Stories, Songs and Chat: Using community spaces to connect families with support

Stories, Songs and Chat is a weekly session for children under 5 and their parents/carers. The sessions, which started in January 2024, take place within Edmonton Green Library. The sessions improve children’s language skills through engaging stories and songs and provides a space for local parents to connect with each other and local services in a relaxed and friendly space.

In the video, we hear from a parent, a volunteer and a local service who share what they feel makes Stories, Songs and Chat special and how it has benefited them.

Stories Songs and Chat was developed to help improve children’s language skills, whilst connecting parents and carers with support and information services in the borough. The sessions take place weekly at Edmonton Green Library, based in one of the areas of highest deprivation in the borough.

The sessions are open to all parents of carers of children aged 0-5 years and includes a mixture of ages and ethnicities. 

The relaxed format of the sessions, friendly volunteers and refreshments helped to create a strong network of parents and carers attending. A key feature of the sessions is the presence of different local support services and organisations. These services and organisations are invited to: 

• increase parents/carers' awareness of the range of support available locally 
• make the process of connecting with these services and accessing their support as easy as possible.

Services and organisations attending the session include: perinatal mental health services, first aid training, blood sugar testing and oral health teams.

The sessions are led by volunteers, who play a large role in the success of the sessions. Each volunteer brings their own unique skills and wisdom to the session, meaning they can connect individually with parents and carers and really get to know them and their needs.

Stories, Songs and Chat shows the power of bringing local services directly to people in places that are familiar and safe to them. The sessions are also a reminder of the importance of creating truly welcoming and engaging spaces for people. They boost not only connections with wider services but the importance of curating environments that encourage people to build their own connections.