Funky Monkeys, a local company that offers interactive music, drama, and baby signing classes, is celebrating its 20th anniversary this year.
A range of classes are available for children between three months and five years old, including Sign and Rhyme development classes for those under 24 months and Funky Monkey music sessions.
The classes operate across Buckinghamshire, with sessions in Gerrards Cross and Amersham, among other areas.
CHALFONTS&GERRARDSCROSSnews spoke to Katie Christopherson, who founded the business from her home in Little Chalfont 20 years ago.
Having trained as an actor, Katie has always had a love of entertaining. However, it was after she was made redundant from a job in Amersham that Funky Monkeys was born.
She said: “Having signed with my son, which I found to be hugely beneficial to us both, I started my baby signing classes so I could share this with other parents. My classes for older children and party entertainment were a natural progression from there. Everything was going really well.
“Then lockdown came, so I shifted to running the sessions on Zoom, which wasn’t quite the same. Bit by bit, the classes dwindled in popularity. Children grow up fast, so after two-and-a-half years out of action, I’d lost all of my ties in the area.”
Then, Katie was asked by a nursery to offer her classes to the cohort and the business picked up again, no longer reliant on individual fees from attendees.
Reflecting on her journey, Katie said: “There have been peaks and troughs, but on the whole, I think ‘well done me’. I turned a bad situation into a success. We had just bought a house when I was made redundant but, in the end, I made it work.”
For more information about the Funky Money sessions, head to www.shorturl.at/tGYvb
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