On Saturday 22 September VIP7, a parent and family funday called Very Important Parents Day, will be held in the Commonwealth Suite at the City of Manchester Stadium at Sportcity in east Manchester.
Co-ordinated by 4CT on behalf of New East Manchester, this free annual event, now in its seventh year, will run from 11am until 3pm and is open to all parents, grandparents, carers and children.
The event is funded by Manchester Children's Fund. The theme for this year is parenting and family support. There will be a range of competitions to win great prizes including a mountain bike, tickets to MCFC and sports passes from Manchester Leisure. There will also be a number of fun activities for all the family including cheerleading and Kung Fu demonstrations, theatre performances, sock puppet making, dance and DJ sessions, penalty shoot outs, swing ball, basketball, golf boxing and athletics taster sessions and a climbing wall and bouncy castle.
Greater Manchester Police will be on hand to property mark bicycles and mobile phones and Greater Manchester Fire Service will have a fire engine on show.
New East Manchester will have on display the future plans for the area and local people will have the opportunity to comment on them.
Over 40 organisations will be on hand to offer free advice and support including Job Centre plus, Manchester Settlement, Money Mentors, SureStart, Job Brokerage, DISCUS and Zest. They will offer fun, interactive stalls and provide local people with invaluable information about the services on offer for families in east Manchester.
Jeff Burns, Deputy Chief Executive of 4CT said: "We have tremendous support from a host of agencies this year, meaning we can offer the biggest and best Very Important Parents Day yet. There really is a full range of fun activities for the whole family and I can promise that everyone will come away having tried something new…and the best bit is that it's all free! The day is all about getting the community together to have fun and celebrate family life and there will be plenty of people on hand to offer help and advice on making the most of being the parent."
Sean McGonigle, east Manchester's New Deal Co-ordinator said: "Very Important Parents Day gets bigger and better each year and is now firmly established as one of the most popular events in the east Manchester community calendar. The aim of the day is to make parents aware of the range of services available to them in east Manchester. The event offers residents and representatives from a variety of agencies the opportunity to meet and discuss issues in a fun, informal environment."
For more information on Very Important Parents Day contact Jeff Burns on 0161 301 1412.
Media contact:
Roz Hughes, tel 0161 223 1155