M&S Gainsborough

We believe everyone in society should have equal opportunities and choice to live the life they choose to live. We provide group sessions, dropin, food sharing, short courses, information advice and guidance, advocacy for dealing with issues with statutory and private companies, and we provide opportunities and empowerment to members to seek a better quality of life.

GAPA offers an all year round play service for children and young people aged 0 – 14years, it is based in the heart of the Gainsborough community and also offers outreach play for those not able to access our site. We currently have 430 members who come from all areas of Gainsborough and surrounding villages. The service consists of an open access adventure playground and groups for children aged 0 – 4 years with their parents/carers. All of these services are carefully planned and are all based on play and learning and achieving positive outcomes for children and young people. At GAPA we believe that play is an important part of any child's life and the benefits are immense, we allow children to have opportunities to develop their sense of self-identity, self-esteem, to empathise with the situation of others and to grow aware of the consequences of their actions. At GAPA we encourage children to use its resources as they choose, which provides a wider range of opportunities and shows our trust in the children and that we value their input. Most of all, we allow children to be children and to have fun, relax, make friends and play. At GAPA we work in close partnership with families as a whole and have built up excellent working relationships and trust within the local community and are seen as the focal point of the estate were people of all ages come for lots of different reasons including, friendship, advice and support. GAPA has almost 3 acres of land that allows the children to be outdoors all year round in all weathers. We have a varied environment including a large and established hedgerow, wild areas were the grass is left to grow long, a water area that includes a cave and waterfall that falls into two pebbled streams and a large playing field that has areas of fixed play equipment and areas that have been developed over the years such as a fire pit, bug garden and sensory area. Outdoor play has many benefits for children and enables them to interact with others and helps to build confidence and social skills, and we are aware and understand the importance of research evidence that shows that the regular participation of physical activity provides all children, including children with a disability, with a wide range of physical, social and mental health benefits.

Every case will be treated individually and no judgement will be passed, as we all know and have experienced from time to time changes in circumstances. And, even people with the best will and intention in the world have found themselves having to surrender their fur family member. We will help in any way we can be it advice, rescue and re-homing.