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Ellesmere Port & Neston

Project: Community Activities in Neston (CAN) programme development

Grant awarded: £2,095

Date: January 2008 - December 2009

About

Community Activities Neston (CAN) was the brainchild of two young mums who wanted to bring the community together and widen access to artistic, cultural and social activities for the whole family in the local area. Before the project began, there was very little for parents with young children to do as a family. A committee of volunteers headed by two part-time employees now organises a 10 week programme of activities including trips to interesting places for parents and their young children.

CAN’s vision is:

‘To bring families and individuals together to learn new skills, establish new friendships and encourage participation within the local area, through the delivery of inclusive community activity programmes and events’.

Volunteers are the backbone of CAN, giving a few hours a month to take on a variety of roles - during family sessions in the Civic Hall, setting up and clearing away activities and helping parents with children. They often get involved in workshops and events, working behind the scenes to ensure the programme of activities run smoothly. A great outcome of the inclusive nature of this project is that older children often volunteer to help run activities and workshops or on days out.

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