A (hot) day of fun had by all!
We held our 2023 Friends and Family Day at Dinton Activity Centre, near Wokingham Berkshire on 24 June.
I’m writing this article with extra layers on, yet still feeling a little chilly despite it being the height of “summer”. The weather has certainly been a bit of a let-down this summer however back in June when we held our Friends and Family Day you could certainly describe the day as a scorcher!
Trustee, Rachel and I were up bright and early on Saturday 24 June and headed to Dinton Activity Centre in Wokingham from our respective homes. The centre, which only opened its doors in September 2021, sits on the edge of Black Swan Lake, the biggest lake in Dinton Pastures Country which is a beautiful 350-acre country park of lakes, woodland and meadows in the Thames Valley.
With the centre’s activity room, our breakout room for the day, all set up with drinks and snacks our guests started arriving from 09:30 for a relaxed start to the day and meet fellow Behçet’s UK members along with their friends/family. At 10:30 we met our wonderful team of instructors from the centre, Richard, Daz, Chloe and Ewan before kicking the activities off for the day with the choice of archery or bushcraft.
The bushcrafters got to work building shelters which had to keep them dry in a sudden downpour, also known as a bucket of water, and I was pleased to see that everyone stayed dry. Meanwhile, over at archery the group had received a briefing on how to use the be a safe archer and were enjoying shooting some arrows with some impressive scores, especially as most were beginners. As headed back to check on the bushcrafters the group had mastered fire-lighting and the fire was ready for marshmallow toasting. Proud of my impeccable timing to arrive at such a crucial point I felt it would have been very rude of me not to join in and help the group test their fire-making skills with a toasted marshmallow! 😊
It was time to head back to the breakout room for a tasty sandwich buffet lunch served by Andy and his team at the Coffee Deck, followed by some delicious cakes. With hunger pangs now quashed everyone had a chance to relax, have a natter and make new friends while the children did the same over games.
After lunch, it was time for the next activities with another round of archery but also climbing and SUP, stand up paddleboarding. Despite the heat, the climbers had a great time and did really well with many making it to the top of the climbing tower. I was very impressed watching the children whizzing up the tower quicker than I could walk up a flight of stairs!
Back at the lake, after some instruction close to shore, the SUPers had a lovely paddle around Black Swan Lake and given the heat I’d imagine that any accidental falls into the water were pleasantly refreshing. SUP certainly went down well with the group with lots of chat during the afternoon break about where to buy a SUP.
After another chance to take a break, cool down, quench their thirst and quell any lingering hunger pangs we had a group photo before heading off for the final activities of the day. Over on the water we had canoeing with the group enjoying a pleasant row around the lake in Dutch canoes and another group of bushcrafters whose shelter survived the bucket of water although by this stage with the temperature hitting 28 degrees I’m sure a splash of cool water would have been welcomed.
Sadly all good things come to an end and with new friendships made it was time for everyone to say goodbye and head home. As I drove home (very grateful for having air conditioning in my car) I was pleased that it had been another wonderful friends and family day and started to think through plans for 2024 – keep an eye out for an email from us with all the details in the new year.
Gemma Darlow
Administrator
August 2023