Annual Report

Daniel’s Den

Together Everyone Achieves More

1st September 2013 – 31st August 2014

Registered charity number 1147172 Company Limited by Guarantee 5303714

www.danielsden.org.uk

Encouraging and enriching family life according to

biblical principles

We have a vision to see

Parents and children having the opportunity to

‘know and be known’ in their local community

People building ‘relationships that matter’ within

and beyond their cultural/ethnic group

Parent and toddler groups being available in all

localities

Family life being valued in all levels of society

both locally and nationally

Letter from the Managing Director Page 3

Review of 2013-2014 Page 4-9

Our impact Page 10-11

Fundraising review Page 12

Financial review Page 13

Special thanks Page 14

OUR MISSON Encouraging and enriching family life according to

biblical principles

We have a vision to see

Parents and children having the opportunity to

‘know and be known’ in their local community

People building ‘relationships that matter’ within

and beyond their cultural/ethnic group

Parent and toddler groups being available in all

localities

Family life being valued in all levels of society

both locally and nationally

CONTENTS

2013-2014 has been a year of change in many respects. We have said numerous hellos and goodbyes.

In July many families left as their children started nursery and reception – always sad when people ‘outgrow’ our groups but wonderful to see such confident children starting a new chapter in their lives. We hope and pray that the many things they learned at Daniel’s Den will help them adjust to this new life.

As is usually the case, some of our volunteers moved on too - Rhys and Keturah left to work in Hong Kong. We also said farewell to two original directors and trustees – Angela Anterkyi and Cheryl Tate, having put in over 25 years service between them. They were duly thanked for their services at our annual volunteers’ meal and will be enjoying a day of pampering.

With goodbyes, there is also time to say hello. We welcomed many new families and volunteers and our lives are richer for this. Our website was completely redesigned and this, along with some very eye catching postcards, is proving to be an excellent publicity tool. We are encouraging everyone to get the vision of DYS – Down Your Street and encouraging people to invite those who live nearby.

We also now have a new trustee – Peter Kearney. He brings a wealth of experience and is a great addition to the team. I have been on a peer mentoring programme with other charity leaders and this has been very challenging and thought provoking. Much of the year was spent considering ‘What is the purpose of Daniel’s Den?’ as we all acknowledge it is so much more than a weekly parent and toddler group. Our feedback fortnight is a great way of measuring the impact on people’s lives as well as the evidence of the attendance figures.

One highlight this year was running a parenting course at Elsley Primary School. This was requested by the early years coordinator as she saw the value of the input we give in terms of playing with your children, reading together and talking. We used our Postcard Parenting resources to put together a 6 week programme and not only did the parents benefit hugely, but we also gained a new volunteer. It was wonderful to hear from the nursery teacher how she saw the changes in the children as a result of this course!

Our motto ‘Together Everyone Achieves More’ rang loud and clear this year!

We ran 5 toddler sessions each week throughout Brent, bringing a sense of care and

belonging to many families. Having a safe warm place to bring your children means so

much to local families and its great to see the toddlers coming with mum, dad,

grandparents, aunts/uncles, child minders or au pairs. The range of toys and activities

creates a rich learning environment where new friendships are formed and people

developing a real sense of belonging.

These are the sessions we ran each week.

Tuesday 9am-10.30am @ Elsley Primary School

Tuesday 9.30am-11am & 11.30am-1pm @ St Michael and All Angels, Stonebridge

Tuesday 1pm-3pm @ Gladstone Park Primary School

Wednesday 9.30am-11.30am @ St Andrews, Sudbury

DYS (Down Your Street) has become a well used

motto as we want people to invite their neighbours

DYS to come to a group. We produced some eye-

catching postcards which people can carry in their bag

and hand out to those they meet on the street, in the

shop, at the library etc. That personal invitation is so key

and these cards are a tool which can be used to spread the

word.

Delighted that our newly designed website was launched in October and it’s a

wonderful shop window of the work we do! So many people now find out about us via

the internet but word of mouth is still the greatest publicity!

‘1 in 2 of parents found out

about us via word of mouth’

Daniel’s Den is blessed by a great team of volunteers who tirelessly help in various ways—from setting up the toys to making cups of tea, to filling in our database and washing toys. Having people from the local community volunteering brings a ‘family feel’ to what we do and it’s been great to see community developing in this way.

A number of our volunteers go on to further studies or employment as a result of the volunteering experience. Joe gained a first class degree in forensic science whilst still volunteering once a week to do administration whilst others have done training and now work in schools or nurseries.

If you know someone who would like to volunteer, do get in touch with one of the session leaders. We have lots of tasks that need doing.

Training is provided.

During National Volunteers week, we

took all our volunteers out for a thank

you meal at Jimmy’s in Wembley.

At the meal, two of our trustees

(Angela Anterkyi and Cheryl Tate)

officially ‘retired’ after a total of 25+

years volunteering at Daniel’s Den.

They were there from early days and

had helped Daniels Den develop into

the registered charity it is today.

