The lessons learned in last year’s switch to digital have made some lasting changes to many annual events. This year’s Kids Summer Club held in Wellesley Township is no exception.
“We’ve been doing different variations of summer club for many years now,” said Lisa Parker, a community health worker at the Wellesley Township Community Health Centre. “This year, we’ve decided to run a hybrid model of in person and online weeks.”
Over the course of the next six weeks, online and in-person events will be taking place at four different community centers across the region. Wellesley will be the first to host activities from July 19 to 23. The St. Clements Community Centre will be next up from July 26 to 30. After a week of online activities, Linwood and Hawkesville community centres will round out the event with activities taking place between August 9 to 13 and August 16 to 20 respectively.
“Some locations can be really super popular,” said Parker. “We’ve had upwards of 28 kids at certain locations, and some locations may not be quite as busy.”
The in-person activities staff have planned for kids range from summer sports to guest speakers. All of these events will be facilitated with social distancing guidelines in mind.
“We’re going to be doing volleyball, we have a lot of guests coming in to do presentations, we’re hoping for the fire department to come in and use their hose and have a fun day. We also have people coming in to do art, and also farm safety. So more hands-on activities,” explained Ailish Kennelly, a summer leader at the health centre. “We’ll be following all our social distance guidelines.”
The Kid’s Summer Club is open to children aged from 5 to 13. There are a limited number of spots available, so those interested should contact Lisa Parker at wchckidssummerclub@gmail.com. The Wellesley Township Community Health Centre also suggests parents make a $25 donation to go towards funding for future events.
“I think it’s really important for kids, especially that young, to actually get into these social environments – being at home, they don’t get to be around other kids.” said Aurora Ibbotson, another of the summer leaders. “Being around others [and] actually socializing is really important.”
