2016
Whitemoor Lakes, Lichfield, Staffordshire
Review by Julie Collier (former Administrator)
On Saturday 12 March 2016, we held our first Family Day for people with Behçet’s disease and their friends or family. The day was a resounding success with positive feedback from all who came along and, despite being exhausted afterwards, said they wouldn’t have missed it for the world. There were 38 of us altogether, including several families and both young people and adults with Behçet’s disease.
We had a seminar room of our own for the day – a place to chat, meet new friends and old, have a cuppa, or make a card or picture on our craft table. We also had our charity items on sale, as well as a whole array of information factsheets and leaflets. We had two groups for the morning activities. One group were equipped with buoyancy aids and safety hats and were whisked off to the lake for a canoeing session. No capsizes were reported, although we heard of a few splash fights, and everyone had fun. The leaders said that we had a few naturals among our party too.
Group two were up for climbing and abseiling, and we soon realised that most in this group had been ‘spider man’ (or woman – Hannah T) in a previous life! The youngsters didn’t just abseil, they impressed everyone with their 360 degree turns on the way down. Well done to everyone.
Everybody had a much earned break for lunch, and carried on chatting and getting to know new people. Then we had group archery in the afternoon. Everyone managed to hit the target, with a few obvious future Olympic archers shining through (you know who you are). The final activity was a team game involving volunteers and lots of toilet paper; the result – lots of marvellous mummies!A great Family Day out was had by all.