High Commission for Human Rights recognises play as a right of every child, but this birth-right is being challenged by the coronavirus crisis as access to play is limited. Therefore, the project aims to provide 12 weeks early years support to children 0 – 5 from BAME backgrounds. This will ensure young children continue to enjoy the right to play.   COVID-19 Early Years Support includes a virtual nursery and a learning resources scheme that will stimulate learning through play at home. This will enable children to develop communication and motor skills, problem-solving abilities that enhances school readiness. The virtual nursery delivers arts and crafts, physical activities, and cookery sessions to increase children’s learning. Parents and careers will be given a specific log in detail to access the virtual nursery three times a week. The learning resource scheme supports creative learning at home by supplying arts and crafts and play equipment to hard-pressed families who cannot afford and those self-isolating.

When the first lockdown started, our team contacted the families we work with to find out their needs and how we could help. While speaking to the families, it became evident that children and young people were getting bored at home, not knowing what to do many were becoming very anxious about staying at home and not seeing their friends.  We ask the children and young people if there was anything that we could do about the situation, the response we got back was that they would like to meet with their friends but that can’t happen face to face. Some of the young people suggested maybe meeting online to chat with others could be fun. With that initial idea of meeting online it developed into meeting online to do an activity. Further conversations lead to the choice of fitness and exercise online. As a result, we delivered seven weeks exercise and fitness classes via Zoom and created a YouTube channel where children and young people can access free online fitness lessons. Through online and face to face engagement, the project is now tackling some of the health inequalities in relation to physical inactivity, among ethnic minorities and disadvantaged young people in Derby. The aim is to increase access and participation in fitness and exercise for young people particularly those from socially deprived backgrounds. 

Every Wednesday This lesson offers a dynamic and engaging form of exercise tailored for young people. Designed for ages 12-17, it provides free training that focuses and achieving fitness goals, whether it's weight loss or muscle gain. Join us to build strength, confidence, and agility in a supportive and energetic environment.

Join us for a fun and creative experience at Lightzone HAF! Over the course of these four weeks, children aged 8 and above can engage in a variety of exciting activities. Our program includes arts and crafts sessions where kids can unleash their creativity, hair and beauty workshops to explore new styles, and music classes to inspire budding musicians. These activities are designed to provide both entertainment and educational value, ensuring that every participant has a memorable and enriching time. Don’t miss out on this opportunity to make new friends, learn new skills, and have a lot of fun! We look forward to welcoming you to Lightzone HAF. Schedule: Registration: Programmes are free to people who receive benefits-related free school meals. HAF Codes are therefore mandatory at registration to be awarded a place. Please contact your child’s school to receive your child’s individual HAF code before registration.