Who are the VYFWBP?

We are a friendly community group, run by parents, who meet every Thursday morning in West Bank Park, York. Whatever the weather, school hols included, we spend a couple of hours in the woods and meadows of the Park, doing nature games and crafts, building or making things with materials we find, telling stories and singing songs.

We are open to all - with a contribution of £1 a family (to cover basic equipment) - so if you want to join us, see you on Thursday at 10am at the statue of Queen Victoria, at the top of the Rose Walk. (Bring something simple to share at snack time.)

For more information contact Elly at: westbankparkkids@gmail.com

Wednesday 22 December 2010

Winter 'Wonderland' wearing a bit thin...

What a winter!!! Snow is indeed fun to play in, but after four weeks it is starting to lose its charm for our intrepid band of woodland explorers. As the chorus of freezing-toed toddlers reached a peak, we have had to beg the church hall for our last few Thursdays. We finished off 2010 with a Christmas party, making Advent wands and singing lots of carols.

Before the freeze hit in late November, the autumn was a busy and lovely time, with an always large group of children and parents meeting every week. We watched the birds; we had treasure hunts and Gruffalo walks; we made garlands and autumn decorations; we created imaginative (and lardy) bird and animal feeders; we constructed pulley systems and filled our little wicker baskets with all kinds of treasures; we set up woodland shops; we did our 'laundry' and hung it out to dry.....

Meanwhile, we have also been very busy with our plans for improving the playground. Our fundraising efforts came to a creditable £7200, including a ward committee grant, a generous grant from the Rowntree Foundation, and four other local charitable trusts. This is not a huge amount in playground terms, but enough for a nice little area of timber climbing/balancing equipment in the wooded part of the playground - known as a 'Trim Trail'. We wrote a brief for the job and sent it to five local companies, all of whom met us on site and four of whom bid for the work. We have chosen our favourite and passed the details on to the council - we hope to see progress over the winter.

We will keep you posted!

Our beloved Queen Victoria

Our beloved Queen Victoria
We sometimes bow to her before we set off into the woods!