Circle’s Haven Project delivers vital group work support for parents of new-born babies, toddlers and young children up to 6 years old. 

Unfortunately, we are still unable to invite parents into the project base at Craigroyston Primary School because of ongoing Covid restrictions. This is a significant challenge for the families we support as many of the other local community groups are also still closed. This is leaving parents with new babies very isolated. Attendance at these groups normally encourages friendships and helps parents build mutually supportive peer networks. These relationships are vital for parents with new babies to develop parental skills, coping mechanisms and share experiences. So, to ensure our families get the support they need we are currently running a number of alternative groups online and in-person at different locations.

This includes an online ‘Incredible Years’ parenting group. This group provides parents, who have children aged between 3-6 years, with a toolkit of techniques and skills to help their children develop their social skills and help them regulate their emotions better. The group is run in partnership with Katy Pudney, Lifelong and Development Worker with City of Edinburgh Council. We started on 1st October and will run until 17th December. We currently have eight families that are attending who are looking for supports and techniques in dealing with their nursery/school aged children.

We are also running two new baby groups, based locally in The Old Kirk and the Muirhouse Parish Church, who have kindly let us use their space, providing parents with guidance on baby massage and baby sensory for two mornings a week.

The two groups are being accessed by a range of local Northeast Edinburgh parents with a wide variety of different ethnicities and cultural backgrounds. The groups are currently meeting weekly, for an hour and half, between 10am and 11.30am and will continue to do so up to Christmas. These are the first face-to-face groups that the Haven Project has run in nearly two years, so it was lovely to meet up with parents and babies again and receive such positive feedback from them. Massive thanks to June Young who has helped making these venues available for us to meet in.

These are temporary solutions until our groups and families are allowed back into the Haven Project HQ at the school, hopefully happening in the New Year. So watch this space.

For more information please contact Julie.Calder@Circle.Scot


If you would like to donate to the work Circle delivers to isolated parents with young children then you can do so here: Make a Donation – Circle Scotland