We have provided 38 story cafe sessions, including - 8 outdoor story cafe sessions - 76 stay and play sessions - 2967 children attended with their family over the year - 200 free sessions for vulnerable families - Around 700 picture books gifted - Volunteers - a team of 8 volunteers including 2 Directors have supported our work by making teas and coffees, preparing and serving snacks, washing dishes and laundry, clearing, setting up and packing away sessions and preparing resources, - Word cloud of impact - we asked families and children to tell us one word summing up what First Steps means for them. - Ethos / vision - we developed our ethos and vision for First Steps, in collaboration with families and stakeholders, the final vision was illustrated by artist Rose feather This year our stake-holders in the community, have included - Developmental dynamics lab UEA - attended to offer play opportunities to families, talk about the importance of brain development and to sign up volunteer families for their baby brain Child Scientist research - some of the PhD researchers attended to carry out their studies - University of Reading - we collaborated with them through our story cafe sessions on a research project about the value of story sharing sessions and their impact on children's development. This has since been shared nationally with Book Trust Early Years Partners - Norfolk Family Information Service - attend to promote their service - Plummers dentist - session 21/4/25, saw 25 children - East of England Early Years Stronger Practice Hub - delivered in partnership 12 x childminder network sessions involving up to 20 settings per session - Rosebery Road Methodist Church (whose hall we hire) - children from First Steps made tree decorations and decorated a tree for their Christmas Cribs and trees festival Rosebery Road Methodist Church - we hire their large community hall for our sessions 3x a week - Norfolk Library Service - the local children's librarians always offer help and advice around quality picture books to share with families - Book Trust - handed out over 90 BookTrust Bookstart packs in autumn/winter 24 - Norfolk and Norwich Maternity and Neonatal Voices Partnership (MNVP) - came along to ask for parents views on maternity services - Norwich Family Hub - we join meetings and work with other agencies to plan around needs of the local community, community workers visit sessions to support families - Friends of waterloo park - international picnic at the park - attendees were given a flyer to get a free First Steps Stay and play session. - New Routes (a local charity working with and supporting refugees, asylum seekers and isolated migrants, and promoting cross-cultural integration and community awareness in Norwich) put our poster up in their centre, and we were able to refer a mum to their service to help her improve her English language skills - Rose Feather artist in residence - attended story cafe sessions to do live drawing of families sharing stories together, and illustrated our vision poster - Safer Norfolk - we gained Safer certification after submitting all our safeguarding children policies and procedures for 2025-2026 - Magic Acorns theatre group - autumn 2025 - put on an immersive show called Squishy for small groups of families which was a tremendous success as families got immersed in the washing machine world of Squishy and friends - Norwich Science Festival - attended a session in June 2025 with science activities for toddlers - Norfolk Wildlife Trust - story cafe in the Marsh in July 2025. This prompted us to move all our outdoor sessions to the marches rather than a local park, to encourage nature connection for city families. - Book Trust - early years partners group, one of our Directors attends this group to feed in to national learning around what is happening locally - Toy Swap - 2 local mums worked with us to host a Toy Swap where families could bring, swap or take home for free good quality toys and books - November 24 and April 25 Through our sessions families received support from - ECFS early help community workers - Wellbeing service - Happy Smiles Club dentists - New Routes - Book Trust via their Book Start packs for families Training - our volunteers and directors attended training including first aid, safeguarding, food safety, CPR and choking, environmental sustainability, mathematical development. Vicki achieved her Maths Champion certificate. Our childminder peer support group received amazing feedback, for example how it helps to reduce isolation among a solo-working profession, how it helps childminders keep up to date with local and national issues, and how we contribute to their professional development, by including bitesize training in our sessions. Childminders were supported with monthly sessions, including training and updates, as well as support and inspiration from - Eoe early years stronger practice hub - East Anglian Air ambulance - The puppeteer Miraiker - Marie with her intergenerational learning experience - Ivana Barron - Makaton singing, games and signing

Consulting stakeholders - families, children, other community groups and organisations Our word cloud shows what families and children feel about first steps - words included - friendship, supportive, safe space, communiyt, zero judgement, inclusion, welcoming, explore, delightful, fantastic, joy, safe, appreciated, warm, caring, connection Our survey - families shared that we welcome all carers including many Dads and Grandparents, they loved the focus on developmentally appropriate and open-ended learning opportunities, they love being able to take away picture books at all sessions to share at home, they love the focus on healthy fruits and vegetables for snack, and they love our inclusive, friendly and welcoming approach One dad "It’s provided a warm and inviting space for both my daughter and I. As a first time dad I’ve felt welcome and thoroughly enjoyed watching my daughter have fun and develop" Other stakeholders have encouraged and promoted our work including Family Hubs, midwifery service, library service, and Norfolk family information service

The total amount paid or receivable by directors in respect of qualifying services was £5223 There were no other transactions or arrangements in connection with the remuneration of directors, or compensation for director’s loss of office, which require to be disclosed.

No transfer of assets other than for full consideration