraise to support this Christian charity.

Parentalk

Parentalk is a series of informal sessions run over 6 to 8 weeks. Meeting as a small group in a home setting we can explore parenting issues together using material produced by Care For the Family to prompt discussion. Parentalk is offered on an annual basis and is a way of encouraging each other as we reflect on family life with young children. Friendships grow from this sharing experience.

A daytime Parentalk with crèche will be offered in a home setting in Bidborough in the Autumn. For details and booking contact the Tots & Co team.

“Whoever welcomes a little child in my name welcomes me”
(Mk 9: v36)

Contact Details

For further info, contact Claire Wells on:

(01892) 527414.

or via e-mail: