Three Spires Tots - Coffee Tots

Three Spires Tots is a charitable organisation established in 2010, which values above all else the love & healing power of Jesus Christ. Set up & run by Christian parents who appreciate the challenges of raising small children in an increasingly isolating society, Three Spires Tots' aim is to demonstrate this Love in practical ways to people who may never have encountered God or the Church.  To this end we have been running a café/drop in parenting project in Coventry City Centre called Coffee Tots, for almost a year. Coffee Tots was set up to provide a space for parents with young children to feel safe & relaxed. The café offers affordable fair-trade drinks,  home-made cakes & light lunches making it accessible to most people.  A Christian manager & volunteers are available to offer support and demonstrate God's love through practical serving ministry to parents & their families.  It is our aim & prayer that through this we can provoke questions of faith and links to existing groups & churches. 

Before Coffee Tots was opened Three Spires Tots was a monthly toddler group, however, by talking to parents & building relationships with them, it was recognized that there was a great need within Coventry city centre for a permanent base.  Many parents regularly wasted time in the city centre to escape the house; they did not have any support systems they felt able to access, leaving them isolated mainly due to poverty or changes in society (particularly, but not exclusively, low-income &/or single parents). 

Coffee Tots now welcomes 30 to 45 parents a day with their young children; many of whom are regulars who may come every day as they feel they have no-where else to go.  The café/drop in has a play area & an arts/craft table encouraging parents to play & interact with their children. Encouraging parents to play with their children not only helps the children to develop socially & mentally; it also helps to strengthen the relationship between the parent & the child.  Although for many parents this comes naturally, for others it is a skill, which needs to be learnt, nurtured & developed.  We aim to help create confident, positive parents who feel well supported & loved, removing them from isolation.  We are already seeing a noticeable, positive change in both the parent/child bond, in the children’s speech & development, and in the confidence of parents.

Over the last few months it has been great to see relationships grow & people begin to develop their own support networks through Coffee Tots.  Most if not all of our regulars would say that they would be lost without us.  For many the Coffee Tots family is their key support & for some with temporary housing arrangements, Coffee Tots is physically the closest thing to home they currently have. 

Over the coming weeks we will be using recently developed space upstairs to offer additional support in areas of parenting, mental health & finance, through working in partnership with the Mothers' Union, Keeping Health in Mind and CAP (Christians Against Poverty).

It has been great to have the prayers, support, help, advice and encouragement of the Mothers' Union right from the early days before we opened our doors, and in particular now with the regular parenting support.  Some of the Mothers' Union knitters will also be helping with our weekly knitting club.  Thank you so much for working with us as we develop Coffee Tots and we look forward to continuing this journey together.

As we approach our First Birthday, we are holding a party at Coffee Tots (11 City Arcade) on Saturday 29 October from 10.00 am to 3.00 pm with activities for families, a cake sale and the opportunity for supporters to meet some of our regulars.  We also plan to use this as an opportunity to launch the additional support activities.  We hope that you can join us as we celebrate.  But do feel free to come and visit us at any time (Mondays to Fridays, 9.30 to 3.00 pm).  And if you would like to receive our termly updates please let us know.

Catherine Bartlem, Trustee & Co-Manager.

coffeetots@googlemail.com

12 October 2011