ALL too often I find out about children's activities that are free or only available to those people on benefits.
How pleased I was when I discovered that the Hillingdon Sure Start children's centres had a full calendar of events lined up for the summer holidays that were open to all and free for all, irrespective of income.
As a working mum currently on maternity leave and with a three-year-old son, a clear plan of activities is essential, and being able to find such a range of organised activities that are free is fantastic.
The activity days were held across the borough, giving everyone the opportunity to attend.
I attended five of the activity days with my son and five-month-old daughter.
Each of the events was extremely well organised - at one my son was able to handle a boa constrictor,at another be taken into the world of Captain Clueless with an excellent storyteller,and jump around with Amanda's Action Kids and staff from Gymboree.
On top of this, each event had arts and crafts for the kids to get involved in, facepainting and soft play areas for the little ones.
It was clear that a lot of thought and planning had gone into making the summer fantastic for the kids of Hillingdon and I would like to say a big thank you to all of the organisers and say: 'Keep them coming".
HELEN DICKENS
by email.
