A specialist playgroup supporting children with complex needs is helping young learners develop healthier drinking habits with the support of a local milk supplier.
SNAP Specialist Play, based at Withybush General Hospital in Pembrokeshire, is a registered charity that supports young children with additional needs. It works alongside healthcare and education professionals to help children aged up to four years old to reach development milestones, easing the transition into playgroup and school settings.
The charity has been supplied with fresh, locally sourced milk by Cool Milk for over 15 years, providing drinking milk for two dozen children each week, and it has become a core element of the charity’s snack time routines and development training.
Cindy Jenkins, the manager at SNAP Specialist Play, labelled her staff members as ‘milk heroes’ thanks to the strong bonds they build with the children at the playgroup, their passion for the benefits of milk, and the tireless work they do to live up to the charity’s tagline of “empowering little voices, nurturing brighter futures.”
She said:
“Our staff members are true heroes, working alongside children with additional and complex needs to find their voice. We have a number of great strategies in place to best support these children and aid them in their development goals.
“We’ve noticed a lot of children are being bottle-fed with juice, so one of the challenges for us has been to incorporate that back to milk, as well as transferring people away from bottles in general. Cool Milk has helped us make that possible.”
Children under 5 in Wales are entitled to free milk through the Nursery Milk Scheme, but the process of buying milk and getting reimbursed is time-consuming and complicated.
Cool Milk works with 47 dairies across Wales to supply more than a hundred nurseries with fresh, local milk every day, with the company handling the entire process so that nursery staff have more time to spend caring for children.
Milk deliveries arrive reliably and regularly each week at SNAP Specialist Play, enabling the children to have a regular ‘milk moments’ that supports their nutrition and development, while also connecting them and their families with the farms in their local community.
Milk and water are the only two drinks recommended by dentists between meals, and a recent review of evidence by Northumbria University concluded that milk contains a unique package of essential nutrients that appear to offer an impressive catalogue of health benefits for young children. As well as providing hydration, which is essential for concentration, Milk provides half a child’s calcium and a third of their protein requirements, aiding bone and muscle growth.
Mike Ferrand, Managing Director of Cool Milk, said:
“Here at Cool Milk we pride ourselves on supporting local communities across Wales and providing fresh, locally sourced milk for a wide range of children throughout the country.
“The work SNAP Specialist Play does is vital for the childcare sector and it is inspiring to hear that our weekly milk deliveries play even the smallest role in their support for children with complex and additional needs. It not only validates the work that we do as a supplier, but also aligns with our mission to make the lives of nurseries and childcare professionals easier, as well as supporting communities to strive for better outcomes.”
Services at SNAP Specialist Play include one-to-one weekly play sessions, online workshops for parents to communicate with their children through sign language and rhymes, and peer support groups that help build communities of support for families of children with additional and complex needs.
SNAP Specialist Play is also encouraging children to be independent by using visual prompts to help them make their own decisions on games, snacks and drinks, waiting for the children to reach out and decide what they’d like rather than having a decision made for them.
It forms part of the charity’s mission to enhance communication skills for children who have found choice making difficult, building their life skills ahead of future education in the school system and later on in life.
Cool Milk works with more than 400 local dairies and 200 local authorities as the UK’s leading supplier of milk for schools and nurseries.
To find out more about Cool Milk, visit www.coolmilk.com
Feature image: SNAP Specialist Play have been supplied by Cool Milk for over 15 years
