A KEY community venture providing free services for children under five and their parents has celebrated its first year.

Sunnymead Minnows was set up in September 2017 by Cutteslowe Community Centre and Cutteslowe Primary School in North Oxford.

It was awarded transition funding from Oxfordshire County Council and is also supported with other funds in an effort to provide services lost when the North Oxford Children’s Centre shut in March 2017.

It now provides five free open access groups open to under fives and their families.

Leanne McClements, Sunnymead Minnows’ children’s services coordinator, said: “It’s been great. We started Stay and Play in the community centre and that was very popular. We started serving a hot lunch at the end of the session and that has been really popular too.

“What we manage to do is provide is a range of spaces for families to come free of charge. That is primarily what the children’s centre was doing but it did a lot behind the scenes, which is what we’re trying to offer.”

She said one plan was to extend early intervention work in the community to help people who need extra support.

The Stay and Play sessions were launched in last year and their impact was celebrated at a special party on Thursday, which attracted a bumper crowd.

It was entertained by artists from Dancin’ Oxford, which got people, young and old, on their feet.

But other volunteers are still required to support – and potentially launch – other access groups and make Sunnymead Minnows' impact even greater.

They would help to boost the group’s five drop-in groups: Rhyme Time, Bumps to Babies, Stay and Play, Messy Minnows and Family Fun.

In feedback, one parent said: “I really look forward to Messy Minnows. Brilliant stimulation, themed activities that we don’t do at home. Plus the cup of tea is amazing after a sleepless nights. Good to socialise my toddler who hates sharing.”

Bumps to Babies is a new session for expectant parents and children under one.

That was launched in January and is run weekly. It uses sensory treasure baskets and other activities in the Cutteslowe Primary School aquarium.

Anyone who can help at any of the activities is encouraged to get in touch on the Sunnymead Minnows’ Facebook page. It would also welcome donations of cardboard boxes, craft and messy play items and any further funding.

Oxfordshire County Council withdrew funding for 31 of its 44 children’s centres and two of seven early intervention hub.

But it put a £1m transition fund aside to support other centres across the county.

That was used as way of keeping centres running without the need to wholly finance them.