Who we are...
Noah’s Ark Family Centre is registered with UK Companies House as a Non-Profit Organisation Limited by Guarantee - Number 6400642. The company was set up to work in partnership with Thornaby Rainbow Trust in a project which will provide a number of services to Thornaby community. 
We are based within the premises of the Methodist Church which is opening its doors to the wider community by offering facilities and meeting their needs in terms of socialization, education, physical and mental health. It is a well-located modern building, with easy access for all ages and abilities.
After listening to the needs of our community, we decided to open an indoor and outdoor adventure play area and healthy Cafe which includes their three main requests: a facility where families can interact together, access healthy food at reasonable cost and play safely in a clean environment. With their involvement and support, we anticipate we will become a place where family learning, community involvement and healthy life style are promoted.
The statistics say that we live in one of the poorest areas of the country and we face many problems with anti-social behaviour like teenagers drinking in the streets, being noisy and abusive; vandalism of cars, buses and houses with graffiti or muddy balls; bullying tactics and drug use in the parks and playgrounds. The reason for this seems to be boredom, lack of local facilities and lack of transport to access other areas. There is often a lack of communication within and between families and breakdown in family relationships is a result.
However, our people love Thornaby and are very proud of it. There is a strong sense of community amongst the older generation, which for many reasons are not shared by the younger generation and newcomers. The Family Centre is a response to the need for a place where the whole family (parents and children, single parent and children, grandparents and grandchildren, extended family, etc) can come together to play and learn, to build stronger relationships with each other and with the community. We want to help build a bridge between generations, help them to find a common ground through play, storytelling, arts & crafts and learning activities.
Our aims from the beginning...
We want to:
- Enable families to play together
- Enable families to learn together
- Enable people within the community to come together and build a stronger sense of community spirit
- Enable parents and children to have a healthier life style by developing good eating habits and taking part in physical exercise
We will achieve this by providing:
- An indoor and outdoor adventure play structure where families can engage in active and exploratory play
- A family activity area which will offer messy play, construction play, role play and a reading corner on a daily basis.
- “Community Come on board” workshops where we aim to encourage the community to take ownership of the facilities we offer and build relationships through gardening sessions, painting sessions, planning and choosing outside accessories, etc.
- A range of healthy snacks and drinks to be served within our Family Cafe, where habits of hygiene and eating together will be promoted.
What we have achieved so far...
The indoor soft play area and Family Activity Room are ready and in operation since July 2008. We are open
to the public every day from 10am to 5.30pm except on Sundays (2.30-5.30) and Thursdays (10-1pm). We have a number of comments & Suggestions from our customers, all very positive supporting the work we do. Where suggestions are made we try to respond to the requests of our customers as quickly as possible.
Noah’s Plaice Cafe is also open to the community and with a qualified and caring staff has become a meeting place for a good number of people including the older generation, enabling them to mix with the younger generation building relationships and lessening fear.
In our first year, we have received approximately 10,000 children in our premises, which means at least 18,000 people in total including parents.
At the moment, Noah’s Ark employs 3 managers, 4 part-time staff and 2 young people. However, without the priceless help of our volunteers we couldn’t cope with our daily routine!
Our next steps...
- Outdoor Play Area & Sensory Garden
- Refurbishment of Toilets, Café and entrance
- Shop & Play Crèche
- After School Clubs
- Youth Drop-in Café