Magical memories

A few weeks ago, I introduced some of the roles that make up our care team. This week, I would like to shine a spotlight on our wonderful activities team.

When children and young people come to the House, it’s an opportunity for them to access activities that might not be possible for them at home. We are very fortunate to be in the spectacular West Sussex countryside, with extensive grounds and many wheelchair-accessible routes to explore, such as our beautiful Woodland Walk. Our activities team are always thinking about how to engage the children and young people with the amazing resources we have. This could be something as simple as a treasure hunt, or as exciting as an immersive outdoor theatre performance. Not everyone wants to be outside all the time, and there’s always something going on indoors too. Our activities team have organised cinema nights for teenagers, cookery classes and interactive music-making sessions. When you walk into the House, you’ll see some of the children’s beautiful artwork on display. Our activities team choose themes, which change regularly – in recent months, the children have explored the book Owl Babies and contributed to our Wall of Kindness. When we talk to families, they often mention the fun we have with the activities team being one of the most special things about coming to Chestnut Tree House. So, I’m delighted that we are growing our activities programme with two new roles working out in the community – enabling more children and young people to have fun where they live. If you’d like to help our children and young people make magical memories, please visit www.chestnut.org,uk/donate