Our summer holidays are coming to an end, and what a fantastic time the boys have had taking part in a variety of activities.
At the beginning of the holidays, the boys from both homes came together to visit the local sports center to participate in a bike riding activity with a group called Just Ride Southend. Everyone put on a helmet, staff then explained all the rules set by Just Ride and all the boys listened and followed them well.
The boys and staff were able to try many different bikes, these included mountain bikes, three-wheel bikes, handcycles, and tandems. During the event, one of the boys who had said no to trying out the different bikes decided to give it a try, he was so happy he did as he had thought he would hate it.After the activity was complete the boys enjoyed eating a meal out before heading home, with many of the boys asking when they could go again.
The boys also took part in a Mad Hatters detective game, clues were given by a member of staff throughout and they were based on shops and places around the local areas for example “Find a place where you can buy a game, which is also its name = Game”
The clues given led the boys to a variety of different places to find the next clue these included:
- Southend Magistrates Court
- Beecroft Art Gallery
- Southend Combat Academy
- Cliff Lift – A Historical Functional Railway
- Clifftown Telephone Museum – One of the world’s smallest museums in a telephone box.
- Southend Cenotaph – War Memorial
With the last place being the Cliffs Pavilion, the boys were given a treat for getting all the answers right.
Some of the boys visited the Palace Theatre to see The Adams Family. After the show, they were able to walk around the theatre, they looked at the orchestra area and discussed what instruments were used in the show, they were also able to speak to the lighting and sound crew and the boys were all very interested to learn how each part worked.
The boys also went to Priory Park, for a sports day with games that included tennis, rounders, bean bag toss and moving catch. The Planetarium, Caddies, Kingpins and the local golf range.
Southend Airport had a Vulcan Open Day which the boys were all very excited to visit, when they arrived, they headed straight to the army vehicles where they listened to the tour guide to learn facts about the vehicles.
All the boys were very excited to be able to hold some real guns and climb into the army trucks and planes. After this, they had a look at the fire engine where they took turns sitting in the driver’s seat and turning on the siren, they were also able to try on some firefighter equipment.After this they all enjoyed an ice cream and sat watching the planes taking off and landing.
The last big activity of the holidays was one of the boy’s favourites, Go-Karting. When they arrived, the boys were thrilled to see the track and spent five minutes watching others racing. Everyone got kitted up, then head upstairs for the safety briefing.
One of the boys was very nervous and asked lots of questions, he seemed happy to give it a go after a marshal had explained to him that he can go slowly if he wishes, and if he wants to stop, he can drive into the pits at any time. Everyone got into their karts and set off racing. All the boys were very sensible and well behaved whilst out on the track. After the race, they were all very eager to see their results and then took part in the photo opportunity of 1st, 2nd and 3rd.On the way back to the cars, they noticed a crate of old go kart tyres which said ‘Please help yourself’ so of course they all helped themself to a souvenir tyre!