HONEYCROFT PLAYGROUP

Since the late 1960s Honeycroft Playgroup has operated from St. Leonard’s Church Hall, Hove.  Each year Honeycroft has increased in size, popularity and services,  until it has now become one of the largest playgroups in Hove and Portslade.  Honeycroft moved premises in November 1999 to accommodate it's growing size and is now based at St.Barnabas Hall Sackville Road, Hove.

Since 1984 Honeycroft has integrated children with “special needs” into the playgroup.  All children are treated equally and have access to all activities.
 
 

HONEYCROFT 3
Due to the success of the integrated playgroup  an additional group evolved - Honeycroft 3 - for pre-playgroup children, aged0-3 years.  The emphasis of this group  is  children or parents/carers with special needs.  The rational for this development is that, the earlier families with special needs are encouraged to be apart of mainstream provision,the more support they will receive and the more integration willbecome the norm.

Because the range of services available at Honeycroft went beyond the boundaries of normal playgroups, Honeycroft Under 5’s Centre was born.

SNIP
In an attempt to provide even more resources for children with special needs, and more importantly, to promote parental choice, Honeycroft developed SNIP (Special Needs Integrated in Playgroups)   Through this work all providers of under 5’s care in the Brighton, Hove and Lewes area are being encouraged to provide integrated play and are able to access the information, resources and support SNIP is able to offer.

      

WHO IS RESPONSIBLE FOR HONEYCROFT
Honeycroft is not run, or funded by, statutory agencies, it is a voluntary charity that is run by Trustees who employ the Centre's Co-ordinator and staff team.   The Centre has to generate all of its income, as the Trustees are liable for any of its debts.   Fees contribute towards the running costs, but only cover 70% of total costs.  For the Centre to survive it needs to seek additional funding, e.g. Grants or funding from charitable Trusts and companies etc.  The Centre engages in a fundraising activity that all parents are asked to assist with.  This can be fun and some parents also volunteer to join the fund raising committee–Friends of Honeycroft.