A FAMILY-FRIENDLY café has relaunched its fun sessions amid the easing of Covid-19 restrictions.

The Playpen social enterprise last week returned with weekly pop-up outdoor yoga and play sessions starting up at The Hive in Dollar.

A socially-distanced session last Friday, May 14, proved a big hit with 25 parents and carers, including a dad and a gran, spread out across two yoga and play sessions with 29 young people.

Alexandra Ostroumoff-Croucher, CEO and founding director of the group, said it had been many long months since parents and children had the chance to socialise through The Playpen.

She told the Advertiser: "The impact of Covid has been so hard on families, with all the things you'd normally take kids to closed: all the playgroups, mums' groups, soft plays.

"There's new mums who've had babies at home who've never had the chance to socialise at all, there's been nowhere to take them to, so I really want to create somewhere that they can come to and there's been a lot of interest in it for that reason.

"But, obviously, we are limited in numbers so we are looking to do outdoor sessions where we can."

Restrictions have eased further since the first session back last Friday, opening up the opportunity to take groups inside should the weather not support activities on the day.

The Friday event proved a treat for those who went along with thanks going to Sarah Smart from Simpli Yoga Scotland for a fun and gentle session.

Before the pandemic, Alexandra has been looking to turn the pop-up social enterprise into a venture with a fixed address, but the plans had to be put on hold as hospitality was shut down.

She added: "We are getting back to what we know we are good at.

"In terms of what the future holds, I do want to get back to [arranging] a fixed, permanent, open seven days a week venue.

"We don't want to be stuck in a situation where we are having to pay rent on an empty building and having to furlough staff."

During the lockdown months, the Playpen branched out with its Lunch Club at Home initiative, providing around 5,000 hearty home-cooked meals to the elderly in the wider Dollar area.

The Friday sessions with the Playpen at The Hive will see yoga and play for the coming weeks with music and play planned down the line.

Sessions start at 9.30am for parents with children aged 9-23 months and at 10.45am for 2-5 year olds.

Parents can email alexandra@theplaypencafe.co.uk to book a space, find The Playpen on Facebook for more details.