Loverly jubilee…crowns at the ready - Skipton gets ready to celebrate!

As bunting springs up across the town and the finishing touches are put to parties, jubilee fever is in full flow. It’s not an exhaustive list but we’ve got a run down of just a few of the things lined up over the bank holiday weekend to keep your little prince and princesses entertained…


It wouldn’t be any kind of jubilee without a street party and alongside the village dos planned in the area, there’ll be a fabulous celebration planned on Skipton High Street. From 10am till 10pm there’ll be live entertainment and family fun. If you’re looking for something to bake with the kids to take along to your nearest celebration then we love these Queen of Hearts tarts.

Queen of Hearts Tarts!

If you want to get out in the fresh air and celebrate then the jubilee treasure hunt at Bolton Abbey looks like a right royal treat. You’re invited to test your knowledge of British kings and queens as you take a walk in the beautiful Bolton Abbey countryside, looking for the queen’s missing crowns. Park at Bolton Abbey Village Car Park to follow the clues which begin as soon as you leave the car!

There’s also the Uptown Skipton Jubilee Treasure Hunt on June 2nd and 3rd. Find the hidden royals in 30 shops and businesses. There’s a treat for everyone who completes, plus a prize for the first correct entry pulled from the hat. You can pick up an entry form at any of the shops at High Corn Mill on Chapel Hill between 9am and 4pm.

Malham Safari

For more outdoor fun you could try the Malham Safari – this year with a jubilee theme. From 10am each day there will be crowns to look for around the village as well as the ‘safari train’ and royal barge ‘Gloriana’. They’ve got morris dancing, coconut shy, stream dipping, an archery and rifle range planned too as well as duck races every day!

Skipton Castle, with its royalist past, will be hosting a recreation of a medieval campsite in its grounds from 2nd to 4th June. The garrison will demonstrate their arms and armour as they bring the castle to life! 10am - 6pm (Sunday 12 noon - 6pm) The standard entrance fee applies with no extra charge.

Settle Play Barn is holding a teddy bears picnic on Sunday 3rd June 2-4pm with lots of fun for everyone! And if you fancy a break from queens and crowns, take a trip out with the king of the tracks – Thomas the tank engine himself at the Bolton Abbey Steam Railway (2-5th June) or learn all about tractors at a special event at Thornton Hall Country Park 34rd-4th June.

Enjoy!

SELFA celebrates years of fantastic work!

When I was a little girl, there was nothing I liked more than baking with my granny; she was a great cook and taught me to make many of the treats I like to bake with my own children.

I remember on one occasion we were going to bake scones (my Granny was born in Belfast 1913, and she never used to bother much with weighing and measuring ingredients), she made a hole in the middle of the flour and told me to put in ‘just enough buttermilk to fill the hole’. So I poured…. and poured…. and poured some more – as most 6 year-olds would! When she saw what I’d done, she didn’t get cross. She just thought for a moment and said “oh well, we’ll just have to make pancakes instead”

I suppose that’s the attitude we like to think we have at SELFA. We have been established for 5 years now, and during that time we’ve had many occasions when we’ve had to deal with situations we weren’t expecting and work out a solution on the spot!

SELFA is a children’s charity based at Christ Church School, (opposite Tesco in Skipton). We work with schools and professionals working with families to provide out-of-school and holiday activities across the area, with a particular focus on services for vulnerable, disadvantaged and disabled children.

I was initially employed as the Extended Schools Co-ordinator for Skipton, but when the Local Authority made the decision that funding for all the posts across the county would end in March 2011, we decided to go it alone!

Suddenly I had a ‘scones to pancakes’ moment, but 2 years on and SELFA is still here; and going from strength to strength!

What we deliver today is very different from what we did two years ago, never mind 5 years ago, but we have stuck firm to our principles and always keep the children we support and their families at the centre of everything we do.

We run a popular holiday club for 4-11 year olds. Any child can attend, from any school in the area and we offer flexible sessions from 8am until 6pm for parents who need childcare while they are at work or just a short break for both parents and children. There is a cost for holiday club and bursaries are available for families who need it.

Karen is our lively and enthusiastic Play Leader, she works for SELFA all year round and runs the holiday club, she has lots of great ideas and she has a team of Play Workers who provide a high level of care whilst ensuring everyone has fun! My own daughter goes to holiday club and she loves it, that’s the best endorsement that I could give the club.

The other main area of our work is providing free holiday workshops for children and young people. These always book up really quickly and are open to everyone, including children who are disabled. We usually run these activities on a Wednesday during school holidays; however we hope to expand this provision in the future as they always book up really quickly! Recently we have held Arts & Crafts workshops, Circus Skills, Dance & Drama and Samba & Percussion to name but a few.

Then there are the ‘Special Projects’ that we co-ordinate through SELFA, which tend to be one-off after-school or holiday projects. Over the last year this has included ‘Skipton: The Musical’ a joint project with Skipton Camerata for Year 6 children and we have plans for a film making workshop at Aireville over the summer holidays.

We also offer volunteering opportunities for ‘Skipton Holiday Helpers’ at our clubs and workshops and we are always keen to find out what parents want through feedback, and find how we can improve the service we provide to local children and their families.

Anyone who wants to contact us or find out more can do so by the links on our website: www.selfa.org.uk

By the way – the pancakes turned out just fine, they nearly always do!


Thanks to Emma Pears, Co-ordinator of local Children’s Charity; SELFA (Skipton Extended Learning For All) for writing this fantastic guest blog for MooBaaKids!