Good Luck Samantha!

If you've been keeping up to date with our blog posts over the past couple of months you will have noticed that one of our supporters, Samantha, has been training very hard for the London triathlon.

Samantha is kindly donating all funds raised to With Kids and we really cannot thank her enough for her continued support!

She will be taking part in the Virgin Triathlon which takes place this weekend in London on Saturday 27th July.

The Virgin Active London race is the largest and most established Triathlon in the world and the team at With Kids would like to wish you the very best of luck!

We'll be sure to hear from her when she finishes the race and will let you know how she gets on.

If you would like to make a donation  please click on Samantha's Just Giving page HERE.

Or if she has inspired you to get involved in fundraising for With Kids then find out how you can help by clicking HERE. 

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Summer Programme at With Kids

At With Kids, our annual Summer Programme begins this week which gives the kids, families and all of our supporters the chance to relax and enjoy themselves throughout the summer holidays.

Our programme for the year is full but we thought we'd pull together a list of the activities to remind you of what's on.

The weather for the week ahead is set to stay lovely and warm - so make sure you pack your sun cream and take plenty of water if you're coming along to any of our activities.

We've got lots of fun packed events planned throughout July and August:

• Tues 9th July - RIVERSIDE MUSEUM 10.30am – 3pm
• Wed 10th July - PAMPERING 10.30am -12.30pm
• Wed 10th July - CATHEDRAL MURDER TRAIL 11am – 1pm
• Wed 10th July - CINEMA CLUB 1.30pm – 3.30pm
• Thurs 11 July - CALDERGLEN PARK 10am – 3pm
• Thurs 11th July - PIZZA MAKING/CAKE DECORATION 12.30pm – 2.30pm
• Fri 12th July -BBQ & GAMES 12pm – 3pm
• Tues 16th July - SCIENCE CENTRE 10.30 – 3pm
• Wed 17th July - OUTDOOR GAMES/ FOREST FUN -11am – 1pm
• Wed 17th July - FAMILY FUN & RELAXATION 1pm – 2.30pm
• Thurs 18th July - MILLPORT  10am – 3pm
• Fri 19th July - MUGDOCK 10.30am – 3pm
• Tues 23rd July - ARTS & CRAFTS 10.30am – 12.30pm
• Tues 23rd July - ARTS & CRAFTS 1pm – 3pm
• Wed 24th July - PAMPERING 10.30am – 12.30pm
• Wed 24th July - GLASGOW CATHEDRAL MURDER TRAIL 11am – 1pm
• Wed 24th July - CINEMA CLUB 1.30pm – 3.30pm
• Thurs 25th July -  KELBURN PARK 10am – 3pm
• Thurs 25th July - PIZZA/CAKE MAKING 12.30pm – 2.30pm
• Fri 26th July - OUTDOOR GAMES/ FOREST FUN 11am – 2pm
• Tues 30th July - RIVERSIDE MUSEUM 10.30 – 3pm
• Wed 31th July - LOCH LOMOND 10.30am – 3pm
• Wed 31st July - FAMILY FUN & RELAXATION 1pm – 2.30pm
• Thurs 1st August - UNCOMMONWEALTH GAMES 12pm – 3pm
• Fri 2nd August - MILLPORT 10am – 3pm
• Tues 5th-Thurs 8th August - CAMPING Meet at 10am Tues morning.
• Fri 9th August - SUMMER PARTY 1pm – 3pm

If you'd like any more information about our summer programme - please contact Suzy on 0141 550 5770 or you can contact us on Facebook or Twitter.

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Can You Help Create Our New Garden?

Our friends and supporters at JCI Glasgow are working with us to help improve our 'Garden Space' at the front of our Glasgow office on Annfield Place, Dennistoun.

When the sunshine decides to come out, we use the garden space for games and BBQ's for the With Kids families but it is a little tired looking and with a small amount of work could potentially be used a lot more.

Below we've posted some photos of our garden to give you an idea of how it currently looks.

