The Extraordinary Journey of H.O.P.E.

Just how does a community group go from this..

Holistic Opportunities for Play and Education (H.O.P.E.) for Children and their Families was established in 1999 in response to a need to support local parents on low incomes and those facing particular disadvantage. We started life in a disused magistrates court as the young parents group which was part of the Youth in Bromyard project. We then moved to the Methodist Church hall to run twice weekly drop in family group sessions. Life was simple then, roll up, roll out the carpet, get out the toys dress up, make tea, meet friends, put the toys away and go home!!

There was a real mix of families from all social and economic backgrounds using the church hall. Grandparents would come with their grandchildren or just turn up and read stories to the children. Dads would come and play with the building bricks, we would even persuade them to make the tea sometimes!!! We ran a Second Chance course which gave parents the opportunity to develop their literacy and numeracy skills and build their confidence. All six parents attending this course either went onto further education or into employment.

Our first major fundraising attempt was kick started by the E.F.Bulmers fund and shows how you just need one person to believe in you. It enabled us to raise £40,000 which bought a brand new, bright orange purpose built Portakabin this came to be known locally as the Tangerine Dream!! The building enabled us to start a childcare nursery, run adult training classes and have a base for our office.

We quickly out grew the Tangerine Dream and started looking for further funds. Along came Sure Start and we secured Mini Sure Start status, not sure why, we’ve never done anything ‘mini’ we always go for as big as we can!!! So Sure Start matched with Church Urban Funds, European Funding and a variety of smaller grants.

Since it’s beginnings we have made it our daily mantra to ‘keep your eyes on the child’ and ensure that everything we do is the best we can do. We were really proud when our Childcare received an ‘Outstanding’ rating from Ofsted. The H.O.P.E Family Centre currently provides a childcare for 0-4 year olds, adult education and individual family support.

The charity moved into the Family Centre in 2006 from where it now operates.

We are now just about to complete a multi-use centre. This new building, the second phase of H.O.P.E. will accommodate training rooms; offices for new services and local organisations; meeting rooms; crèche; small business units/workshops; purpose built childcare rooms; a central meeting area/community hub including catering facilities.

We are in and of the community and a confidence has developed and continues to develop, particularly within disadvantaged groups, towards the centre and participation in the services and activities it offers.

We break down barriers and shift entrenched disadvantage.

We are holistic and respond to individual needs.  We are not single focus.  We work with the whole family, from meeting the specific needs of the child e.g. speech therapy, to the needs of the parents e.g. literacy, numeracy, cooking, access to debt advice, access to health visitor and midwife.

We are in it for the long term and may work with families over a number of years.

We strive to provide an independent environment in which people feel confident and non-threatened.
Our philosophy is that within each of us, just waiting to blossom, is the wonderful promise of all that we can be.

H.O.P.E. sees the invisible, feels the intangible and achieves the impossible.

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