Now an annual event, our Good Friday Easter Hunt is on Friday 14 April 2017 from 11am-2pm.

There will be all the usual fun including a raffle, tombola, hot & cold refreshments and children’s activities. You can also visit our city farm which opens at noon, and play in the adventure playground with our new trim trail.

Entry is £1.50 per child to include the Easter hunt. Parents and others gain entry by silver donation. There is no need to book – just turn up on the day and every child participating in the Easter Hunt will gain a prize. Everyone is welcome whether or not they are currently registered at New Ark 🙂

If you can help out on the day, donate raffle prizes or home-baked goodies, please contact Charlotte on 01733 340605 or drop off items at New Ark anytime Monday to Friday between 8.30m and 5.30pm.

To help with our fundraising we are particularly looking for donations of:
– Raffle prizes eg bottle of wine/alcohol, cuddly toy, vouchers of any kind, toys.
– Tombola prizes e.g. hand soap, toys, toiletry sets, unwanted gifts, stationary, reading books
– Easter chocolate – Easter eggs, chocolate bunnies, mini eggs
– Boxes of chocolates, sharing bags of chocolates
Thank you for your support

PS Another way to help is to share this page on social media, or print out the below image as a poster and put it up where families will see it.

Have you seen New Ark’s advert in the autumn edition of Term Times Family Magazine? Please like and share it on Facebook.

Come and like our Facebook page at www.facebook.com/NewArkPlay. Some of the highlights that we have posted on Facebook recently include:

News of our new mud play area

Details of our Half Term activities

Ways that you can support our fundraising efforts

Craft ideas

News about activities for younger children

Our monthly Nature and Nurture Café is an exciting new project for all families to attend FREE which uses books and play to support children’s learning and education. First we tell a story in a sociable group setting, and then we lay on some activities which are based around the story. We also give parents useful information to take home.

In our first Café we used our farm building to tell the story of Mrs Wishy Washy. Then we played with farm animals and Goop, followed by water play to wash them.  We gave information to parents to take away around hand wash and importance of hygiene.

Thanks to our volunteers Sarah Guest and Laura Anderson for your time in making this event successful.

Our next Nature and Nurture Café is on Wednesday 23^rd November and our story will be Elmer and The Lost Teddy. We are asking the children to bring in a bedtime teddy to hide in our Eco garden, and will be giving information to parents around routines of bedtimes.

Places are limited. For future dates or to book a place please contact laura_newark@hotmail.com or call Nikki on 01733 340605.

We are proud to be part of the Cafés for All project, providing an informal, sociable setting where families learn and share knowledge, information and skills. For more information about the project see http://www.cafesforall.org.uk/

 

Our annual report for 2015-16 is now available to view online as a low res PDF document – please click the link below.

New Ark Annual Report 2015-16.compressed

If you wish to receive a printed copy, please contact us on 01733 340605

 

New Ark’s Christmas Raffle £1 a ticket, on sale now. Available to buy from New Ark’s main building

Prizes include:
• Luxury food hamper, kindly donated by staff and volunteers of New Ark
• Peter Pan pantomime gift set, pantomime tickets kindly donated by The Cresset
• Little Tikes Pirate Shipmates toy, kindly donated by Preschool parents
• Laserforce membership & 2 x games for 2, kindly donated by Laserforce
• 2 x 1 hour admission for Bounce Trampoline Park, kindly donated by Bounce
• 2 x free entry to Activity World/Toddler World, kindly donated by Activity World
• Family day pass, 2 x adults/2 x children for Big Sky, kindly donated by Big Sky
• Admission to Burghley House & Gardens, kindly donated by Burghley
• Disney Frozen Elisa and Anna musical book, kindly donated by Preschool parents
• Spaceship 3 in 1;-book, play mat, spaceship, kindly donated by Preschool parents
• Photo frame glass wall clock
• Box of chocolates
• Bottle of red wine
• Nike football
• Toiletry set

 

Bring new/as good as new items to swap something you don’t wear for something you will

Tickets cost £5 including buffet and a drink. All tickets to be purchased in advance due to catering arrangements. Ask in the office or call Charlotte on 01733 340605.

Guests can bring 3-10 items of clothing or accessories.

Doors open at 7pm and then browsing starts.
Buffet is at 8pm
Swishing starts from 8.30pm
There will be a tombola and raffle.
The evening draws to a close at 10pm.

All proceeds raised will be spent on new playground equipment for New Ark during 2016/17

We are delighted to announce that our popular Forest School Eco Sessions will run again this summer holidays. The sessions will run 9.30am-12noon, every Tuesday and Thursday morning between 2 August and 25 August.

Our Forest School trained staff will supervise children attending these sessions in our Eco Centre. Staff from local charity Froglife will run the sessions on 16th and 23rd August.

As well as exploring and playing in the forest, organised activities will include:

• Natural crafts
• Shelter building
• Charcoal making
• Bug hunts
• Pond dipping
• Outdoor cooking
• Volcano building

Priority will be given to school-aged children under 8 years old who have registered for New Ark’s playground holiday sessions. There will be some places available for children up to age 11.

The charge is £3 a session per child, including a snack. Payment at time of booking is essential as places are limited and these sessions are normally over subscribed. Forms are available at New Ark now – please book early!

** UPDATE ** The New Ark Trustee Board would like to invite you to attend New Ark Play Association’s Annual General Meeting on Tuesday 19th July at 6pm for tea/coffee with a 6.30 start.  Please ring to let us know that you are coming.

Do you have a passion for children’s play? Would you like to see New Ark stay open and accessible to all in the future? Would you like to help a charity organisation that has worked with children and their families for over 40 years?

If the answer to any of these questions is yes, we would love you to join our Management Committee.

All we ask is a few hours of your time each week to fit around your personal commitments, to attend our monthly Committee Meeting, and to help out at occasional fundraising events. If you have a little more time you can work on some of our development and planning projects.

What you can gain from being part of the New Ark Management Committee

• Learn skills: Management, Finance, Childcare, Farm, Funding and Fundraising.
• Gain experience to add to your CV, increasing your job prospects.
• Socialise and work with like-minded people.
• Ability to put forward your views on how New Ark develops in the future.

Roles we are currently recruiting for:

• Vice Chair – deputises Committee meeting in the absence of the Chair.
• Treasurer – to oversee the financial operation at New Ark.
• Secretary – minute taking at monthly meetings, plus issuing agenda/minutes.
• Funding/Fundraising – planning and organising to help New Ark.
• General Committee Members – helping to make informed decisions at monthly meetings.

Our AGM will be taking place on Tuesday 19th July from 6pm – so now is the perfect time to find out more about having your say in the future of New Ark

For more information, please speak to a manager at New Ark.
Newark Play Association Ltd
Hill Close
Peterborough
PE1 5LZ
Registered charity: 1026751