Little People’s World (LPW) is a small voluntary organisation established over 10 years ago by Margaret Taribo and some parents/carers from the Peckham & Nunhead area.
The aim of LPW is to provide and promote social activities and family learning activities with a healthy meal for families with young children ()-12) s old during the half term break and school holidays to reduce isolation and increase community cohesion.
This is done through the provision of family learning activities and events focusing on promoting: education/life-long learning, nutrition/health, arts, sports/fitness and cultural celebration.
LPW serves as a platform to support, develop and promote volunteering; it has provided an avenue for parents and carers to develop their planning and organising skills.
Over the past 10 years, there have been more than 30 parents who have volunteered and moved on into paid employment, training or business enterprise.
In 2010 Sandy Newborn joined LPW as a new parent at an event held at the Rye Oak Children Centre. Sandy quickly become a regular service-user and then decided to volunteer with LPW.
When I attended my first LPW event, I was delighted by how welcoming the parent volunteers were to me and my daughter. After that, I attended the next event and then the next. I made friends and had a lot of respect for LPW’s aspirations in aiming to reach the local community for its benefit and betterment. I knew I wanted to be a part of that! I spoke with Margaret and shortly thereafter I was volunteering. I was soon positioned as Group Coordinator; which after being out of work for 3 years to care for my daughter, was a fresh challenge and gave me a new lease of life! The Coordinator role was varied, interesting and yet flexible around my ongoing parental responsibilities. I was also privy to available training opportunities such as the ‘Preparing for Life & Work’ course and the CVQ Volunteering course.
In 2015, I returned into paid employment working for a national children’s charity as a Volunteer Coordinator. My newly acquired skills and experiences gained through volunteering at LPW made me a viable candidate and prepared for my paid role. I would recommend volunteering with LPW if you want to increase your confidence, gain new skills (or develop existing ones) and be a part of positively contributing within the local community”.
