Branch A to Z

Advertising

The NCT’s website receives over 80,000 visitors a month, and our newsletter is widely distributed throughout South Gloucestershire. We offer advertising space in both at very reasonable rates, giving local businesses the opportunity to reach a targeted audience of new parents. We can also distribute flyers for your business at our popular Nearly New Sales. Full details can be found on our Advertising page.

Antenatal Courses

Our NCT antenatal courses are led by fully-trained specialist workers, offering informative support as you prepare for the birth. They are extremely popular and we would encourage you to book as soon as possible. Sarah, our bookings co-ordinator, will always do her best to accommodate you, even at the last minute! Dates of forthcoming classes can be found on the Courses page.
Email Sarah or call 0870 423 9256 for more information or to book.

Branch meetings

Our informal, friendly committee meetings take place every month in various venues around South Gloucestershire, are open to everyone. They start at 8pm and usually last a couple of hours. We’d love to meet you and there is no obligation to join the committee or to get involved.
If you’d like a lift or just to meet someone outside then we’d be more than happy to arrange this for you.
Contact Angie on 0870 066 6379 or email us for more information.

Breastfeeding Counsellors

We currently have three volunteers training to become local breastfeeding counsellors. If you would like to talk to someone about breastfeeding, either before or after your baby arrives, you can contact a fully qualified counsellor from a neighbouring branch:

Marisa Dexter (01453 521009)

Ruth Bolgar (0117 924 3849)

Fiona Hunter (01454 856025)

You can also call the national NCT Breastfeeding Helpline on 0870 444 8708 between 8am and 10pm, 7 days a week.

If you are interested in training to become an NCT breastfeeding counsellor, you can call Ann, one of our trainee counsellors, on 0117 910 9125.

Bumps and Babes

A fortnightly get-together for pregnant women (the Bumps!) and new mums with babies aged 0-12 months (the Babes!). We meet at Esporta in Stoke Gifford from 10-12noon every other Wednesday morning.
Contact Isobel on 0870 460 9765 or email her or more information.

Coffee Mornings

We currently run two regular coffee mornings, where local mums host informal get-togethers in their own homes for parents, babies and toddlers. Plenty of toys are always available, along with somewhere to warm food or change nappies. Contributions of 50p are welcome to cover refreshments and a donation to the NCT. See our Events page for more details, or email Alison.

We also hold a fortnightly Bumps and Babes morning (see above) and a fortnightly Toddler’s and Pre-Schooler’s Outing on alternate Wednesday mornings. For more details contact Isobel on 0870 460 9765, or email her.

Contacting Us

When contacting us please remember that all branch volunteers have young children and work from home. If at all possible, please call at reasonable times and if we can’t take your call immediately, leave a message and we’ll call you back as soon as we can. Most of us have 0870 numbers and calls are charged at national rates.

Egroups

You are very welcome to join our Social Egroup and our Nearly New Egroup. You’ll need a Yahoo ID, but this is free and simple to set up. Then simply go to the group’s home page and click on ‘Join this group’:

Joining our Social egroup will ensure you receive notifications of all our social and fundraising events.

If you’re interested in selling at one of our Nearly New Sales, or want to be kept informed about upcoming sales, you can join our Nearly New Sales Egroup. You’ll gain priority notices of dates of sales, and be able to download registration forms and instructions for sellers.

If you’re a member of South Gloucestershire NCT, you can also join our Branch Discussion Egroup. This offers a forum to chat to other local parents, to share experiences and exchange local information.

If you experience any difficulties in joining our Egroups, email Alison for help.

Fundraising Events

As a self-funding charity we depend on the generosity of our members and supporters to continue our valuable work. We try to hold a few each year to raise funds both locally and nationally. Details of forthcoming events can be found on our Events page.
We’re always eager to hear from businesses who are interested in supporting our fundraising activities, whether by donating raffle prizes, offering a venue or through sponsorship. If you would like to discuss this, please call Alison on 0870 066 6378 or email us.

General Enquiries

You can call Angie on our general enquiries line (0870 066 6379) for any information about our branch – if she can’t answer your questions she’ll be able to pass you on to someone who can!

Membership

You don’t need to be a member to benefit from any of the NCT’s services, or to join in our social activities – we are here for all parents or prospective parents.

However, as a self-funding charity, we depend on the generosity of our members and supporters to continue our valuable work. Membership fees and donations allow us to keep our services accessible to all parents within our local community. You can join us by phone on 0870 990 8040 or online.

All members receive regular newsletters and magazines, and are invited to join our friendly, informal committee. We offer many opportunities to contribute to our local work, whether you have a few minutes or a few hours to spare. Many parents find this a valuable and enjoyable way to keep their minds active during maternity leave!

If you have queries about an existing membership, email Simone, or call Angie on 0870 460 9764.

Nearly New Sales

Our Nearly New Sales are our most popular events, and the place to buy baby equipment, toys, clothes and maternity wear. We hold them three or four times a year, usually in Chipping Sodbury, Emerson’s Green and Bradley Stoke. For information on the next sale see our Events page contact Lisa on 0870 460 9788, or email us.

Newsletter

We produce four newsletters each year, packed with informative and interesting articles and branch news. They are sent to branch members and distributed to local libraries, health centres and other community organisations. Contributions are always welcome, from both members and non-members – please email Alison or on 0870 066 6378 if you have any ideas, articles or photographs to offer.

We aim to fund the newsletters entirely through advertising, so if you are interested in publicising your product or services to a very targeted audience of parents with young children, please get in touch. Email our advertising co-ordinator, Susanne or call her on 0870 066 6381.

Postnatal Courses

Our branch doesn’t currently have its own postnatal courses, though there are some running locally in Bristol and Bath. These are led by an NCT-trained Postnatal Discussion Leader, are usually about 6 weeks long, with topics determined by the interests of the group. If you are interested, please contact Sarah, our regional bookings administrator, who will do her best to find you a suitable class. We may in the future be able to run postnatal courses within the South Gloucestershire branch area, so please do register your interest.

Social Events

We run regular social events both during the day and in the evening. Details can be found on the Events page.

Volunteers

Our branch is run entirely by local mums working from their own homes as volunteers. We offer many opportunities to contribute to our local work, and would love for you to join us, whether for a few minutes or a few hours per week. Our committee is very friendly and informal, and there is always plenty of support for whatever task you choose to take on.

Volunteering is a fantastic way to make new friends and keep your mind active while taking a career break, or as a way of connecting with your local community. We welcome any contributions to our activities, but see our Get Involved page for examples of the roles that are currently available.

You might also like to consider joining our Volunteer Bank – a low demand commitment where you agree to be asked to do occasional tasks such as putting up a poster or two in your local area, or helping out at a Nearly New Sale (priority viewing and buying time included!). By signing up to the Volunteer Bank, you are NOT committing yourself to take on all (or even any at all!) of the tasks you might be asked to do. If you would like to add your name to the Bank, please contact Emma on 01454 228116 or by email.