Wow....what a week. We've had some gorgeous weather and some very heavy rain and through it all we've carried on the fun and packed in so much! Here is just a quick overview of the things we've got up to this week. Feel free to share this blog with friends and family as well as add your comments.
When the girls arrived on Saturday they were a bright and lively bunch compared to some years...the train journey had been enjoyed by all and they weren't too tired from their long journey from Belarus.
After settling in there was time for a quick get together in the park. A great chance to compare notes and meet the rest of the host / support families. There were signs of tiredness by the end of the evening and all headed off for a good nights sleep.
The following day it was time for the clothes party. THANK YOU to anyone that has donated clothes this year for the girls and their families and to #KillamarshLeisureCentre for the use of their room. Our lovely volunteers Stephanie, Kathryn, Sarah, Kath, Dave and John did a great job setting up for the day.
After this it was time to get started with Welcome Party! Games, food and fun! This is a chance for Daniel to get all of the games out. We also had the lovely John arrive to design mugs with the girls; Eleanor & Louise got stuck in with the face paints and lots of other people joined in the nail painting, including Steve who seemed to enjoy this more than the girls!
The rest of the week has been jam-packed full of activities and we have some amazing supporters and volunteers to thank.
We had pottery painting at #CrackpotCreations https://www.facebook.com/Crackpot-Creations-17203316948726
Sue and the team at crackpot have supported us for several years and the girls all loved this creative morning. We've enjoyed #McDonalds food, thanks to Kelly at Handsworth and then roller skated around for the evening thanks to an anonymous supporter.
The girls have enjoyed swimming at #Graves Tennis and Leisure Centre https://placesleisure.org/centres/graves-health-and-sports-centre/ thanks to the fantastic Jo and the team there for their support throughout the year! After splashing in the water we enjoyed the sunshine at #Abbeydale Miniate Railway http://www.sheffieldmodelengineers.com/
On Wednesday we had a trip to the opticians with the wonderful #Daybell and Choo on Sharrowvale Road once more supporting the children and offering free eye tests and glasses to those whom need them. https://www.daybellchoo.co.uk/
This is such a vital part of the stay in Sheffield for the girls as they are often unable to access eye care and glasses at home. We didn't manage to get any pictures inside the opticians this year however we'll be sure to share lots of images of the girls with their new glasses once they receive them. We're sure there will be lots of smiling faces!
We manged to collect some beautiful quilts from #PatchworkGarden https://www.thepatchworkgarden.co.uk/
We had a great #Slime party thanks to Joanne and finished a day off with a behind-the-scenes visit to #Tesco at Abbeydale Road with Julia there giving the girls the grand tour!
Later in the week there was a new activity for the itinerary this year the #NationalVideogameMuseum https://www.thenvm.org/
Thanks again to the wonderful Joanne for organising this event. This was a chance for the girls and families to try out some of the classic video games from years gone by!
One of the girls first restaurant visits was to Kpasa https://www.kpasa.uk/ in Sheffield. The girls were treated to some amazing food and had enough left over for takeaways too. All the host and support families loved their visit to #Kpasa and we'll be back again soon!
The girls have also enjoyed a trip to the Tropical Butterfly Park https://www.butterflyhouse.co.uk/ this week (again thanks to Joanne!) The animals and the play area both proved popular and we found the chicken that was desperate for a picture especially amusing!
Saturday was an exciting day with two big activities planned. First he girls headed off to the #Eco Farm to see Mark and Sarah at www.Greendirections.co.uk Despite the terrible weather the couple were determined to get the girls on the horses. We were all incredibly grateful! A special mention should also go to Louise on this trip for managing not only to find the farm at the first attempt but also being the first family to arrive!!
Our final event of the week was our biggest fundraiser of the year #Postlines. This is an event organised by Antoine Desespringalle and supported by #RoyalMail
We had the worst weather of the month for this day which was a disappointment but we were determined not to let it spoil the day. There was music, craft, food, drink and a bouncy castle! Everyone that braved the weather had a wonderful time and it looks as though we have raised around £2500 for CCLL Sheffield this year - well done Antoine! Also a special thanks to those supporters who put up with the rain to help set up and clear away afterwards....Kathryn, Steve, Al, Salli, Joanne, Adam, Dave and probably some more that I've forgotten. You're all lovely people!
Here are some of the highlights form Postlines 2019...
We had so much support on the day from local people, this included musicians #SunburnedBliss and #JKVibes. Thanks to Donna Hamden for the tattoos and our very own Elaine for setting up the craft stall from #CreativeMojoSheffieldEast https://www.creativemojo.com/blog/franchise/sheffield-east/
We hope you have enjoyed reading our week 1 blog...more to come next week. We thought we'd leave you with a short video caught by one of our support family members from Postlines...