We've been discussing sketch proposals with the team at JCI Glasgow and a final design is close to being agreed with the current scope as follows:

• Clean up the existing grass and trees Repair and re-paint the existing metal railings and gates
• Install a new dropped kerb at the Garden entrance
• Plant low level, low-maintenance bushes around the perimeter to give an element of privacy and act as a natural protective barrier around the existing metal railing supports
• Install a hard standing area with timber planters and benches
• Construct a ‘Living den’ for the children
• Create an area next to the gable wall for growing flowers, fruit plants etc.

Existing & Proposed Plans June 2013

The next step in the proposed plan is to make the vision a reality and if time allows, we are looking to have the garden ready by the end of summer/early autumn 2013.

However for this to happen we need your help and we are looking to recruit a project team as soon as possible.

If you would like to get involved or know someone who may be able to help out with either the on going design process or the actual construction/landscaping work then please get in contact with either Tom (tomwiddows@jciglasgow.com) or Lauren (lauren_murray@jciglasgow.com).

Or you can get in touch with us on Facebook and Twitter.

To find out more about JCI Glasgow click HERE. 

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£200 of toys for With Kids!

At the weekend we were lucky enough to have the opportunity to take part in a trolley dash at the opening of The Entertainer Toy Shop in Buchanan Galleries, Glasgow.

Characters Ben 10 and Wizard Hazard officially opened the shop and some of our kids got to meet them!

The kids managed to bag around £200 of toys from the trolley dash which they get to keep - but best of all they had such a good time!

Below are some photos of the kids looking chuffed with their new toys and having good fun!

We'd like to thank The Entertainer Toy Shop for donating the toys to With Kids - it's greatly appreciated!

With the summer holidays now in full swing - we're starting our summer programme next week and we're looking for volunteers.

If you'd like to help out please contact Suzy on 0141 550 5770 or s.blair@withkids.org.uk. Or you can let us know on Facebook and Twitter.

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Alabama Visitors

At the weekend, Sondra and her friend Brenna travelled all the way from American to see the With Kids team!

This was their first ever trip outside of the US and they travelled all the way from Alabama to visit us in Scotland.

To celebrate this occasion, we took advantage of the glorious sunny weather and had a barbecue in the With Kids garden with our guests and some of our families.

While the pair are over here they're travelling all over Scotland and only had one day which they were able to visit us. Luckily this was one of the sunniest days we've seen this year!

Sondra is a huge Robert Carlyle fan and indeed all things Scottish and has been a massive supporter of With Kids. Sondra is also the proud owner of the famous 'chipped cup' from hit television show Once Upon a Time.

Having been on a flight for over 24 hours, our special visitors still managed to get their sleeves rolled up and helped out with the barbecue. 

Below you can see a photo of our fun day in the sunshine with our special visitors! Thank you so much for coming to visit us, we really appreciate your support!

If you have any photos from the weekend in the sunshine please share them with us and we'll post them onto our Facebook page. Also if you would like to find out more about With Kids remember to follow us on Facebook and Twitter. 

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How With Kids Can Help

At With Kids, we wanted to reinforce the vital importance of the work we do for families in both Glasgow and Edinburgh.

With Kids is based in the East End of Glasgow and in South West Edinburgh which have some of the highest levels of poverty in Scotland and the UK.

Although the facts and figures may seem bleak, not all families will have the same issues. Living in or near an area of high poverty can affect you directly or indirectly through crime, lack of amenities, poor educational facilities etc.

As well as this, the sheer volume of families who may need help means that sometimes children and families might not get the support they need; a parent struggling with a child with a learning difficulty or emotional issue might not know where to turn, a parent who's a former addict may be afraid to ask for help in case social services intervene.

How We Can Help You

All families, regardless of background find that they have difficulties from time to time and too often parent's may not be aware of available support or the best action to take. With Kids aims to fill that gap and to provide flexible support that is suited to the needs of children and parents.

Breaking Down the Facts and Figures

In some postcode areas in the east end of Glasgow, 60% of children live in workless households, almost 50% of adults of working age are on incapacity benefit and life expectancy can be as low as 54. - Glasgow Herald.

