If you wish to make a referral to us, please continue to do so and contact us on 01782 344740 for advice or visit our website: gingerbreadcentre.co.uk #charity for #homeless #families in #Stoke-on-Trent

Families at Rothesay Court got a taste of Christmas magic thanks to an art session led by our Support Team's Natalie MacGregor, along with local group @BArtsStoke . Children and parents had a blast crafting festive artwork using hand and foot prints, framed to cherish forever.

Recently, we had the pleasure of hosting a team of thirteen dedicated staff from Stoke-based @VodafoneUK at our Rothesay Court site. Braving the crisp autumn weather, they spent the day rejuvenating outdoor spaces that, vital to the wellbeing of the families we support. Thanks!

Today is @BBCCiN Children in Need day which has a special place in the hearts of everybody at The Gingerbread Centre because of the fantastic funding support they give to our Activity Club, which we are pleased to say has just been renewed for another three years. Thankyou!

We’re thrilled to say that The Gingerbread Centre is being supported by the @coopuk Local Community Fund between now and the 18th October, 2025. It’s another great way for you to support our work and to make a real difference to families without a home.

The families in Activity Club have been thinking about Remembrance Day this week and the children painted some lovely poppy crafts for our display. The babies and toddlers also enjoyed exploring our red and black themed sensory tray.

Thanks to everybody who supported us at Halloween. In addition to the party we had in Activity Club, there were bake offs and fancy dress days at a number of our supporters, who all took the spooky occasion as an opportunity to have fun and raise money in support of our work.

We've had another great week in Activity Club. Continuing with our Halloween theme, we carved pumpkins. It was hard work scooping out the insides but what amazing carvings we had. We had a super Halloween party with music, bubbles, balloons, games, food, fun and laughter!

Thank you to Lindsay and David from @DHLGlobal , Jack and Ester from @VodafoneUK and Ross and Alex from @WeAreWoolcool for helping with a bucket collection at ASDA in Wolstanton this week. Thanks also to @asda for allowing us to be in store for the day.

This week our toddlers explored mini pumpkins in our little ‘garden’, and looked at the Halloween colours, glitter and googly eyes in our sensory bottles. Older children have coloured Halloween sun catchers. A Halloween paper chain is ready for our party next week!

Great to meet the members of the Rotary Club of Uttoxeter recently, to enjoy their hospitality and to tell them about our important work supporting families without a home in Stoke-on-Trent and the surrounding area. A good evening with a fantastic group of people and a nice meal!

The 2024 @swanswaygroup Gingerbread Enterprise Challenge ends on 31st October. Two teams have already turned their £100 seed money into an incredible £2,500! We've so far seen car washes, raffles and a vibrant Indian Food Night. Could you do better? There's still time.

Activity Club is getting ready for Halloween and have been painting and making pumpkins and building ghosts in the cloud dough. Our babies have enjoyed tummy time, our sensory black and white mat and bubble play, whilst our toddlers have been up and down the slide.

Thank you to the National Lottery Community Fund @TNLComFund for their grant of £20,000 to help fund our Supporting People Programme, which provides the intense and individual support to our families. Thank you as well to all National Lottery players who made the grant possible!

In Activity Club this week the children created some autumn leaves. We also had a club band, with an older child on lead guitar and the younger ones playing drum beats! In our baby and toddler session, the children played in the ball pit and created some Halloween finger puppets.

Visit us on Stand B65 at the Let’s Do Business Expo this Thursday, 10th October, 10am to 4pm at Uttoxeter Racecourse, Staffs. We would love to talk to you about how we work with businesses, to mutual benefit, and about how you can make a difference to local homeless families.

If you use easysearch as your search engine option (easysearch.org.uk) and choose the Stoke Gingerbread Centre, our charity will receive 0.5p for each search carried out. Although it sounds a small amount, it can mount up and doesn’t cost you a penny or even half a penny!

Everybody loves cake! The new series of the Great British Bake Off has just started. Take inspiration from the programme, do some baking and set up a fundraising bake sale with your friends or colleagues at work, and make a difference to local families who have lost their home.

The 6-week window for this year’s Swansway Gingerbread Enterprise Challenge is open and we have now also welcomed teams from Swansway themselves, Woolcool and TF Travel Limited. If you’ve got what it takes to turn £50 cash into a nice sum of money, please get in touch!

We need a strategic thinker with a proven track record in fundraising to manage our Fundraising Team. If you’re target driven and thrive in a fast-paced environment, we want to hear from you! Full details of this new and exciting role are on our website: gingerbreadcentre.co.uk/job-vacancies

We welcomed staff from @Tesco, Hanley to our young parent Catherine Court Centre. They brought in some great items which will help our families both there and at our Rothesay Court site, where we support parents of all ages. Thank you very much for your kind donation.