Meriden Adventure Playground Chelmsley Wood

It’s that time of year again!

We are really lucky at MAPA to have a fabulous, experienced and well-qualified team. Many of the brilliant people who join us as casual staff go on to new jobs, courses and apprenticeships, so as we head into our busiest time of year, we are looking for more fabulous people to join us.

We are recruiting energetic, flexible and enthusiastic Play and Youth Workers who are passionate about supporting children and young people at the Adventure Playground and out in the local community. You will bring positivity, initiative and a person-centred approach, with the confidence to work both independently and as part of a team. You will be adaptable, reliable and committed to making a real difference for children, young people and families.

We are lucky to have access to a wide range of training opportunities.

We are recruiting for:

*Casual and Sessional Play Workers*

Weekend hours, Saturdays and Sundays
School holiday weekday daytime sessions
Occasional after-school hours may also be available

*Casual & Sessional Youth Workers*

Evening work, usually between one and three evenings per week
Some afternoon holiday work may also be available
Opportunities to support youth work within play sessions
Limited 1:1 youth work hours may be available for applicants with relevant experience and qualifications

We operate a full Safer Recruitment process. All appointments are subject to satisfactory references and an enhanced DBS check before the post can be taken up.

CVs are not accepted. To apply, please request an application form by emailing [email protected].

Whilst tidying up the playground this evening, we have found these glasses. If they are yours, please come and collect them, we are open tomorrow from 1.30-4.30. Mapa Team

Take a look at this week's sessions!
A small charge will apply for the Forest Friday Session. 🌳

Book online via: www.mapa-online.org.uk

*Limited spaces left*
Sunday morning is the driest bit of the day!

So bring your wellies for some Forest school fun 🌳🍃

(There is a small charge for this session)

Forest Fridays returns next Friday 11.30-1pm.

Our Forest School session for home-educated families/pre-school children starts back on 15th May.

Sessions on 15th & 22nd May are an excellent opportunity to try our Forest School sessions before we start a 6 week project after half term.

There is a small charge for this session of £6 per child.

Take a look at this week's sessions! Sunday's sessions are bookings only! 🙂

Book online: www.mapa-online.org.uk

A note from Zoe our Marathon runner:

Wahoo it’s marathon day 🥳
Except that it’s not 😭

Sadly, after 380km of training (and more training I’ve ever done for an event that includes running!) I am a deferral for next year 😭😭

It’s a very long story (with no injury) and yes, I’m totally gutted.

Because we had doubts, and have been trying to resolve the issue up until last week, when we had final notice from the marathon team that it was an issue that couldn’t be resolved,I didn’t push fundraising after my initial post but HUGE thanks to everyone that supported. As a replacement for this year I’ll be undertaking the dragon ride on June 14th (a VERY hilly 100km bike ride with an very short training window) to make up for it and I will still be running next year.

Apologies for the late post but as those of you that know me and my family will know, we sail VERY close to the wind with our family commitments.

Now to organise a year of events and training to maintain the momentum 😬 Lord knows how many miles I’ll have clocked by then!!

Picture from my last long training run (17 miles just two weeks ago)

We are totally flabbergasted!!

On the hottest day of the year so far, someone has a need for one of our heaters which has been stolen from our toilets!

The toilets at MAPA aren’t public toilets. They are funded and maintained by us.. that’s cleaning, soap, toilet rolls and the lovely heaters we had installed last winter (thanks to a grant)… all to make them nicer for everyone that uses them.

Because we are a community focussed organisation - the toilets aren’t just open when we are.. if there is someone on site, they are generally open so that anyone can access them (at our cost!)

If ANYONE is offered a heater like this or would like to return it (no questions asked) we would be forever grateful. Charity funding is hard and extra costs eat into what we can offer.

Also (an extra ask) if any local business could donated cages to go around them to make it a little bit harder, that would be amazing 🤩

On another note, if you are struggling, please talk to us.. we can help with referrals to food and clothing banks and put you in touch with a ton of agencies that may be able to help.. we even sometimes have food and meals in our freezer that we can share 🥰