The LDWC: A Friend to Families
The Lennoxville & District Women’s Centre is mandated to provide services for English speaking women throughout the Eastern Townships. Every year, we try to identify the needs expressed by women in our community and develop programming to address these needs. Since the release of the the Québec Survey of Child Development in Kindergarten (QSCDK) in 2012, we have been actively working to augment our family focused programming. In addition to our ongoing LDWC Playgroup and Prenatal course, we have initiated a discussion group for parents called the Parent Tap, designed to address the issues that parents of young children deal with. We also offered a Mom & Kids yoga class this year which proved to be very popular.
For over 20 years now, we have offered an English Language Playgroup to Women and their preschool aged children. Tuesdays and Thursdays, from 9:30am to 12pm the Amedée-beaudoin Community Centre is alive with laughter and the (not so quiet) patter of little feet. What you may not know, however, is that for over 3 years now, Playgroup has had the presence of two gifted animators.
Rowan Smith is an IBCLC (International Board-certified Lactation Consultant) who also leads the LDWC’S Prenatal courses 3 to 4 times a year. She is present every Tuesday morning at Playgroup as a resource to new moms and their babies. Charity Jayne Kerrigan, a Specialist in Early Childhood Development, develops a variety of activities for the older children (15 months to 6 years old), including reading, active play, sensory activities and creativity sessions.
Our Prenatal courses are the only English language class offered in our community, welcoming expectant parents from all over Estrie including anglophone clients referred to us by the CLSC. The class is comprised of 6 informational sessions and includes a guided tour to the maternity ward at the CHUS Fleurimont.
Mom & Kids Yoga is designed to give children an outlet to express themselves through active roleplay and storytelling. With the guidance of Charity’s storytelling they sway like trees, walk like animals, jump like bugs. They express themselves and exercise through gameplay and laughter.
Probably the fastest growing of these activities is The Parent Tap. Once a month, parents are invited to attend a discussion group at the LDWC that addresses topics pertinent to raising young children. Topics this year have included a variety of questions including stress management, dealing with sibling rivalry, how to talk about sex and consent, constructive forms of communication and more. With the guidance of our faithful experts, parents are able to learn, share and support one another in their endeavours. The feedback we have received from participants has been truly gratifying.
Because we know that life is busy, we always do our best to schedule these activities during the evening. With the exception of Playgroup, most of our groups meet after dinner on weekdays. We also make sure that most activities are financially accessible by charging nominal fees in order to cover our basic costs. Membership to the LDWC is $10 annually. Additional fees range from $5 per session for Parent Tap, $10/ year Activity fee for the LDWC Playgroup, $60 a session for Prenatal and $40 to $60 for Yoga depending on the length of the session. The Women’s Centre has a strict policy, however about ensuring that all women and their families in our region have access to our services, which is why we are always willing to sponsor families who may not be in a position to cover the fees.
For more information about any of our activities, or the LDWC, don’t hesitate to contact us: (819)564-6626 OR info@ldwc.ca