A BRAND new Fleetwood health team are swapping building sandcastles for building bridges as they prepare to spend a week on the beach.

The Positive Parenting Team, based at Fleetwood Health Centre is hiring out a beach hut in its aim to reach out and help parents enjoy their children to the full as part of NHS week which runs July 2-9.

Set up by Blackpool, Wyre and Fylde Community Health Trust, the team of four -- a health visitor, an administrator and two nursery nurses, support parents and encourage a deepening relationship with their children through play.

Head of the team Maggie Bell explained why they had come up with the beach hut idea.

"Quite a number of families hire a hut for the week during the summer or are just down by the sea chatting," she said.

"So we decided to base ourselves there for the week and introduce ourselves to parents and invite lots of other local families to join us for a week of play and fun."

Parents will be offered advice and courses on a variety of subjects including baby massage, which Maggie began 18 months ago The Positive Parenting team in Fleetwood was put together after the success of similar projects in the Foxhall and Talbot areas of Blackpool.

Maggie jumped at the chance to head the team after she became inspired at a lecture about parent-child relationships. "I had a very heavy caseload at the time and I felt I was becoming stuck in a routine," she said.

"The lecture inspired me to look at the parent-child relationship in more depth and understand how special it is.

"Children love their parents and we need to stop, value, respect and reciprocate it -- that for me is the essence of positive parenting.

"The stress of modern life has robbed many families of the joy of play.

"The beach is one hugely under-used play area -- and it's free.

"All it takes is a little bit of imagination and some decent weather."