Open Day – 6 October 2018

Help to spread the word about New Ark by inviting your friends to come and visit during our annual community open day on Saturday 6th October 2018 noon-2pm, with entry by silver donation. Or download a copy of our open day 2018 poster  and put it on display somewhere that parents will see it.

All areas of New Ark will be open including our city farm, eco centre, play support building and of course our playground. Come and see our history trail, meet our animals, explore our woodland garden and play in our traditional adventure playground. Our 2017-18 Annual Report will also be available to members and supporters.

Entry on the day will be by silver donation to our charity. We’ll also be selling refreshments. Donations of cakes and other bakes are very much appreciated to help us with this – please let us know that you can help by calling 01733 340605.

Fundraising news and future events

As you may have heard, New Ark is having our funding from Peterborough City Council phased out over the next 3 years. We use this funding to:
– Pay the playworker staff who run our public sessions.
– Keep costs affordable to all parents.
– Enable families/children in need to access New Ark.

We will have to meet the shortfall at the end of this period.

If you have ideas to help our management committee overcome this funding gap, please do contact us. Our charity needs a wealth of people with different skills, so maybe you could even join our committee.

Some of the ways that YOU can help to make sure New Ark’s future is secured:
– Help us get sponsorship from local businesses.
– Nominate us to your employer’s fundraising or community support scheme.
– Organise fundraising events on behalf of New Ark. Attend those that are organised by others.
– Tell us about funding applications, or nominate us if you are asked for suggestions
– Make donations of money, resources and materials to us
– Offer us your time. No contribution is too small!

In the meantime we are continuing to apply for grants and funding – you can find news on two recent successful funding applications here.

And of course we continue to fundraise, for which we rely heavily on the generosity of our parents and the local community. A round up of last year’s fundraising activity is in our most recent annual report. Thank you to everyone who helped us in any way – we have tried to include as many of your fundraising achievements as possible in the annual report.

Future fundraising events for your diary are below, please make a note in your diary now, and do contact us if you are willing to help us with these events. You can help us to make them into awesome fundraisers!

Edit… Please note that since this page was first published the date of our 2019 Summer Festival has now changed to Saturday 22 June.

Summer 2018 activities

Our 2018 summer holiday sessions are aimed at school-aged children and will be running Monday-Friday from 23rd July until 31 August. We will be closed on Monday 27th August for the bank holiday.

Our theme for play sessions during the summer holidays is Seaside, Pirates, Mermaids and Travel. As part of this we will be making a display and focusing on the following:
Week 1  Handprint mermaids and ice cream cones
Week 2  Design your pirate ship flag
Week 3  Mermaids and mermen
Week 4  Sand bottles and messages in a bottle
Week 5  Treasure boxes and shell frames
Week 6  Children’s choice (and Pirate’s Picnic, weather permitting)

Some of the regular activities we have planned include den building, baking, outdoor fires and a water slide (weather permitting). Our adventure playground and city farm will also be open daily.

And we are also holding more of our popular Eco Sessions which include activities such as natural crafts, shelter building, charcoal making, bug hunts, pond dipping and volcano building. Eco sessions run on the following dates between 9.30-12 noon and cost £3 per session if registered with New Ark, or £5 as a one off.
Tuesday 24 July
Thursday 26 July
Tuesday 31 July
Thursday 2 August
Tuesday 7 August
Thursday 9 August
Tuesday 14 August
Thursday 16 August
Tuesday 21 August
Thursday 23 August

If your child is particularly keen to attend any of these activities, please speak to a member of staff to book onto them/find out when they are running.

To find out more about our school holiday play sessions and childcare, see here

Summer Festival 23 June 2018

Our annual summer fete has entertainment, hot food and more. Our city farm, adventure playground and eco garden will all be open. There will be lots of fundraising games, crafts, our summer raffle and lots more.

This year we have a magical Unicorn and Dragons theme. You can dress up, join in our hunt, play games and have all the usual farm and adventure playground fun.

Entry is by silver donation, all welcome to attend whether or not you are registered at New Ark.

Please help to publicise our fundraising event by sharing this event and inviting friends who might enjoy the day. You can also download our poster to print and display

Planned closures

Please note that New Ark will be closed for Repairs and Maintenance on the following dates:

  • Thursday 29th March (all day)
  • Monday 16th April 3-6pm (affecting after-school sessions only)
  • Monday 3rd September (all day)
  • Tuesday 4th September (all day)

If you can help us carry out Repairs and Maintenance to our site please contact us on 01733 340605. The kind of things we need help with are:

• People to paint, clean, garden, sort and organise – both individuals and group working parties are welcomed.

• Donations of cleaning products including bleach, scourers, cleansers, cloths, etc.

• Unwanted tins of paint – unopened or recently opened

• Money, so that we can repair/replace anything faulty as we find it. You can make an online donation at www.localgiving.com/charity/newarkplay

Easter holiday activities

During the school Easter Holidays New Ark is open daily between Tuesday 3rd and Friday 6th April, and from Monday 9th to Friday 13th April.

Registered children of school age can drop in between 10am-12 noon and 2pm-5pm, or be booked in for half day/full day childcare. Further details about holiday registration are available here and prices for our 2 different types of registration are here. Please do call us on 01733 340605 if you have any queries about registration.

We welcome visiting families with children of all ages between 10am-12 noon and 2-5pm. You may drop in, but numbers are restricted and therefore we highly recommend prebooking on 01733 340605. Further details about one-off visits are available here and the suggested donation is £1 per adult/£2 per child.

Vote for New Ark in Tesco’s Bags of Help

Please help New Ark by voting for us when you shop at Tesco

From the 1st of March to 30th of April, New Ark will be one of Tesco’s local chosen charities to be a part of their ‘Bags of Help’ scheme.

Whenever shopping at any of the Tesco’s mentioned in the advert, you should receive a token to put in the box for the charities. Please support New Ark by giving us your token to help us get some much needed funding!

Thank you for your continued support.

Easter Hunt 30 March 2018

Now an annual event, our Good Friday Easter Hunt is on Friday 30 March 2018 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.

Entry is £3 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 Nikki 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.

Christmas Bazaar – 18 November

Our fundraising Christmas Bazaar is now an annual tradition, with hot food, children’s activities, outdoor play and the city farm. Entrance is by silver donation. Planned activities include:

Main building 12-3pm Activities include * treasure hunt * cake stall * gift tombola * children’s tombola * soft toy stall * chocolate tombola.. We also have refreshments for sale, including hot food

Adventure playground 12-3pm Open for playing dependent on weather

City Farm – open 12.30-3pm * feeding our animals * sponsor an animal * buy reindeer glitter food, and more

Father Christmas
This year Santa’s grotto will be located in our new barn between 12.30 and 2.30pm. Tickets are on sale now for £2.50 to include a small gift. To book call Nikki/Sam on 01733 340605 – you will asked your child’s age and given an approximate time slot.

Please do book early, as numbers are limited and we need to make sure the elves have enough gifts for the right ages. A few tickets may be available on the day of the bazaar.