FAQS
Who are the sessions for?
When booking please look out for the criteria of the group you are signing up for. Some of our sessions are for particular ages of children and some are for families. Most of our sessions are for children with unmet needs. When we say 'unmet needs' we mean any child whose needs aren’t being being met by mainstream services and/ or is facing challenges in life. Here are some examples:
🌱 sensory needs or neurodivergence
🌱 anxiety, trauma, or attachment needs
🌱 school refusal, EBSA, or social anxiety
🌱 speech or communication differences
🌱 low income, housing insecurity, or family stress
🌱 domestic violence, loss, or major life change
🌱 young carers or families with health conditions or fatigue
No diagnosis needed.
Parents/ carers can book sessions directly from our website for paid for sessions and some of our funded sessions. Some of our funded projects are booked through invitation or by responding to our advertisements.
You can see where we have spaces or whether you'll need to join the waiting list for a particular session on our booking page.
External agencies and parents/ carers can also refer using referral form on the booking page.
Where are the sessions?
In England, our main sites are Lincombe Barn Woods, Downend, Badocks Wood, Southmead and Kingswood Park.
In Wales, our main base is the Serrenu Centre, Newport. We also run groups at Beechwood Park.
We have permission from Bristol City Council, South Gloucestershire Council and Newport City Council to use these spaces. Sessions also take place in local schools or in green open spaces within walking distance from school.
If you are looking for one of our locations and an online search doesn't give you the answers you need please email Rachael for advice.
What do we bring and what do we wear?
In cooler times layers are very important, waterproof coats, waterproof trousers along with a hat and gloves. In the summer months suncream and a sunhat are needed. All year round long trousers are needed and decent footwear is essential (wellies or walking boots work the best!). Long trousers protect us from ticks. Everyone needs to bring a water bottle of course in any weather, along with a snack! No glass bottles or fizzy drinks please.
We know that some children may have sensory needs which mean wearing waterproofs etc is anxiety producing. Please do talk to us if this is the case. We do not want you child to be uncomfortable.
What about the weather?
We go outdoors in all kinds of weather, that is all part of the Mud Pies experience. We have shelters, fires, activities to encourage movement and hot drinks/ food on colder/ wetter days. We have create shade, calmer activities and cooling drinks/ snacks on hotter days.
We do cancel for safeguarding reasons in the rare occurrence of extreme weather, this doesn't happen very often. You can see how we make decisions about the weather in our policy below.
Keeping children safe
We have high adult: child ratios at every session and focus on building positive relationships with each child. We promote autonomy and are committed to consent while promoting developing emotional intelligence. Our risk benefit assessments, policies and procedures are reviewed annually. We do dynamic risk assessments and communicate with parents, carers and partners as soon as issues arise. We have robust safeguarding practices. Clare Haughton is our Designated Safeguarding Lead, Colleen Gough is our Deputy Safeguarding Lead.
Please contact Clare, if you have any concerns about the safety or wellbeing of a child. You can call Clare on 07852 434 378 or email by clare@mud-pies.co.uk or simply click below.
Supporting individual needs
If your child has specific needs that you wish to discuss please contact Rachael. We can decide together if what we offer is what your child wants and needs. We can also talk about reasonable adjustments for them to be participate as fully as possible. This may be support with the transition into a new group, a 121 (if we have capacity) or something else.
