‘A Day to Remember’ brings police families together
Special memories were created last week, Wednesday 1 June, when our members and their families spent a fun filled day with the Ben Fund Team at Blackwell Court Adventure, near Bromsgrove.
Blackwell is a non-profit organisation offering over 20 indoor and outdoor activities for children and young people, set in 50 acres of beautiful parkland.
Those invited to Blackwell were serving and retired officers, police staff and their families who were successful in our ballot earlier this year.
The annual action-packed event first began back in 2019 as a way of gathering police families together for a day of outdoor fun and for us to say a big thank you to members for their continued support.
The day began bright an early with a warm welcome from our Operations Committee member, Kay Bargewell, before handing over to the Blackwell Team for a safety briefing.
Then it was straight into the day’s activities which included; crate stacking, archery, dual zip wire, giant zip wire, the climbing wall and the high all aboard.
Despite the rain in the morning, it didn’t dampen spirits or prevent anyone from enjoying the activities. The sun finally made an appearance in the afternoon, just in time for the fire drums to be lit and for everyone to tuck into toasted marshmallows, S’mores and ice creams.
Chairman John Williams said, “We have received some lovely comments, that I would like to share with you here and have already booked again for next year!”
“It was an amazing day, and we all loved every minute of it!”
“It was a lovely get together, thank you”
“So lovely to see some old faces and friends.”
“Thank you to you and your staff for an excellent day. My grandchildren really enjoyed it. Cannot say the same for me, having to climb a tower at 66 😂. But please pass on my thanks to everyone who took part in arranging the day and again thanks to all”
“Thank you. The day was well organised from the moment we arrived. The casual relaxed friendly atmosphere made the day. The staff were absolutely first class. A Great time had by all. Thank you.”
“Super fun family day, I have managed to conquer my fear of heights, making my girls proud. Thank you for this special time.”
“Had such a fun exhilarating time! What a fab fun day! We’d love to come back!”
“Absolutely amazing! Had the best day ever. It really pushed me and my family to the limits. I would 100 per cent do this all again and would recommend. Thank you for an amazing day!”
We know the event would not have been possible without the tremendous efforts of the staff at Blackwell Adventure, a massive thank you to Helen Price and her team for providing a great programme of activities yet again this year.
We were also very fortunate to have amazing help from Ben Fund Operations Committee members, PC Kay Bargewell and retired officer Sue Cleeton. You were both absolute stars during the entire day and we couldn’t do this without your help. Thank you for all your efforts.
Thanks also to the Young Leaders from Kay’s local Scout group for lending a hand too.
A special thank you to trainee police sniffer dog, Hawkins for putting a smile on everyone’s face and being so well behaved!
Finally, thank you to all the families who attended our third ‘Day to Remember’ family event at Blackwell and for making it another wonderful success.
We’ll be doing it all over again in August when we hold our next event, this time the fun will be had on the water at Aztec Adventure and Aqua Park.
Families will be able to test their agility as they take on the challenges of the giant floating assault course followed by an hour on the lake kayaking.
See you there!
