Believe & Be – review

16th January 2022 0 By Rachael Stray

We enjoyed our first visit to Believe & Be in Consett, County Durham so thought I’d share my review.

I had to work a couple of days during the Christmas break so on New Year’s Eve while Steve worked, I wanted a mammy daughter day with Elsie.

We pass Believe & Be a lot when we go into Consett and I’ve heard such good things, I checked the website for booking availability the night before and managed to bag a morning slot for us.

Believe & Be sessions

Believe & Be run daily sessions.

Booking a session ensures the centre is never overcrowded, if you’ve booked in advance you will never be turned away.

However, you are welcome to arrive at the beginning of a session and if there are spaces you can join the session.

Sessions are bookable on the Believe & Be website.

Each session consists of 120 minutes of self-guided role play in a street perfectly sized for children.

Believe Town is designed to open the doors for your children to explore all the things they could be.

Believe & Be session

Our morning session was during peak time so cost £6.50 which I thought was reasonable, there was no cost for me. For every extra adult it is an additional £1.

I parked at the bus station which is free for two hours and just opposite Believe & Be.

We arrived a few minutes before 9:30am but we were warmly greeted and shown where to go.

There’s an area near the entrance to leave your prams and shoes if you wish, I opted for the shoe protectors rather than taking my shoes off and Elsie took hers off.

We were the first to arrive which was great as Elsie just took it all in and was amazed.

The first thing she said when we went though to Believe Town was wow!

She was drawn immediately to one of the many prams with dolls in and started pushing it around and expecting me to chase after her.

Basically all round the edge of the space are various themed little rooms (hairdresser, supermarket, doctor’s, cafe etc) which all have fantastic play props.

The supermarket was well stocked and seemed a favourite with all the children.

Elsie enjoyed all of the different props, especially in the fire/police station.

She particularly enjoyed the phone and pretending to take my picture – “say cheese mammy!”

When she picked up the fire extinguisher she thought it was hand soap and started washing her hands – a sign of the times I think!

After about an hour I asked Elsie if she’d like a snack.

I ordered a rainbow cake for us to share, a packet of mini jammy dodgers for Elsie and a hot chocolate for me, this came to £4.60 in total.

There’s lots of Ikea highchairs stacked in the corner which was really handy.

Elsie enjoyed the mini jammy dodgers while we waited for our cake and my hot chocolate to be brought over to our table.

The hot chocolate was much bigger than I thought it would be and was nice.

Elsie loved sharing some cake, it was moist and we both enjoyed it.

Once cleaned up from snack time Elsie enjoyed playing with the dolls house and then doing the washing.

We left just after 11am to make sure we made it back to the car in time.

Elsie thoroughly enjoyed herself and it was so lovely to see her in her element.

My overall thoughts on Believe & Be

I found the place was clean and tidy with plenty of space for parents/carers to sit while the kids were off playing.

It’s small enough to know where your child is playing but big enough so that they feel they have their independence.

There’s a good menu of hot and cold food and snacks and drinks which I found to be very reasonable prices.

I would definitely return with Elsie.

Where is Believe & Be?

39 Medomsley Road,
Consett,
County Durham,
DH8 5HE

tel: 01207 437670

email: hello@believeandbe.co.uk

Believe & Be is extremely easy to access, especially via car or bus.

It is based in Consett town centre on Medomsley Road, this can be found directly opposite the bus station between The Fountain Pub and The Go Northern Offices.