Calm Through Chaos

🌞 Summer Check-In 🌞

The summer holidays can bring lots of fun and special moments, but they can also feel overwhelming for many families. Different routines, childcare, financial pressures, and trying to keep everyone happy can all take their toll.

So, here’s a gentle reminder to check in with yourself and your loved ones. 💛

How are you really doing?

It’s okay if everything isn’t perfect. It’s okay to have good days and challenging days. Looking after your mental health and emotional wellbeing is just as important during the holidays as it is at any other time of the year.

Take a moment to:
🌼 Get outside for some fresh air.
💬 Talk openly about how you’re feeling.
🤗 Ask for help if you need it.
❤️ Celebrate the small wins.
⏸️ Give yourself permission to rest.

Remember, you’re not alone. Whether you’re enjoying every minute or simply getting through one day at a time, you’re doing your best—and that is enough.

How are you and your family doing this week? We’d love to hear what’s bringing you joy or what you’re finding challenging. Let’s support one another this summer. 🌻

As the summer holidays begin, many families across Doncaster are feeling the pressure of the rising cost of living. Keeping children and young people entertained for six weeks shouldn’t have to mean spending a fortune.

*Doncaster Summer Staycation offers hundreds of activities including sports, dance, music, crafts, outdoor adventures and youth sessions. Most are free, with a few low-cost options, and they’re available for children through to post-16 young people.
* Holiday Activities and Food (HAF) Programme provides free holiday clubs with meals for children who receive benefits-related free school meals (Reception to Year 11). Some providers also offer free or low-cost places for children who aren’t eligible.
* Summer in the City (Doncaster city centre, August) includes free entertainment, treasure hunts and activities. Some attractions have a small charge, but many events are free.

Low-cost local options

* Adwick Leisure Complex often runs discounted holiday swimming sessions, junior gym sessions and sports activities during school holidays.
* Active Fusion runs affordable and sometimes free sports sessions, holiday camps and community activities for children and teenagers.
* Hatfield Outdoor Activity Centre regularly offers activities such as kayaking, climbing and archery, with some subsidised holiday sessions.

Free ideas that don’t require booking

* Local parks with football, basketball or picnic games.
* Geocaching (a free treasure-hunt app).
* Library Summer Reading Challenge with free crafts and activities.
* Nature walks or bike rides along local trails.
* Photography or scavenger hunt challenges.

No child should miss out on making memories simply because money is tight. If you know of any free or affordable activities happening in your local community, share them in the comments below so we can help families make the most of the summer without breaking the bank.

Summer holidays can be wonderful… but they can also feel incredibly hard. 💛

When school closes, the routines disappear. The days become longer, the emotions become bigger, and for many families, children’s behaviour can become more challenging.

If you’re a parent feeling overwhelmed, exhausted, or wondering why everything seems so much harder right now, you’re not alone.

And if you’re a young person feeling misunderstood, frustrated, or struggling to cope with all the changes that summer brings, you’re not alone either.

The summer holidays can magnify feelings of isolation. Without the structure and support of school, many families are left trying to navigate big emotions, meltdowns, sibling conflict, anxiety, and challenging behaviour with little support.

Behaviour is often a form of communication.

Beneath the shouting, withdrawal, or anger is often a child who is struggling to express what they need.
This is a reminder that it’s okay to ask for help. You don’t have to have all the answers, and you don’t have to carry everything on your own.

Let’s check in on one another, offer kindness instead of judgement, and remember that every family is doing the best they can with the resources they have.

This summer, let’s make sure no parent or young person feels they have to face the chaos alone. 💙

🌟Coming Soon 🌟
As we begin to plan the new children and young people's health space in Doncaster city centre we would like to invite Doncaster children, young people and families to an engagement event at our new building in Waterdale.
Come and find out more about the plans and share your thoughts on how we can design a place that supports children and young people's mental health and wellbeing
🗓 Friday 29 May
🕙 10am to 2pm
📍 Kingsgate, Waterdale, Doncaster, DN1 3JZ
If you are unable to join us at the event you can still give us your thoughts by clicking on this link and completing our survey https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/NTBMPSB Doncaster Families Information Service

It’s the weekend again, and time for Calm Through Chaos’ “is it just me?”

Feel free to add your own “is it just me” in the comments, or send us a message if you prefer and we’ll add your question as soon as we can.

So for this week:

Have you noticed your child might be struggling since returning to school this week?

▪️Worried
▪️Stressed
▪️Anxious
▪️Overwhelmed
▪️Lacking confidence

We often see an impact on our child’s emotional wellbeing when it’s term times - back to routine; those alarm clocks we snooze; social readjustment.

What tools do you currently use to help your child regulate these emotions?

What can help?

🔸Rebuilding routine and structure
🔸Open conversations
🔸Gradual social exposure
🔸Emotion coaching
🔸Collaboration between parents and teachers

In most cases, these struggles are temporary. With consistency, reassurance, and support, children can regain emotional balance and continue developing typically.

Every week at Calm Through Chaos, we’ll be posting a question we hope will be relevant, or relatable to all our followers.

How often do we ask ourselves “is it just me?” The truth is, it never is. These things we feel pressure from are shared struggles we’re all battling with individually. Let Calm Through Chaos be a safe place to look for support, guidance, and to share helpful advice.

Feel free to add your own “is it just me” in the comments, or send us a message if you prefer and we’ll add your question as soon as we can.

So for this week: