BTH Activity Day October 2025

On a dry, sunny Saturday this October the BTH team were to be found setting up for one of our well-loved Activity Days. Back by popular demand and requests from the last time, these days enable us to reconnect with families we have worked with. 

This time being no exception, there would be opportunities to create homemade takeaway to eat together…  handmade pizzas created by children and parents, pizza box design and a café area to eat and hang out together.  A circus skills workshop would take place outdoors, alongside fun archery. There was a room dedicated to making self-esteem boxes which was a quiet, reflective crafting space. Also on offer: outdoor badminton, skittles and giant bubble making, board games, service feedback space and not forgetting the slime table – shaving foam, glitter… an area that was full for the entire afternoon.  

Around fifty children and adults attended. Everything was popular, the range of activities means that children can find what they enjoy best and just stay on that activity. It’s a safe space, and supported by our therapist team, so parents who have brought more than one child can allow each one to choose and spend time with each one without needing to hurry them on in order to stay together.  

One young man came on his own in a taxi to attend, this opportunity to reconnect is really important to him. He spent his time with another young person he had met previously, playing board games and making and eating pizza creations.  

Other families shared with me that they had not been out for ages, it was so difficult to get their children to leave the house, but this had been brilliant. 

A Family Support Worker called us after the event to ask what techniques she should use to get through to a young man who attended.  She can’t connect with him and wonders what we use because it seems we are the only ones he connects with. We continue to support this family in various ways.

Parents spent time sharing their stories with us to help us understand what our impact has been and what we can do differently or better. Children completed feedback jigsaws and games to give us input on how to redevelop our children’s panel, ‘BTH Ambassadors’ which we are looking to refresh and reengage. They have told us they want it to include games, activities, outings and food, and that thinking about mental health, grief, what affects young people, what they enjoy and how to get closer to their parents are all important for them.  

With Krispy Kreme donuts to end with, everyone went home happy. We cleared up and the team were tired but we know that these days provide social and enriching experiences for families that have experienced trauma, and who find fun family days difficult to access for a variety of reasons. We are building what is most important to us at BTH, and what will carry children and families through: trust and relationships.