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News:
Springboard's latest newsletters: May 07 Oct 07

 

 

22 April 2008
Springboard's Clevedon Centre main extension is finished at last! The builders and architecst and have done a fantastic job and the Centre is looking great, as you can ses from the photo.

25 January 2008:
Big Lottery Fund Success for Springboard - we are very fortunate to be receiving a grant of £135,000 for the next three years for family support services, as part of the Big Lottery Fund's 'Reaching Communities' programme. This exciting opportunity means that Springboard will be able to build on and develop the pilot family support work that we started earlier in 2007 (see below) which is going very well and is proving to be of great value to children and their parents/carers. It's going to be a busy year but with the help of the Big Lottery Fund, an even more successful one for Springboard family support services. For more information click here to read the full press release.

23 January 2008: Building work is well underway and going very well, take a look at our Clevedon page

22 Oct 2007: Building work has started at our Clevedon Centre. We are having an extension to provide a resources/community room; more toilets including a fully accessible one; a new entrance; storage for larger seating and children's equipemnt and more office space. As our main entrance is out of action, the main playroom door is now the main access point to the building. Children and parents are using the Sunhill Park entrance as this is safer than walking past the building work.

Visitors please note - there is no car parking available at Springboard. You can use the Sunhill Park entrance or walk towards the car park. Please take great care. We hope everyone can bear with us over the next few months during this project. Works should be completed by the end of March 08. Please contact us if you need any information or have any comments 01275 341113.

20 July 2007: This was a very exciting and proud day for us as HRH Queen visited Weston super Mare and performed the official opening ceremony at Ashcombe Children's Centre. Despite the very wet weather, she was greeted by cheering crowds and spent about 20 minutes touring the Centre, including the Springboard facilities. She was very interested in what Springboard does for children and and families, meeting several of them during her whirlwind tour.She also spoke to several staff, volunteers and trustees and seemed very pleased to have time to chat. She was a very attentive and charming visitor. Her visit to Springboard was a very special moment for us all during our 20th anniversary year. Unfortunately, we did not manage to have any photographs taken whilst she was at Springboard, but there are plenty of the visit as a whole if anyone would like to see them. If you wish to see more of the Queen's visit to Weston, please click on the link below.

BBC video footage of the Queen in Weston and her visit to Ashcombe. See our Julia in action!

This beautiful cake to commemorate the Queen's visit was made by a staff member from Ashcombe School. The detail was amazing and it tasted good too!

 

 

9 May 2007:

Springboard is presented with a brand new Variety Club Sunshine Coach from actress Sophie Ward. The minibus is sponsored by major property developer Crest Nicholson. During the presentation, children at our Clevedon Centre were very excited at having a good look at the new minibus and trying it out for size and they approved. The minibus will be getting a lot of use, including a trip to Bristol Zoo in June.

We wish to thank the Variety Club for the opportunity to have a replacement coach in place of our much loved older one which saw us proud for 14 years. Thanks also to Crest Nicholson for their fantastic fundraising on our behalf and for supporting the Variety Club Sunshine Coach programme.

 

Taking delivery of the Sunshine Coach left to right:
Ann Ramsey - Springboard Development Officer
Actress Sophie Ward
Jane Woodhead and Claire Woolams from Crest Nicholson

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

5 May 2007:

A big thank you to everyone who took part in the Springboard Sponsored Swim which was organised by Friends. It was a great success with many teams taking part in this fun event at the Strode Centre in Clevedon. Swimmers are now requested to collect their sponsor monies as soon as possible and send into Springboard. Thanks again.

 

2 May 2007:

Springboard has received a grant from the Clifton based James Tudor Foundation to help fund family support services over next two years. Thank you to Rod Shaw and their trustees for their generous support.

 

31 March 2007:
Springboard Annual General Meeting was held at Ashcombe Children's Centre and included a drop in sesison for the children and their families. It was a very enjoyable and relaxing morning and after the business of the meeting we did a big Hokey-Cokey around the pole in the Central Play Area! It was different but great fun.

 

September 2006:

We did it! After many months of planning, fundraising and worrying our Weston service is now based in purpose-built premises at the new Ashcombe Children's Centre.

It has been a busy few months for us all, but we are delighted at how well all the children have settled in. Parents and carers are very pleased to have a dedicated parents' room and a place to meet and chat. We have a playroom, fully accessible toilets and changing area, a sensory room, a softplay room and shared kitchen. We also have space in a shared office and have been made most welcome by all the Ashcombe staff. The Centre has a stunning canopy covered central play area, with lots of toys and equipment and a huge sandpit. All the Springboard children and the other children attending the nursery and reception classes are having a great time playing together.

We are all very pleased with our facilities and wish to thank everyone who has supported our building project in any way. Without their tremendous joint effort we would not be where we are today.

See our Weston page for more about our services at Ashcombe Children's Centre.

Click here for address and contact details for Springboard at Ashcombe Children's Centre

 

Introducing our patron Rupert Graves, Weston super Mare born actor:

Pictured here on a recent informal visit to Springboard, Rupert Graves, the popular local actor is lending his support to Springboard' Clevedon extension project. Rupert recently appeared on TV in The Forsyte Saga and many films and will soon to be on our screens as Dr Christiaan Barnard, the South African heart transplant pioneer in 'To Be First'.

Rupert said: “Springboard provides fantastic support to children with additional needs and disabilities at a crucial stage of their lives. They urgently need more facilities at their Clevedon Centre to continue their vital services for the benefit of children and their families. They deserve all the help they can get”. Rupert has a young family himself, and they also enjoyed spending time in the playroom at Clevedon. He hopes to be involved with Springboard for many years to come and to give us any help he can.

If you would like to know more about his work, past present and future, look at www.rupert-graves.com