They were each presented with one of Funny Bunny’s cousins as a thank you and will be

treated to a day at a spa as a thank you.

We are welcoming two new trustees - Phello Ekango who started coming to Daniel’s

Den 15 years ago when her children were little and Peter Kearney who has shown a

keen interest in our work and has lots of charity experience.

Every week we offer the opportunity for the children and adults to make some form of craft. It could include sticking, painting, drawing and play dough is always on hand.

Our ‘snipping sessions’ involve others in preparing all the crafts at the start of each term. Group projects are always welcome and this year we made some very tall giraffes.

We were delighted to introduce sensory play into a number of our sessions—even digging creepy crawlies out of soil. A first for many!

One of our ‘nans’ teaching mums how to make Mothering Sunday baskets.

We have also introduced some new crafts too and I know people loved making the tiger masks and caterpillar puppet.

One activity that caused lots of fun was making the sock puppets. A few pieces of wool, buttons, googly eyes, paper and a new character was formed.

‘Children are wired to receive and

utilise sensory input from day one.

Daniel’s Den was invited to run a parenting course for parents of children in the nursery and reception classes at Elsley Primary School. We used the postcards we designed last year and ran 6 sessions.

Each session started with an ice breaker e.g. what is your favourite food – this caused lots of laughter but helped us get to know each other better. We then did group work, question and answers and explored various topics including handling challenging behaviour, the power of words etc.

The feedback has been very positive and we hope to run other courses in the future.

‘At first, I didn’t want to come on

the course, but I found it so use-

ful’

‘We need courses like this before

our children start nursery’ Saeed

(father of 3)

We were delighted to be invited to a fun night out hosted by Tesco ...

These took place in two venues – Tesco, Brent Park and the playground outside the

London Designer Outlet (LDO).

They are a mini version and incorporate at least one element of Daniels’s Den whether it

is play dough, singing or a craft activity.

One thing is for sure – there will always be a genuine welcome!

We were delighted that Tesco chose to do a DIY makeover of the old scout hut at St Andrews in Sudbury (one of our venues).

The project was led by Beckie West, the customer care manager at Tesco, Brent Park.

Tesco made the following improvements:

Built a ramp to improve the access to the hut.

Built a shelter for buggies, allowing more space to play in the hut.

Cut down all the weeds outside and cleaned the whole building

Painted inside and outside

Provided garden tubs where flowers and vegetables can be grown.

Donated kitchen equipment and so much more.

It is such a blessing not only to St Andrews and Daniel’s Den but all the other user groups too.

Great to see our motto being lived out

‘Together Everyone Achieves More!’

‘I love the atmosphere. I have

been coming over a year and I

and my child are safe and

comfortable. All the staff are

like family—friendly, easy to

talk to and have the children at

heart’.

‘Everybody is welcome no

matter religion, country etc’.

‘I like the routine of play,

snacks, singing time and

connecting with people’.

‘Suggestions include—offer

different taster sessions ie baby

yoga, musical instruments;

open more days; nappy

changing bin; more outdoor

time!’ ‘I am simply very grateful for

the kindness of the people who

go out of their way to make this

playgroup happening every

week. THANK YOU!’..

We could not do what we do without the generosity of others. We have a small group of regular givers and others who participate in fundraising activities. We have run cake stalls, done a sponsored walk.

One thing that people suggested was to have a cake stall to raise funds for Daniel’s Den. There was an amazing array of cakes brought in and we raised over £100.

Ron (one of directors) did a sponsored walk with his son Rich, Funny Bunny (DD ambassador) and Josh (the inspiration behind DD).

‘We are always looking for fundraisers and volunteers to join our

team and welcome any fundraising ideas in the year ahead.’

Our budget for our financial year 2013-2014 as discussed and agreed by the trustees was £26,112.00. Over the year we raised £29,295.69 which is £3183.69 more than expected!

Payments and expenditure were lower than expected and in total £21,255.81 was spent. This chart shows how the money was spent during the year.

If you would like a copy of our full financial accounts please contact info@danielsden.org.uk

Thank you for all your help and support this year.

Anonymous donors

Big Lottery

Cake bakers and buyers!

Jesus House

Regular givers

St Paul’s Ealing

Tesco Brent Park and other London branches

Volunteers who give their time

Like us on Facebook:

www.facebook.com/

DanielsDenTogetherEveryoneAchievesMore

Follow us on twitter:

@DanielsDenUK

Visit our website:

www.danielsden.org.uk

Email us:

info@danielsden.org.uk

Phone:

02089086986 07436273844

Address:

PO Box 987, Wembley HA9 1FX

Director: Jo Gordon

Trustees: Ronald Herbert

Bea Simpson Phello Ekango Peter Kearney

Registered UK charity number: 1147172

Company Limited by Guarantee: 5303714

Registered Office address: 38 Berkhamsted Avenue, Wembley,

Middlesex HA9 6DT

www.danielsden.org.uk