Thursday 20 August 2015

Carers Centre Fun Day....

I am delighted at having been asked to write in a column for my local Carers Centre newsletter.
I didn't even have to think about and said "yes" instantly :)


The team at the local Carers Centre are a tremendous bunch! They work hard at gaining funding so carers like myself can enjoy things like relaxation nights and spa days to name a few.


Every year the centre organises a fun day for families with disabled or/and children with special or additional needs can come along with siblings, Mum and Dad and have a day of fun.



The beauty of this fun day is that everything is free! Even the lunchtime barbecue offering delicious juicy beef burgers and sausages! Drinks are free too  - Mum and Dad can grab themselves a tea/coffee anytime they need one.



You see, the peeps at the Carers Centre recognise that many families with a disabled child have some sort of financial constraints. For example, like my own situation, I came out of work as my caring role intensified so I could care for DS which meant I lost my income. My story isn't unique to me either, I know many families that had to come out of work or drastically reduce hours to fit around their caring role and that's what's so great about the team at the Carers Centre. Not only are they aware of many situations like this but they also GET it! :)



Another aspect of the fun day that I was thrilled to see when looking at the site map was a quiet chill out area.
In previous posts, I have made it no secret that DS is very sensory and it does not take a lot to overload him resulting in us desperately searching for quiet area and spaces so he can calm down and collect himself.
I am ALWAYS ALWAYS feeding this back to places we go to how they need an area like this! It's probably my top feedback point everytime!



The funday was great and in the most perfect location within Cheshire! It wasn't ram-packed full of families either, just a nice number of families so you could move around the site easily and freely and access activities.
Around lunchtime, DS was showing signs of needing that quiet chill out area, so we went off to it.
It was far away enough to be away from all the noise and families but at the same time close enough to join back in with activities of the day whenever he was ready!
He was that happy in this area that we decided to have lunch here too :)



At the end of the day, I couldn't believe that we had managed to stay for it all! Even my Mummy friends expressed how surprised they were to see DS still there happily playing as it's literally never happened before! I am convinced that the reason was because he had that quiet chill out area! :)


It was such a great day and I felt that we had really accomplished something big by him being able to stay to the end - just 'wow'!


As I have said before, I am big on giving feedback everywhere I go, both positive and developmental but the feedback I left for this day was not to change a thing for next year!


A wonderful and enjoyable day was had by us and I hope that you and your family enjoyed it too - already looking forward to next year! :)



2 comments:

  1. It was a brilliant day and he did so well hes just to cut 😊💕💕

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    1. He did awesome! I was so impressed - such a clever boy! xxxx

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