"Our days, our deeds, all we achieve or are, lay folded in our infancy..."
- John T Trowbridge
The Natural Nurturing Network encompases a wide range of parents with children from new born right through to those who have left home. We aspire to the values laid out in our Mission Statement but realise that although these are our ideals, reality can be very different. We have a strong emphasis on nurturing and supporting each other in whatever state of parenting we are currently find ourselves in.
We hope that all new members find a warm welcome and take advantage of the opportunities to meet up with other members and support each other.
The NNN does advocate attachment parenting and many of our values are derived from the belief that encouraging contact and responding to our child's needs in early life is the way to raise confident, secure children. However, the Network continues to support parents throughout their child's life and also emphasises community and nurturing ourselves, so it embraces broader elements as well.
The newsletter is friendly and informal. In a typical newsletter you will find "Network News", which ranges from forthcoming meetings to birth-announcements and changes in the administration set-up; articles and book reviews sent in by members; letters with often very personal accounts of peoples' lives, and their problems and triumphs; replies to contributions in previous issues; a "Notice-board" section, for call-ups, requests, announcements etc.; as well as illustrations and poems. Most newsletters have a theme but contributions on any subject are always welcome. Most of the items on our Articles page are taken from past newsletters.
All new members who wish to be on the contact list are sent a copy when they join so that they can locate other members and find out what is being organised in their area. Gatherings are organized by members, usually in their homes or local community halls. They are often, but not always, announced in the newsletter. The object of these meetings is usually to meet up and talk, while the children can play together in a relaxed environment.
We organized our first network Summer Camp in 1995; and have been going strong each year ever since!. In 1997 we started having Winter Gatherings in Youth Hostels. These have proved popular as either an alternative or an addition to the summer camps!
The Natural Nurturing Network is a non-profit making organisation run by volunteers. Help is always welcome. As we grow, the workload needs to be spread out more, so we are looking for a few administrative helpers to take on specific jobs. Also, illustrations for the newsletter are often in short supply, and a poem or two would round off the newsletter very nicely. If you have other skills or ideas to offer the network, please do!
"Our days, our deeds, all we achieve or are, lay folded in our infancy..."
- John T Trowbridge