Little Lotus Yoga

04/09/2024

Give them the opportunity to be truly creative and inventive.
*Children given paper plates to make faces may never learn to draw and cut a circle.
*Children given a limited colour palate, will accept a monochrome world.
*Children given other people's words for writing, will never learn to search their own mind for wider vocabulary.
*Children gazing numbly at a screen will never stretch their own imaginations to create or might have their brains washed by harmful messages.
*Children kept clean and sterile will never learn to breathe in nature and know how precious it is.
*Children thinking that silence is to be commended will never learn to use their voices with confidence.
*Children without a musical instrument in their hands and music in their ears will always feel that music is too precious, or unavailable to them
*Children who don't experience poetry or lyrics will never understand the beauty of words to sing.
*Children without scabby knees will never learn how to keep themselves safe.

03/09/2024

My Yoga classes at Riffs Youth centre are set to close, as I am not able to secure a new teacher. 😭
If your child has attended my classes you'll have been emailed a few times on this. If you have a child who could benefit from yoga classes ( and that's all children in my opinion !) please either get in touch with Clary, or chat with me if you'd rather.

27/08/2024

Parents of my children's classes, please check your emails. There has been a change of plans for both Parley School classes and Riffs Youth centre classes for next term 💟☮️

Natalie Smit-Ash Ferndown Youth Centre - Riffs Parley First School

05/07/2024

10/06/2024

Yoga at Bear Island again?
The wonderful Old Thatch in Ferndown will again be hosting our Summer Holiday yoga sessions.
Whatever the weather we will be Cody and dry in the woodland setting. With your drinks included.
Natalie Smit-Ash and Isabel Brooks more details available soon!

09/04/2024

We're afraid we have some sad news. We are devastated that Care Dorset, owned and operated by Dorset Council, have issued us with an eviction notice. It has come as quite a shock, and despite attempts to negotiate and provide solutions, both parties have refused to engage so far with us.

Care Dorset and Dorset Council state they want the space back to provide cooked meals at lunchtime. We have offered to provide those meals for them, and suggested they use an outside catering company. Both options would be considerably more cost effective than opening up the kitchen (which we estimate will cost in the region of £60000 per year to operate), and importantly would also allow us to stay too. There is also 2 other kitchen areas in the building. We were offered the redundant kitchen space after they ceased to provide meals due to financial pressures making the provision unviable. We are wholly surprised and confused therefore since budgets for local authorities are even tighter, and the number of people attending the Day Centre have markedly reduced.

In light of this, and of our need to highlight our plight in an attempt to change their mind to keep this vital and life and livelihood saving service going, we need your help:

- Sign our petition https://www.change.org/save-ferndown-food-bank
- Write to Chris Best, CEO Care Dorset at [email protected], and Cllr Spencer Flower, Leader of the Council at [email protected]
- Share our plight with friends/family/colleagues
- If you are a donor, please continue to support us as we continue our vital work. We will not stop.

Lets keep Ferndown and East Dorset Fed!

20/02/2024

More.....playlists for Little Lotus.
https://open.spotify.com/playlist/1mVNGnXXPIwHbae6rzjFBm?si=68QEGGtoSzCteI1Ua_vRUA

Little Lotus Yoga · Playlist · 43 songs · 3 likes

20/02/2024

May we raise children to love the unloved things...
The dandelion, the worm and the spiderlings
Children who sense the rose needs the thorn
and run into rainswept days the same way we turn toward the sun

And when they're grown and someone has to speak for those who have no voice
May they draw upon that wilder bond...
Those days of tending tender things
AND BE THE ONES

Nicolette Sowder

18/02/2024

We have had unprecedented demand this week for our Food Bank, hitting a record 61 people on Thursday alone. If you are able to support us, and those in need, with a donation of food or of pennies so we can buy in bulk at a cheaper rate, we would be so very grateful. Donations can be made in Tesco, Lidl ferndown, orchid house, coop funeralcare ferndown, or online.

Thank you, too, to all those who already donate and support us as we provide for the most vulnerable in our local communities. Our support is free of charge, and delivered with dignity and hope. Our food bank support extends to East Dorset, not just Ferndown, so if you live in East Dorset and want to support your community you will be doing so by donating to us..

Our neighbouring foodbanks - Wimborne, kinson, hope for food and Ringwood, are also struggling as the cost of living really bites this winter.