What is The Honeycomb Hub?

The Honeycomb Hub: a hive of activity nurturing the community, a place where everyone is welcome and no-one feels alone. As a family centre, we can be a point of contact to find information regarding all aspects of family life, a place where you can bond with your child through different play opportunities or simply a place to have a cold drink and a moment of peace while your children play.

The name The Honeycomb Hub came about by chance. We wanted a friendly sounding name for the family centre that implied a community and somewhere people could drop in to. Having a healthy admiration for bees and their community within the hive, the name just seemed to appear one day and was perfect. We may take the theme a little far as you look around the hub with Honeybees session, Worker bees homework club, the honeypot nursery, Rugbees …. we shall soon find out if you can have too much of a good thing!

The Hub: our seating area with seats for babies too and
alongside our play area and book corner.  

But why would 2 sisters living in Botswana & England decide to leave their jobs and open a family centre in Botswana? It all started last year when we were all in Botswana for Phillida’s wedding. It was lovely to be here but there were not many places to entertain the boys when you are living in someone else’s spare room. We visited every outdoor park and play area Gabs has to offer but by lunchtime it was too hot to be outside, so we visited every café that offered some form of play area. We even paid for Virgin Active membership just so that we could go swimming a few times. Asking my sister, her friends and people we met at the parks if there was a role play area,  drop-in toddler classes  or even just an indoor play area we could go to their response was: not that we know of, but we need that! You should set one up!

Our book corner - just awaiting a few
beanbags to snuggle up in and
our specially designed reading chair. 

The idea was great, making it a reality has been trickier, especially when the idea grows! We want to support pregnant women, new mothers and growing families. Researching what could be most beneficial to the community led us to the discovery that there is a large Downs Community of young adults who cannot find employment; that there are few groups suitable for children with sensory processing issues and that new parents struggling with the challenges of parenthood don't have a free hub to turn to.

So what do we have to offer? We are run by a qualified primary school teacher with over 10 years experience (who is also a mother of 2 young boys) and a personal trainer who specialises in pre- and post-natal fitness. Our site comprises of Tiny Town, a relaxed seating area, free tea and coffee, a book corner and play area and The Studio (our barefoot studio – a future blog post is calling about all the benefits of being barefoot) which offers fitness and different activities and classes for parents and children.

Adam's Yard
(though real looking, I can assure you
the bricks are foam!)

Vet Pro Junior

Our biggest questions we get asked is what is Tiny Town. It is probably my favourite area and has been lovingly built by hand by Adam Burkett, with an army of kind souls helping us out. It is an area of the warehouse we have turned into a small town with 6 different ‘shops’. We have a police station, a café, a mini nursery, a builders yard (which had to be called Adam’s Yard!) a supermarket and a vet’s surgery which is sponsored by Dr Mbatshi’s Vet Pro and so we have called Vet Pro Junior. There is a large dressing up area with costumes to match each area as well as a whole host of others. A note to parents, we have made sure that some of the costumes are universally sized so you also can get into character – the superhero capes and masks will definitely fit everyone! 

The Studio is a brilliant space that is very adaptable. Our Fitness Director, Phillida, has already begun using it running different fitness sessions and personal training. She works you hard but tailored to each person's individual needs. But the space is also going to be used for different classes run by Managing Director, and teacher, Abigail. We aim ot offer a wide range of classes and for different ages such as a Parent and toddler group, Mamas and Babas, a homework club and STEM clubs. When not in use, it can be available for hire by other groups and we already have our first children's party booked for mid-December!

Fun at the DSAB Christmas Party

One of our biggest aims is to be a place where everyone is welcome. To help in this we have chosen to close to the general public on a Thursday afternoon 3-5pm when we shall host a sensory friendly session. This is specifically for children with special needs and will hopefully be less overwhelming for those who dislike crowds and noise.  We shall have headphones available, a range of sensory toys and some of our soft play equipment out also. 

We are working closely with the Downs Syndrome Association of Botswana and were delighted to be invited to their Christmas Party yesterday which gave us the  perfect opportunity to test out some of our new toys and equipment. We had a great time, made some wonderful new friends and have so many ideas for what else we can do in the future!

Our supermaket: shelves stocked and
trolleys waiting for little customers. 

When we were initially looking for a suitable building to house The Honeycomb Hub, one of the things that really attracted us to our venue was the solar panels which produce all our electricity. As a family, we have always been very eco friendly and this is a theme that we are trying to continue throughout the Hub. We have been saving all our recycling for months to fill the shelves of the supermarket in Tiny Town. Our sensory plants are all potted in up-cycled tins and a large proportion of our furniture has been built from pallets.

Enjoying a delicious bacon roll after our
second Rugbees session.

Things have taken a little longer than we hoped. Back in July, when we got the keys to the premises and were in the midst of relocating, our hopes were to be open in September! That date gradually slipped as the initial building works were completed and then we have had other delays with furniture, signs etc. So it is therefore quite ironic then when we finally do open, it is after one of the busiest weekends in our family calendar - Thanksgiving (we beat our previous record of 18 and invited 24 to a sit down dinner this time!) Big One's Christmas show and Husband's birthday. Add to that the slight complication of said husband now leaving to be in England for a week and we probably couldn't have picked a much worse time! However we are not ones to let these hiccoughs distract us! The one thing we have managed to start (as well as a few fitness classes and personal training) are our Rugbees classes - Rubgy for parents and tots aged 18 months to 5 years - which actually takes place at Action Sports within the Bull & Bush. The classes have been so much fun and we are especially pleased to have a much deserved coffee and a bacon roll from the Bull & Bush afterwards. 

We are extremely excited to finally be opening this week. The Studio will be open for fitness classes starting tomorrow (Monday 27th November) and, due to a slight delay in furniture production, the rest of the Hub will open on Wednesday 29th November. We would love to see you come for a visit. We do have plenty of tea and coffee (and yes, it really is free thanks to a kind, monthly donation from St Leonards Church, Sherfield on Loddon, UK) and the whole centre is having a final deep clean tomorrow so it is sparkling and new for Wednesday. 

If you would like any more information please visit our facebook page https://www.facebook.com/WebstersHoneycomb/ where you can send us a message; drop us an e-mail at: thehoneycombhub@outlook.com or give us a call on 75935900. We look forward to seeing you soon.