FREEtake me home! Surrey East RECRUITING NOW Successful ‘business mum’ is IN THIS ISSUE seeking 5 working partners to work part-time from home, alongside and without compromising family commitments or current career. Stay safe in If you have a supervisory, the water managerial, sales, marketing, recruitment or self-employed background, or you wish to develop an extraordinary lifestyle What’s on in please call Katie Bridge May & June 07909 681884 Helping children believe they can do anything Singing, dancing and acting classes for 4 - 16 year-olds COULSDON OXTED 0345 078 0805 01883 708158 stagecoach.co.uk/coulsdon stagecoach.co.uk/oxted DORKING & REIGATE REDHILL 0800 007 5482 0208 6860141 stagecoach.co.uk/dorking stagecoach.co.uk/redhill stagecoach.co.uk/reigate LEATHERHEAD 0208 394 2244 stagecoach.co.uk/leatherhead Stagecoach Performing Arts is the trading name of Stagecoach Theatre Arts Limited. Stagecoach Theatre Arts schools are operated under franchise and are independently owned by their Principals. Stagecoach and Creative Courage For Life are registered trademarks of Stagecoach Theatre Arts Limited. Issuefamiliesonline.co.uk 70 May/June 2019 familiesonline.co.ukFamilies Surrey East Family Gardening Festival 25 May – 2 June Get growing this May half-term. Activities vary daily Buy garden tickets at rhs.org.uk/wisley and save 10% RHS Members go free. Your visit supports our work as a charity RHS Registered Charity Number: 222879 / SC038262 DATES COURSES July & August 2019 — Junior Inventor (NEW) — Creative Digital Design LOCATION — Teen Coding with Python St John’s School, — Video Game Design Leatherhead (KT22) & MORE! BUILD+ _CODE CREATE_ UK’S #1 TECH CAMP FOR 9-17 YEAR OLDS £25 OFF* Promo Code FAMILIES25 Childcare vouchers accepted. Book now at Scholarships available. fire-tech.com *T&Cs apply 2 Families Surrey East familiesonline.co.uk Welcome to issue 70 This issue is packed with great ideas for you to have hours of family fun. In support of drowning prevention week 2019, we have a top tis water safety feature, keeping children safe in the water this Summer, and our What’s On has 100’s of ideas for things to do across May and June. Surrey East Remember to like our Facebook page, www.facebook.com/familiessurreyeast/, where we keep you posted on all the fun things happening around you and a week by week basis. Editor Tamar Pearson Happy reading. [email protected] Tamar Design Rebecca Carr xx Printer Print Mates 21,000 copies printed It’s Official! Our Readers Prefer 42,000 readers per issue Families Magazine to the Internet! Next issue July/August Booking deadline 3 June Last year, we conducted a survey across the UK asking readers to tell us what they find useful about our magazine Cover Image Depositphotos and how likely they would be to respond to advertising in it. We were delighted to receive almost 500 responses! From the wonderful feedback you gave us, more than 70% of our readers said they were highly likely to respond to advertising in our magazine or had already done so. That’s fabulous news for our advertisers and for our readers, because it means we can carry on making the magazine better and better! A whopping 79% of readers told us that they use the magazine to research ideas for local family activities or classes and clubs for children and an equally impressive 74% said they use it to plan family life. Many of you also told us that you find easier to plan family activities and entertainment using In this issue Families Magazine than using the internet! You told us that using the internet to research and plan can be time consuming and confusing, involving lots of trawling online for useful information. 4. News & views A common complaint seems to be the “endless trawling” that digital research involves. 6. Education news A typical response came from a reader in Kenley who says ,‘’I find Families magazine useful as 7. School open day directory it gives me lots of information on events and services that help me to entertain my children. It is quite hard to find information like this on the web that specifically tailors events to your area and 8. Stay safe in the water categorises them this well. It also is an interesting read with topics I can relate to. I’d be very likely to respond to ads in the magazine’’ 9. Swimming clubs & classes directory 10. How to help children make friends Readers also told us that they really value having a physical magazine in their hands in which all the information relevant to family life has already been collated and is presented to them in an 11. What’ on in May & June easy-to-digest format. Families Surrey East is part of Families Print Ltd, a A typical response came from a reader in Manchester who says: “In this time of social media it is franchise company. All franchised magazines in the great to have a magazine you can pick up and physically flick through rather than having to fight group are