Creating lasting memories for police families becomes ‘A Day to Remember’

Special memories were created last Friday 29 May, when members and their families enjoyed an exhilarating day of thrills at Blackwell Court Adventure.

Blackwell Court, near Bromsgrove, is a non-profit organisation offering over 20 indoor and outdoor activities for children and young people, set in 50 acres of beautiful parkland and has been home to our annual police family event for the past seven years.

Those invited were the families of serving and retired officers and police staff who successfully secured a place 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 General Manager, Steve Newbury, 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 and Laser Tag.

To wrap up the event the fire drums were lit and everyone tucked into toasted marshmallows and gooey S’mores before heading to the shop to enjoy an ice cream before the journey home.

Chairman John Williams said, “We have received some lovely comments and have already booked again for next year!”

“Thank you so much for a fantastic day yesterday – my niece, nephew and I absolutely loved it. Although my body is paying for it today!”

“Just to say a massive thank you to you and everybody else who helped organise the event. My family and I had an absolutely brilliant day. We had so much fun together. Thanks again. Keep you the great work,

“I just wanted to say, a massive thank you for such a well organised and very enjoyable event, after the past year being diagnosed with brain cancer, been able to attend this, I was able to relax and enjoy time with my son and mum. They both really enjoyed this as well.”

“Thank you so much for organising the family day, this was my first time attending this event and myself and family included had such a wonderful time. We were grateful that we were so well looked after and hydrated. It’s so nice to be part of a supportive charity and we will always look fondly of the memories we created on the day. Thank you again for all your help, communication, time, and effort you put into the event.”

“It was a wonderful day and something I’ll never forget. Thank you to you and the team for everything you do for us all.” 

“Thank you for arranging such a wonderful family day. We really enjoyed ourselves and it is great to spend time together doing activities you wouldn’t normally do. Many thanks for your generosity and hospitality.”

“We really had a fantastic day – thank you all so very much for all your hard work in putting the event together, it was fab! Thanks again for a lovely family 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, Kay Bargewell and retired officer and charity Trustee, Sue Cleeton. You were both a great help during the entire day and we couldn’t do this without you. Thank you for all your efforts.

A special thank you to 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 ‘Day to Remember’ event, you were all great sports and made it another wonderful success.

We’ll be doing it all over again next year. Details will be shared with members in the new year.

See you there!