Over 90,000 children in Scotland live in severe poverty - of these:

• 72% of children parents’ are not in work
• 66% of children are in families claiming income support, job seekers allowance and incapacity benefit,
• 45% of mother’s of children have no educational qualification,
• 1 in 2 children live in single parent families,
• 10% of children are from an ethnic minority, compared to 2.6% not in poverty,
• 41% of children live in families with a disabled adult, compared to 17% of children not in poverty. - Living Below the Radar:Measuring Severe Child Poverty in the UK - Save the Children

Poorer children are five times more likely to regularly miss school. - BBC News

To find out how we can help you, give us a call on 0141 550 5770 or you can contact us on Facebook and Twitter.

The actual cost of running With Kids is some £320,000 per year. That means we must raise around £27,000 each month just to keep the doors open. 

If you'd like to make a donation to With Kids you can do so HERE. 

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Samatha's Training Update...

Welcome to Samantha's blog, where you can find out how her training is coming along in the lead up to the Virgin Triathlon on Saturday 27th July! We've been following her closely to see how she's been getting on and below you can read the next step in her training journey...

Arghhh Clips!!!! Ok so in the crazy world of road biking, for the competitive amongst us, it becomes necessary to attach your shoes to the pedals in order to gain as much power as you can.

I have to say out of everything I have ever attached myself to (which more recently includes a windsurf sail using a hook) this is by far the strangest and most unnatural thing I've ever done! My feet are attached to the pedals! I'm attached to the bike! Attached!! Clipped in!!! Oddly these special pedals are called 'clipless pedals'?

So from now on every time I come to a stop, I have to twist my foot and pop it off the pedal so I can put my foot down on to the ground. Should I by chance forget this, or time it wrong, I will fall over attached to the bike... Attached!!! So nothing like this picture at all actually.

I researched online and decided to go with Look Keo CroMo max 2, my friend Anna works with Free Flow Bikes in Scotland and she looked after me! I also purchased quite a bit of Lycra and padded shorts. That involved a lot of research too...never thought I'd see the day where I'm googling Lycra and viewing people modelling bum padding, but life can take you in all sorts of directions and I'm secretly loving this new found passion. I'm even happy to admit to buying cream which you rub into the shorts before you put them on... It's to avoid chafing... I haven't had any issues with chafing incidentally, just FYI!!! Prevention is key!

So I planned my first 'clipless' cycle in Richmond park with my friend Sam (he has done more than a few triathlons)! It was my first outing in the clips, so I picked up the bike jumped on and had an absolute nightmare at a set of traffic lights with a double decker bus on a hill.

If you take anything from this please let it be that you try out clipping and unclipping in the safety of your home or against a wall before you ride off into the sunshine. However, I am still here to tell the tale and it now feels quite natural.

I'm no show off though and although I'm clipping in and out fairly well there are folks that keep themselves clipped in at traffic lights and bounce around to stay balanced... I think this has the potential to end in a disaster and it looks way more effort than its worth!!! I admit this takes skill so these people must have been practising it indoors for hours at a time and that's taking it all way too far... plus the clipping noise is cool!!! Just in case I do fall, I found this hilarious cartoon cycling tips website. There's a video on falling and also on how to blow your nose and spit the 'correct way'... Love it!

This weekend it was a friend's birthday, yes that meant no training. So yesterday it was back on the bike at 7am, it's day 2 and the weather has held up! Last night I did my first kinda 'brick session' running 5km straight after my cycle home. These are to get my legs used to the quick change in movement... painful! I completed it in 28mins on the treadmill at speeds 10.5kmph and 12.5kmph intervals. (Treadmills give you slower times than running outside by the way, it's an ongoing mystery?) Tomorrow morning I want to do a run straight after my cycle into work, maybe along the River Thames. I'll take pictures! x

To make a donation to Samantha and her good cause, please click on her JUST GIVE PAGE.
To find out more about With Kids and to hear the latest from Samantha, remember to follow us on Facebook and Twitter or you can visit our website.

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