Avocet House
Turnstone House
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In December the young people from Turnstone House took part in a Spot the Odd One Out competition organised by Bungay Town Council and local businesses. Only one young person couldn’t join in, but that was because she was busy preparing lunch at Bigod’s Kitchen for the whole group to enjoy after the event.
Forty five shops and businesses in Bungay took part, each one displayed a number in the window to show they were part of the competition, then you had to find the item displayed that the shop didn’t sell. This was often very difficult to spot! It was an exceptionally cold day and walking around the town took just over one and a half hours, but the young people all persevered and did really well.
Our answers were handed in and, to everyone’s delight, four of our young people won prizes! A small prize was also given to the others for taking part.
Two of the boys visited the Town Council offices on Wednesday 20 December for drinks and snacks, followed by the presentation of prizes by the Mayor. Both the young people were fantastically polite and made sure they thanked the organisers for their prizes.
One of our young adults recently ticked off an activity from her bucket list in top style! It had been a longstanding dream to complete a sky dive and many hours had been spent watching other intrepid folk falling from the sky over Suffolk with UK Parachuting.
Funds were diligently saved up from working in the community as a gardener for a local gentleman, when her target was reached the event was booked. Unfortunately it had to be postponed twice due to weather conditions, but finally the day came and, despite suffering with nerves in the build-up, she managed to overcome the justified trepidation and thoroughly enjoyed the experience.
There might have to be a lot more gardening to come as she has caught the sky diving bug and hopes to go again in the future.
At the beginning of October one of our young people went on a trip to France to stay with a family and experience their everyday life. He spent lots of time playing with the three children tried lots of different food, even venturing out in the rain to buy freshly baked bread from the boulangerie!
He spent a day with a class from a French school visiting a zoological park, finding a way to communicate with the other young people and not allowing there to be a language barrier. He made some lovely friends and has been invited back for a three day hike with the class in June.
He coped amazingly well and showed great resilience in getting along with several different people, in the family and the class, who only spoke a small amount English.
Turnstone House is looking forward to accommodating additional young people following the conversion of an old stable block on site.
The project started slowly due to the discovery of bats living in the roof space, but once we had been given the go-ahead by Natural England, work could resume on converting the space, which had previously been used as a workshop and storage.
After several months of activity (mainly in scorching temperatures) the builders completed the work and have very successfully converted the space into a large living/kitchen area with enough en-suite bedrooms to accommodate staff and young people. An additional multi-purpose room with a kitchenette has been installed, which can be used to help young people transition to independent living.
We have a few finishing touches to add, but are looking forward to settling young people into this very smart building in the near future.
In September, Turnstone House hosted a Careers Day, organised by our Careers, Information and Guidance Advisor. Local businesses were invited to attend, including representatives from the car industry, health and beauty, deep water fishing, police and army.
Stands were set up in the hall and remained onsite for the whole day to ensure there was plenty of time to ask questions and gather information about career options.
Young people from both Turnstone House and Avocet House visited the displays and engaged with the representatives confidently, spending time with them all. It was remarked afterwards how polite and interested the young people were.
The aim was to expand understanding of local job opportunities, and this was a great introduction to a wide range of possible careers. It is hoped that with this experience in mind, some of our young people will feel more confident when attending larger events elsewhere.
On the hottest day ever recorded in the UK we had a charity football match arranged. After a lot of deliberation and copious risk assessments put in place, it was decided we would continue with it for as long as everyone could bear.
The match was played by mixed teams comprising of staff, young people, and young adults who used to live with us. Frequent breaks were taken and there was plenty of water, which had been generously funded (along with a £100 donation to our charity, Leeway) by Minimum World in Loddon, when they realised what we were intending to do!
The fiercely-played match finished off at 4-2 at which point everyone was ready to return to the shady grounds of Turnstone House to relax and have lunch. The barbecue had been prepared in sweltering heat, and was soon demolished by the hungry teams and spectators. There was a lovely community atmosphere as everyone mingled and caught up with each other.
After ice lollies had been consumed, the raffle was drawn. We had been donated some amazing prizes by local businesses and the raffle raised over £350. This will be added to the money donated on the day and presented to Leeway to help fund their support to those experiencing domestic abuse.
Leeway – Breaking free from domestic abuse
1 in 3 women and 1 in 5 men will experience domestic abuse in their lifetime, and 750,000 child incidents of domestic abuse are reported in the UK every year. It’s our aim to provide free and confidential support to anyone experiencing domestic abuse.
This year’s Attitude Festival took place on 14 and 15 July in the fabulous, but somewhat parched, grounds at Turnstone House. A neat camp of tents was set up on the field before the activities began, kicking off with a Treasure Hunt involving all the young people and adults charging around the grounds in a bid to win!
Other activities planned across the two days included; a music workshop, rounders, bushcraft, hair braiding, art, temporary tattoos, fishing, football, cooking, tie dye, bouncy castles, live music and face-painting.
Energy levels were sustained by the welcomed arrival of Bigod’s Kitchen‘s food van and an ice cream van. During the festival there was also chilli and a BBQ prepared for everyone by the housekeepers, with help from other willing sous chefs.
The festival goes from strength to strength and is thoroughly enjoyed by everyone, it really brings the SES communities together and is a real team effort.
The 2 July 2022 saw the 50th anniversary of London Pride, it was the first parade since 2019 and turned out to be the biggest ever!
The first parade in 1972 involved approximately 2000 people – this year over 1 million people celebrated together in the capital.
One of our young people and two adults made the journey to London and managed to catch sight of the mayor of London, Philip Schofield, Linda Robson, Dame Kelly Holmes and other celebrities joining in the parade.
A great day was had by all, which was topped off by watching Ava Max perform in Trafalgar Square.