independently owned and operated under through hundreds of e-mails and pop up adverts for individual offers.” licence. Families is a registered trademark of LCMB Ltd, Remenham House, Regatta Place, Marlow Another reader says: “With the Families® magazine, all the information is right there, in a simple Road, Bourne End, Bucks SL8 5TD. The contents of Families Surrey East are fully protected by copyright to understand, calendar format, which is perfect! I can then successfully plan our summer break.” and none of the editorial or photographic matter may We were also really happy that large numbers of you reported that Families Magazine makes your be reproduced in any form without prior consent lives easier and less stressful and saves you time. of Families Surrey East. Every care is taken in the preparation of this magazine, but Families Surrey East; our distributors, the franchise company, Thank you to everyone that volunteered their comments. Families Print Ltd, and Lifecycle Marketing cannot be held responsible for the claims of advertisers nor If you are interested in taking part in one of our Reader Forums, please email for the accuracy of the contents, or any consequence [email protected] with your name, phone number and post code. thereof. *Readers names have not been quoted for privacy reasons. familiesonline.co.uk Families Surrey East 3 News & Views Busylizzy classes have arrived in Caterham and there is a lot to get excited about Busylizzy provide fitness classes for mums before and after having baby, and what’s more, you can bring your baby along with the comfort that there is a dedicated class assistant to keep an extra pair of eyes on your little one(s) – yes siblings are welcome too! Wrapped up in the monthly membership is access to baby classes, Go Wild this June with fitness classes, coffee mornings, and discounted events. Everything is booked via an app and minimum membership is only 3 months so no annual tie in. Surrey Wildlife Trust Try it for two weeks and if you don’t like it just cancel and pay for any classes used. Your first class The Wildlife Trusts’ annual nature challenge is is free so give it a try and head to the website www.busylizzycaterham.co.uk and click on Try a back for its 5th year and it’s wilder than ever! Class. Surrey Wildlife Trust is inviting everyone in Ready to sign up? Use code FAMILIES70 for 70% off the joining fee! Surrey to join in and pledge to experience nature every day during June. From a Sunday walk in a beautiful nature reserve, to building a Explore Badger’s Basecamp, a bug hotel or simply relaxing in gardens, there are hundreds of ways to get involved. brand new den building area at If people start looking out for nature regularly, Claremont Landscape Garden they are more likely to care about and protect it. Whatever their age, wherever they live, Taking inspiration from a badger’s den, this hidden woodland area everyone can make nature part of their life. features tunnels and hidey holes built from sustainable wood, creating a wonderful play area that is especially designed for older Charlotte Magowan, SWT’s marketing children. There are tunnels to explore, a wooden badger to meet and a large open area for manager, said: “We love seeing so many den building. Children will love interacting with this new structure, using it to inspire their play people making a space for nature in their and fuel their imagination. Bringing children to play at Claremont will encourage them to get everyday lives. Whether it’s cloud spotting in moving, running, jumping and climbing their way around. Moving regularly has been shown to your garden or feeding the birds, it’s easy to have both emotional and physical benefits, all the more reason for people of all ages to join in join in. with the play. More info at www.nationaltrust.org.uk/polesden-lacey You’ll also feel happier and healthier, because it’s proven that time spent outdoors is great for mind and body. So, go on – help wildlife and Hever Castle and Gardens help yourself by joining thousands of others on this amazing 30 Days Wild adventure!” has done it again, this time claiming the Best Family Day For a FREE 30 Days Wild pack, visit www. wildlifetrusts.org/30DaysWild. Out award Hever Castle & Gardens was described as one of the “finest More Protection for gardens in the UK” by South East in Bloom judges in 2018. Mums Returning to Shortly after winning the best castle in the East, they were also awarded Best Family Day Out at the UK Heritage Awards.’ Work Young visitors to Hever Castle can explore the Tudor Towers adventure playground with its own New parents returning to work could moat, drawbridge and three turrets, or the under 7s can enjoy the natural play area, Acorn Dell receive greater protection from with its 2 metre high living willow structure, a giant sandpit, a mound with tunnels to clamber in redundancy under new government and a climbing frame.