The children will be split into four teams (Squids, Seahorses, Stingrays and Sharks) for a variety of activities, games and craft that are themed on the story of Jonah. Throughout the day we will be hearing the story of this Old Testament character and learning about the depth and breadth of God’s love. The club is being run by various members of the church, all of whom have DBS checks. They will be supported by a few of the young people from the church. If you would like to see a copy of our Safeguarding Policy it can be downloaded from our website.

Doors will open at 9.50am for a 10am start. Having completed the online registration form in advance this should be a relatively quick process. If you have not done so already please make us aware of any allergies your child has or medication that they need to take. Please feel free to park in the church car park when you drop off your children. However please be mindful of children when driving in the car park as it will likely be very busy during drop off and pick up for the club.

What to wear If possible it would be great for children to come clothed in the colour of their team. Once we have allocated children into the different teams, we will let you know the colour. This will happen the week of this event. Food Please ensure your child comes with a packed lunch that has the child's name on it. We will be providing drinks and a snack for the children during a morning break, there is no charge for this. If your child has particular allergies or intolerances we recommend you also provide a snack for this break. We also kindly ask that no food containing nuts is included in lunch boxes. We are a nut free zone and we have a couple children with a nut allergy attending so it is really important that this is adhered to. If you need support providing lunch for your child help is available - please send us a message and we'll see how we can help.

We will be running a café for parents and carers at the start and end of the day. Our church lounge (the room to the left as you enter) will be well stocked with homemade cakes and hot drinks between 10-11.30am and 3-4pm. Please feel free to stay and join Tracey, Val, John and Jenny who will be running our café at these times. There will be some pre-school toys out for any siblings who are too young to come to the club.

The club finishes at 4pm. However you would be welcome to join us from 3.30pm as we conclude the day with a final quiz and announce the winning team.

Please return as a family and join us for our Morning Service at 10.30am on Sunday 18th February. This will be an All-Age Holiday Bible Club Service when we will be sharing what the children did at club this year, singing some of the theme songs and hearing what Jesus had to say about Jonah in Matthew’s Gospel.

🌟 Though this is a competition, we want the focus to be on spending time with loved ones, creative fun and Christmas joy. ❗NOTE: You do not have to participate in the competition, if you'd like to take your house home straight away, you may do so. Competition judging will take place at our Nativity service on Sunday 17th, only houses that are present in our display can take part in this. ie Houses can either be left on display overnight or can be brought back for judging the next day if you'd like to participate in the competition. 🏠All gingerbread houses will be sealed/wrapped and displayed in our hall, creating a marvellous gingerbread gallery for everyone to come and admire during our Sunday service. (Sunday, 17 Dec, 10:30) All are invited to our morning service - Come and admire the gallery of houses as we celebrate the true meaning of Christmas. Enjoy some seasonal refreshments too.

👨‍👩‍👧‍👦Maximum group size is 6 - This includes all ages from 1 to adults. Children under 1 are not counted but must be noted when booking. Smaller families can join together to make one group/booking. Larger families may have to split over two separate bookings.

👚Dress in comfy clothes which you don’t mind getting messy, be prepared for Icing sugar to get everywhere! Bringing your own apron is highly recommended. For little ones, we recommend an apron type bib or a craft/paint cover.

⚒️🎨Building and decorating duration is a total of 2 hours, there are two different time slots to pick from when purchasing tickets. All materials to build and decorate a gingerbread house will be provided, one kit per family/group. 🎁 Items included are as follows: - Gingerbread House Kit (ready to build gingerbread "walls" and "roof") - Icing Sugar kit (sugar, water, bowl, spoon and piping bags) - Sweets for decorating (love hearts, jelly tots and smarties) Please feel free to bring along any extras or any special items you'd like to add to your gingerbread house. There will also be various refreshments available during the event, hopefully this keeps us all from having a sneaky taste of our gingerbread houses! 😉

🎟️⌚Please arrive at least 5 - 10 minutes before your chosen time slot, and have your digital ticket ready in hand. There is no need to print tickets, this can be displayed on your mobile phone, but must be shown on entry. Every family will have a pre-assigned table which will be pointed out to you by our lovely helpers. 🍼Buggies and push chairs are to be left in our prayer room during the event (just to the left of our main entrance) Exceptions can be made, mainly for very young (under 1s) or napping children. 🚗Limited parking is on site, this will be available on a first come first serve basis. Alternative free parking is available at Three Bridges Shops or Three Bridges Playing Field (3 - 5 minutes walk)

Our nearest public transport links are as follows: 🚂Train Three Bridges Train Station (5 minute walk) 🚌Bus Three Bridges Station (Stop A, B, C, D) (1 - 3 minute walk) Jubilee Walk (3 minute walk)

❗Please be aware that we cannot accommodate any specific allergies at the GINGLE event. We cannot guarantee an allergen-free environment, as attendees may bring their own food either for snacking or for decorating. If you do have any allergies, kindly take necessary precautions, such as bringing any medications you may need if exposed as well as your own eatables either for decorating or for snacking. Your safety is important to us so please let us know if you have any worries or concerns.

🤳Photography is allowed at this event but we do ask that you would be mindful about who else you can see in your shot. Please do not post any photos of other people on social media without their consent. Three Bridges Free Church can not be held responsible for any unwanted photos and/or social media posts. 📸We will also have a balloon photo booth from Crafts 'N Balloons, where you can take amazing photos of the whole family. Then your gingerbread house will be wrapped up for safe keeping and labelled with your family/group name in preparation for competition judging.

📨If you have any further questions or concerns, please send an email to admin@threebridgesfreechurch.org and a member of our team will get back to you as soon as possible.