Messy school parents’ night hospitality

A story to share from Revd Sarah in Bolton:
I just wanted to share something our Messy Church did last week. 
Both Messy Churches are run after school on school premises. It does put us at the mercy of school sometimes but we manage and the schools try really hard to accommodate us. 
Anyway, in October we had to cancel one because the school had a parents’ evening. Our regular attendees were upset that we had cancelled – as were we. So we suggested that in future we could provide hospitality at parents’ evenings. I don’t know about you but over the years, with my children, there has been loads of times we’ve had an appointment at a time which meant there was no point going home after school, or appointments half an hour apart and I’m trying to keep children amused in between times. Our first attempt was last week and it went down brilliantly. 
We provided tea/coffee/hot choc/juice, biscuits and fruit. There were four tables set up with activities that needed very little time or effort, and needed no drying (we had a crossword puzzle, word search, Valentine’s card, colouring sheets). Just like during a normal Messy Church, each table had a volunteer whose job it was to chat to people when they sat down. Parents and children could hang around with a drink and snack, and, more importantly, something to do. 
We chatted to lots of families who don’t normally come to Messy Church and we could advertise future sessions, plus our regulars were quick to let friends know we were there. We also got to bless teachers with drinks and snacks. We really do encourage others to try this mission.
Revd Sarah Fletcher, Messy St James and Messy SS Simon & Jude, Bolton