Day 65
Dr Bell’s Family Centre
Many thanks to Molly Gilroy, Volunteer and Engagement Officer at Dr. Bell’s, for providing the following post and images.
Dr Bell’s Family Centre is a child-friendly family and community centre, based in the heart of Leith, Edinburgh. Dr Bell’s aims to be a welcoming place where families with young children can get encouragement, support and advice in a relaxed environment.
We play a significant part in creating community cohesion by bringing together people of different cultures around a shared agenda – the welfare of children. We offer a variety of services to help support the parents and young families in Leith. We work with third sector organisations and statutory services to offer a range of activities. Our various programmes aim to help parents to secure positive outcomes for themselves and in turn, their children, and to break the cycle of disadvantage. We work with parents and children together and separately with a holistic approach to improve their overall wellbeing through offerings such as workshops and drop-in sessions focused on health; counselling sessions and groups to help parents learn coping mechanisms to relieve stress and mental health issues; parenting support groups; and nutrition and cooking classes for families and groups of families to promote healthy choices and bring together the community for meals, support, and networking.
Dr Bell’s Family Centre grew from a community vision. A need was perceived for support for families with young children in Leith, and the determination of local people and local agencies made the dream into a reality. Set up as a partnership between local people, Edinburgh City Council and NHS Lothian, Dr Bell’s Family Centre opened in August 2006 following a five-year period of development.
When the Covid-19 pandemic began, we adapted our services and transitioned our group programme online, launching ‘Keeping Connected’ in April which was a huge success with our families. Our online activities included; BookBug, Family Bingo, Living Room Disco delivered via FacebookLive and Baby Massage, Hatha Yoga, Virtual Community Lunches, Foodbox and Connect with Creche delivered via Zoom. We loved being able to stay in contact with our families and provide them with creative and wellbeing materials from Thrive, and children’s books from Lighthouse Books, alongside food packages from Edinburgh Community Food.
During lockdown, one of our parents gave us invaluable feedback on our programme stating; “I have found the support from all at Dr Bell’s…absolutely invaluable…you have given me structure in an unstructured world and I cannot express how grateful I am.” Additionally, another family commented in relation to our digital ‘FoodBox’ group with our partners Edinburgh Community Food; “Loved being a part of this little group. I’ve seen so many amazing recipe ideas and it feels like a little community! We were so excited and overwhelmed to receive such an amazing food box today. Very grateful, thank you!” Indeed, our ‘Keeping Connected’ programme became a “lifeline” for our families and in particular, our single parents who experienced greater isolation.
Walk This Way and Buggy Walk Groups for parents
In October, we were delighted to be able to re-open our respite crèche, in line with Scottish Government advice. We were also able to re-launch our ‘Walk This Way’ and Buggy Walk groups for mums, funded by Paths for All, led by Sally, our Development Worker. Sally, a trained Walk Leader, took mums on a weekly local walk around Leith while their children attended crèche, enabling mums to build rapports with peers in a safe and relaxed way. We provided our mums with step-counters which encouraged them to take some time out from their day and focus on their mental health. Sally also delivered Buggy Walks for parents and their wee burns, taking families to feed the ducks and embrace the fresh outdoors!
Our current programme is on hold following Scottish Government Advice, however, families can get involved with our 28 Days of February ‘Creative Walk Challenge’ by following us on social media (@drbellsfamily) or by signing up to support Dr Bell’s at this year’s Virtual Kiltwalk happening 23rd-25th April 2021. Families who live in Leith with children under five years old can get in touch with us by emailing info@dbfc.org.uk .