Ziggies

Training & Education

Training Services

School Services

Residential Services

Ziggies

Our successes so far

Careful marketing means that Ziggies engages with a wide spectrum of parents, and has a proven track record of engaging with those who were hard to reach.

• Dads love Ziggies: More than 20% of adults who attend Ziggies are male. Ziggies Camp.

• We have developed a three-day residential course available to all Ziggies members where the whole family can enjoy quality time together whilst also enjoying meaningful and exciting activities cleverly designed to engage the whole family. This year, our first camp, attracted over 200 people.

• Training. All Ziggies training days are accredited by the Open College Network. Volunteers can gain valuable experience while improving their CV.

• Sustainability Ziggies groups attract up to 35 people every week, sustaining these numbers, and through a great reputation, new families to the school in the new school year also joined in with the fun and are now regular attendees.

Pupils at Young Wales are responsible for researching, designing and photographing a bank of creative resources for parents and volunteers to use in their sessions as well as at home with their children, which will be accessible to Ziggies families at www.ziggies.org. This enables the pupils to make a real contribution to the project and develop skills while using the tasks to gain qualifications.

Ziggies Volunteers

"It's really good for my kids to see me involved in their school and to see me achieving something. I think they are quite proud. I'm quite impressed with myself too if I'm honest!" Volunteer Heol y Celyn

Volunteers run their very own Ziggies sessions and play an important role in the development of Ziggies, sharing new ideas and supporting each other. Each parent volunteer has listed a number of benefits to running a Ziggies group including building their confidence and giving them the experience to transition into the world of work through training and work experience.

"Since starting my Ziggies group, my confidence has really grown. I never thought I would be able to stand in front of a big group and talk, let alone read a story, use silly voices and joke around! I'm not just a Mum any more...I've really enjoyed having something to work towards every week. I have loads of ideas and can't wait to share them with my Ziggies group." Volunteer

Volunteer support from staff and students is invaluable at Ziggies groups. Volunteers enjoy getting involved with planning, story telling and activities.

The groups are easy to run using school resources and cheap craft ides which are easily accessible through the website and Ziggies handbook, managed by the co-ordinator and supported by volunteers.