SOME OF THE EVENTS OF 2011
Please scroll down for:
- Christmas Party
- Serendipity Sams
- Laser Quest
- Family Fun Day Hog Roast & BBQ
- Dorset Heavy Horse Centre
- Youth Bowling
- Adventure Wonderland
Once again we had a fantastic turn out for our Christmas Party, 172 came along to enjoy the fun on 26th November at St Marks Church Hall, Wallisdown, Bournemouth! Some families even travelled quite a distance from Weymouth, Gillingham, Sherbourne, Shaftesbury, Beaminster and Bridport so you could definitely say that we were catering for the whole of Dorset!
The afternoon started with a sumptuous buffet and was followed by entertainment from Barney Bay! Barney's colourful and visual show included magic, juggling, unicycle, plate-spinning, yoyo, diabolo and oodles of fun and also participation from the children. With an endless repertoire of zany jokes, magic and circus skills, Barney Bay ensured that the children enjoyed themselves!
Parents and Grandparents were able to chat and catch up with old friends and make new ones and NDCS Christmas cards were on sale raising funds for Dorset DCS as well as NDCS. Debbie Ravensdale, our new NDCS Family Officer, was available for parents to chat to and ask questions. But the main excitement for the children was still to come….. The lights dimmed and a very special visitor arrived –
Father Christmas with a gift for every child!
We would like to thank M & J Construction for their donation towards funding the party and NDCS and Dorset Link for the grants received. Also a very big thank you to all the Trustees and helpers on the day who worked extremely hard to make sure this Christmas Party was an enjoyable one for all the children and their families!
To see more photos just email us and we will send you a link to the DDCS Flickr album
SERENDIPITY SAMS
It was half-term mayhem at Serendipity Sam's in Christchurch but that didn't stop some of our younger members having a great time! Luckily we had our own party room to escape to for a bit of peace and quiet. Twenty five children and eighteen parents came along and enjoyed the fun in the massive soft play area.
We were a bit worried about losing hearing aids or implants in the ball pool, but everything went well and everyone had a fun-filled time. It was great to see the kids playing together and the parents having a chat while browsing the literature and information on display. A particular favourite was a lovely new "deaf awareness" book for young children by Julia Donalson (The Gruffalo) called "Freddie and the Fairy". It's all about a fairy who can't hear very well and mixes up Freddie's wishes... but in the end it is Freddie's fault for mumbling and covering his mouth!
To see more photos from our trip to Serendipity Sams just email us and we will send you a link to the DDCS Flickr album.
LASER QUEST
The DDCS trip to LASER QUEST in Bournemouth during the October half-term was very well attended by 47 children and young people. We had booked exclusive use of the Laser Quest facilities for the afternoon, so everyone was able to relax and fully enjoy themselves. This event was aimed at our older children (8 + years and teenagers) and we were delighted to see the kids having such good fun!
We had enough people to make two teams and each team played three games, even some of the parents joined in! While the kids were playing the parents enjoyed a chat and a coffee in the cafe area...a great opportunity to catch up with friends old and new. If you’d like to see more photos from the LASER QUEST visit, please let us know and we will send you a link to our exclusive Flickr account
FAMILY FUN DAY
HOG ROAST AND BBQ
This year the trustees decided not to organise the usual summer events to Farmer Palmers and Paulton's Park or Longleat. Instead we hired The Orangery in Merley, Wimborne and held a Family Fun Day Hog Roast and BBQ. This was another first for DDCS as we had not organised an event like this before. So on Sunday 14th August one hundred and seventy parents, grandparents and children and young people turned up for a fun day and this even exceeded the attendance at our popular Christmas Party!
The grounds of the Orangery are beautiful and included plenty for the children and adults to enjoy such as Badminton, Beach Volley Ball, Basketball, Mini Golf, Croquet, Petanque, Table Tennis, Giant Chess and a Climbing Net. DDCS hired a Skittle Alley, Giant Jenga, Giant Connect Four and Snakes and Ladders. These were lent to us free of charge by Christopher Poole of Castlefun. Thank you Christopher! For the younger children DDCS also hired a selection of toys including a parachute, soft play, building bricks, rockers and more. And to add to the fun there was also Face Painting and Pick a Lolly.
The Venue created a very secure environment for the children as the grounds are surrounded by a twelve foot wall and as we were the only people at The Orangery parents were able to sit and relax chat to other families while the children played.
A Skittle competition was held to see who could knock down the most skittles and this was won by Geoff Farrar who went home with a big tin of Heroes. Not sure if he got a look in on these if Holly had her way!
Everyone enjoyed the Hog Roast and BBQ with a great range fo food choice including salads. The weather held and it didn't rain and everyone had a great time!
DORSET HEAVY HORSE CENTRE
We were again lucky with the weather and the sun shone all day. At one point our families completely filled the picnic area and it looked like a takeover by DDCS! It was great to see all the children (and parents) having a great time.
YOUTH BOWLING
It was great for them all to get together and enjoy themselves even with different communication needs. Welcome to new members Kamil Krajewski and James Andrews!
A surprise for some of the older members was a visit from Michele Touye TOD and Liz Finney TA who had not seen some of them since they left school!
They are now planning their next event.
It did get a bit hectic at lunch time in the two party rooms resereved for DDCS. Everyone seemed to arrive at the same time so it was a bit of a squash! But many parents were still able to meet up and chat and make new friends.
Thank you to Adventure wonderland for letting us have the use of the party rooms free of charge.