Newsletter December 2014

 Newsletter December 2014 I cannot believe we are at the end of 2014.  The year has flown by. We have been lucky to have Ben Ashfield, who has completed his Duke of Edinburgh Award and hope will stay with us to help out.  We are also lucky to have the support of Di Coulson who has joined our team of volunteers.  Di is a local lady well known by many and immediately fitted in really well. Kira Shute has also joined us as a new Play-Leader.  Kira is 17 years old and is a student at Newton Abbot College studying Level 3 Childcare.  Kira has experience of working with early years children and also has the experience of working with children who have additional needs.  Kira has a sibling who has additional needs and in fact attended AIMS some years ago with her family.  Kira has only been with us for a short period of time but has fitted in straight away and proved to be a hit with the children. We have been lucky to have received a number of donations during the last couple of months and we really appreciate the time and effort so many people have put in to raise money for us.  A big thank you to everyone. The annual Conkers Championship held at The Castle at Holcombe was a huge success and the children had great fun.  Mollie Knill came first in the under 10’s and Thomas Finneran came first in the over 10’s.  Mollie was lucky enough to have her picture in the local paper. We were lucky to have a day out at Paignton Zoo which was a great success and everyone had a great time.  A huge thank you to all our sponsors who have made this possible. During November we had a family photo session organised by Dean Elliott.  Dean has produced some absolutely stunning photographs.  The children really enjoyed themselves which show in the finished results.  Dean has very kindly offered to make this a yearly event. We have welcomed a couple of new families who have joined us on regular occasions. On 29^th November 2014 some of our families attended the annual Santa Train at Buckfastleigh.  Everybody had a great time and it really was a special day out. The Spiritualist Church have very kindly organised Christmas presents for the children and Santa will be there to give out the presents at our Christmas party on 13^th December 2014. Thank you to all our staff and helpers who have helped me in my new role throughout the year. Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year to all.  Looking forward to 2015.