Once again, young people, staff and some who had previously lived at Avocet or Turnstone House met for the annual charity football match.  This year it had been given a makeover, with full-colour programmes listing the teams with messages from the captains and coaches, along with SES-branded football shirts in red or black team colours for all the young people.

The football match is (mostly!) taken very seriously and competition is strong.  A crowd had gathered at the side of the pitch to cheer on both teams, and everyone was in good spirits.  The battle was fierce and the score reflected how much effort the players put in, going from 0-0 to 3-4 and then to a final score of 8-4 to Team Black

Everyone was congratulated and then headed off to Turnstone House for lunch and presentations.  A delicious chicken curry was awaiting everyone as they congregated in the largest room available.  Trophies and medals were then handed out to all the players for their valiant efforts, and the winning captain was hoisted onto shoulders to celebrate!

Money was being raised for two charities this year, Beccles Hospital and Building Lives International, in memory of Sally Blowers, who had been Registered Manager at Avocet House. £366 was raised through player contributions and a raffle.

Everyone is now limbering up for the 2027 match!

In August, one of our young people took a giant leap with having the confidence to spend time away from familiar people and surroundings. He took on the fantastic challenge of spending five nights at the Suffolk Punch Scouts Camp. The camp got off to a great start with an amazing drone show on the opening night. He was in the middle of it all, dancing, singing and fully joining in!

He continued to throw himself into the experience, particularly enjoying the water-based activities. He also spent time in the wellbeing tent, enjoying board games, arts and crafts; taking the opportunity for some quieter time. One of the biggest achievements was the confidence he showed in connecting with others. The Scout leader commented that our young person had independently visited other Scout groups at the camp and had joined in with their activities, something that young people don’t normally have the courage to do.

Spending five nights away from home, sharing a tent with four other young people and being surrounded by people he usually only sees once a week was a significant achievement for this young person. Rather than simply managing the experience, he embraced it, made connections and got involved.

Be Curious, Show Love, Build Connections – The SES Way

Turnstone House bid a fond farewell to a young person who had called it home for over 8 years, arriving when he was just 9 years old.  During his time at Turnstone House he had made significant progress in his education, social and life skills – his folder of certificates so impressive you could barely lift it!

The last few months have been unsettling for him while the local authority made plans for his future, post 18 years old.  SES advocated for him to remain in our care, relocating to our 18+ residential provision in Beccles, Suffolk.  It was felt this would be the ideal next step for him, keeping his care as consistent as possible and to ensure he remains surrounded by adults he is already familiar with.  After many discussions, the local authority realised this would be the best option and he is delighted to stay in the SES family!

He leaves with so many memories, relationships and achievements behind him, ready to take everything he has learned into this next stage. Everyone at Turnstone is incredibly proud and wishes him every success and happiness as he takes his next steps at SES Kite. He will be attending future community events and visiting Turnstone House regularly.  We look forward to seeing him develop into adulthood!

This year the Attitude Festival headed to the Wild West!  Turnstone House grounds transformed into a fantastic Wild West Adventure, with a jail, bank, saloon, straw bales and plenty of Wild West decorations.  The scene was set for two days of fun and new experiences. Young people took on the mechanical bull (with a few brave adults joining them), panned for gold, challenged each other at Tin Can Alley, tried line dancing, decorated cowboy hats, enjoyed balloon modelling, henna and the traditional festival football match. The saloon provided a great place to relax, play card games and spend time together.

As the day continued, all were treated to live country music, followed by DJ sets from the young people and plenty of karaoke. There was a real sense of co-adventuring, with everyone getting involved and making memories together.

The food was once again a festival highlight, with cowboy-themed treats, pulled pork, chilli and corn, followed later by the always-popular pizza van and ice cream truck.

For many, the adventure continued overnight, with tents going up across the field and young people and adults camping together. There were varying amounts of sleep, however, everyone embraced the experience, worked together and helped get camp packed away the following morning! Despite the scorching heat, the young people were fantastic throughout the two days, showing respect, trying new things, supporting one another and managing the excitement of a very busy festival brilliantly.

One of our intrepid explorers set off with the Avocet House Deputy Head to walk 86 miles along the Norfolk Coastal Path from Hunstanton to Great Yarmouth.  They planned six days of walking and five nights of camping, this meant all the heavy camping equipment had to be carried with them in enormous backpacks, which added an extra challenge!

There were tests along the way with discomfort, tiredness and solid rain for over seven hours!  At one point, our determined young person was asked what the challenge was teaching him, to which he replied, ‘what pain feels like’, but in reality it was teaching him resilience, perseverance, planning, social skills and a feeling of pride and accomplishment.

The bad moments were outweighed by some lovely moments; various people they met on the route kindly donated to the chosen charity; they struck up a friendship with a French family by lending their cooking equipment, which paid off when they were offered burgers in return; they helped a gentleman who had fallen in his garden and administered first aid; and, possibly the icing on the cake, they raised over £1200 for the East Anglian Air Ambulance.  Our considerate young person had chosen this charity as he was concerned how their service would be impacted by rising fuel prices.

What an achievement!  We suspect it won’t be long until they start planning the next expedition…..

The annual SES conference was held at Dunston Hall, Norwich on Thursday 21 May 2026.  The guest speakers were brothers, Andy and Matt Smith, who united in 2018 to form Smash Life, a child-centred company focussed on providing support services to young people and professionals.

Andy and Matt are care leavers and are striving to improve the lives of children in similar situations through offering inspirational talks and training.  They are able to provide a unique insight into what it can feel like to live within the care system, drawing on their own lived experiences and their combined professional experience of working with young people and families.

All SES staff were included in the conference as everyone is keen to learn as much as possible about how to improve the lives of the children we look after.  This can be a logistical challenge as part of the team need to stay with the children, therefore Matt and Andy had to speak once in the morning and repeat everything in the afternoon for a second sitting!

One of the areas SES has been focussing on this year is capturing the Voice of the Child.  Some of our forms and documents have already been updated to assist with this, but Andy and Matt gave more of an insight into what it can feel like to read your own records when leaving care.  It was a very interesting and thought-provoking day, prompting a lot of reflection as well as ideas to take back to SES to improve our current way of recording information about young people.

We are hoping it won’t be the last we see of Smash Life!