Avocet House
Turnstone House
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The fourth and final trip to visit the 92 football league stadiums took place at the beginning of August. So far, our football fans had visited 69 of the 92 stadiums and this next three-day trip would see them venture to the southwest of the UK.
They left at 7am on day one, facing a long drive to the south coast where they started the fourth leg visiting Southampton, Bournemouth, Exeter and Plymouth, continuing to Bristol City and Bristol Rovers (all on day one!).
On day two they ventured into Wales, visiting Newport, Cardiff and Swansea, before crossing back across the border to Cheltenham and Swindon. They then headed to the midlands to visit Wolves, Birmingham, Aston Villa, West Brom and Walsall. An attempt to get tickets for the pre-season fixture between Aston Villa and Roma was not successful, but provided a learning opportunity in recognising and understanding the risks of online ticket scammers.
On the last day they visited Coventry, Northampton, MK Dons, Oxford, Reading, and Wycombe. The latter being a particular highlight as they were guided around the stadium by an employee who also allowed them to go into one of the stands. Our young person left the stadium saying “that was sick”, with the biggest smile across his face.
The challenge of visiting all 92 football league stadiums ended at Norwich City FC (our local team). There was much celebration with hugs and high fives, followed by an immediate conversation on what to embark on next………
Summer 2025 was a busy one with several organised trips for SES young people and adults, kicking off prior to the end of term with adventurous holidays in Derbyshire and the Lake District.
Our young people showed bravery, kindness and team spirit, fully engaging in the activities that had been arranged, with enthusiasm shown by everyone. Young people grew in confidence, resilience and ability whilst tackling some pretty scary activities, from abseiling to ghyll scrambling, canoeing and hiking. This bravery and the enthusiasm to join in was also shown by the amazing adults who had volunteered to support the children, in what turned out to be a very busy few days!
Scenes from the Lake District:
Scenes from Derbyshire:
Turnstone House hosted our annual Attitude Festival in July, with the theme of ‘circus’, bringing together adults and young people from all the SES provisions. An atmosphere of excitement and togetherness filled the air as the event was opened by the debut performance from Limitless (formed by the SES leadership team!).
Activities included a demonstration of the circus skills learnt by the young people, sensory play, fishing, drumming, a disco, karaoke machine, henna tattoos and face painting; along with traditional fairground games such as the coconut shy, hook-a-duck and tin can alley. Some of the young people and adults were feeling sporty and engaged in a lively football match.
As the first evening drew to a close, everyone gathered for a ukulele performance, a little pampering and an open-air cinema experience. The fun continued the next day after a hearty breakfast, with more carnival games, a candyfloss machine and an inflatable helter skelter.
The SES adults stepped up to present an amazing two day event for the young people that will be remembered for ever. Part of our ethos is to provide children with happy, fun-filled memories of their childhood; the adults went above and beyond to bring fun, kindness and support to this festival, which truly is a fantastic and safe way for our young people to experience this kind of event.
Part three of the grand stadium tour began one early May morning. In the quest to visit all 92 football league stadiums, they set off on this leg with a long 5 ½ hour drive to Newcastle to see St James Park.
Our young person had helped with the planning, and he was excited and looking forward to seeing all the stadiums in the northeast of the country. After a very long first day spent visiting a total of 7 stadiums, with Newcastle, Sunderland and Middlesborough being some of the highlights, everyone was looking forward to getting dinner and rest in the hotel. However, upon arrival they were told the hotel had been booked for the night before, and subsequently both hotels were booked for the incorrect dates! This was all part of the fun, which was accepted in good spirits, and a new plan was formulated.
They decided to travel another hour and a half to the hotel near Sheffield (which had been accidentally booked for night one, instead of night two). On day two they came up with a new plan, whereby all the stadiums would be visited that day with no need for a third day.
They set off at 7am and began the challenge of visiting the remainder of the stadiums. One of the highlights was meeting the head groundsman at Grimsby who let them into the stadium. After a longer day than originally planned, they arrived back at Turnstone House at 23:45 with 71 of the 92 stadiums completed.
There is now one more trip to go………
After more than 5 years, we saw the return of the SES annual conference! These events bring the whole SES team together to increase our knowledge, inspire us, and remind us why we have chosen to work with our special young people.
This year we welcomed Steven Russell, founder of Elements, to the beautiful setting at Dunston Hall. Steven had impressed two of our senior leaders with his heartfelt and powerful presentation at the 2024 Children’s Home Association conference. They both felt he would make a big impression on the SES team, and they weren’t wrong!
Steven spoke with us about the Power of Connection, reflecting on his own childhood in the care system and the lessons he wanted to pass on to professionals working in the care sector. His message was powerful and often emotional, giving us all plenty to think about and reflect on our own interactions with children.
The session was interactive, with an experiment to show how easily a simple message about a child can be carried incorrectly when passed on through several professionals. We also had to decorate masks with key moments and feelings from our own childhood, helping us all understand each other and realise there’s often more beneath the surface.
The conference has left us all with plenty to think about and put into practice, and we hope to welcome Steven back to SES to see us all in action later this year.
We have already started to think about the SES Conference 2026………
The Engage in Their Future Awards 2025 held in Manchester was a truly unforgettable experience for the SES adults and young people attending. The awards celebrate the incredible achievements of young people across the UK.
Despite the long journey, the group’s energy and excitement never wavered. Spirits were high as they explored the Trafford Centre and indulged in a little shopping. The trip saw lots of laughter, shared meals and special moments, including a lovely breakfast together before everyone got dressed up for the awards.
The awards ceremony was filled with clapping, cheering, and a few emotional tears as our young people took the spotlight. One of our young people was very proud to receive a Silver Award in the Good Citizen category for his helpfulness within the house and dedication to feeding the birds. Another confidently walked to the stage to collect a Platinum Award for Outstanding Personal Achievement, recognising his adventurous sailing trip and being completely out of his comfort zone. Another young person shone as she received a Gold Award in Creativity and Arts for her beautiful pottery work. The fourth SES young person proudly accepted a Platinum Award on behalf of Avocet House for their inspiring and ongoing charity work.
It was an afternoon full of pride and celebration, an amazing experience that perfectly reflected the spirit of SES and the incredible young people we support.
After an early morning start in April, and a long drive to Carlisle, our three adventurers arrived at the most northerly football stadium in England. It was then that they realised a stadium had been missed off the list, resulting in an impromptu visit to Barrow FC. Feeling relieved this had been rectified before heading south again, they began the long descent back to Turnstone House, visiting all the football stadiums in the north-west of the country.
There were some high points; Anfield, the Etihad and the hallowed ground (in some people’s opinion!) of Old Trafford, along with some not so pleasant grounds; Accrington Stanley and Fleetwood FC.
A quick stop at the garage for a minor tyre issue and some changes to the plan ensured they were able to add in Everton’s new ground (Bramley Moore) and St George’s Park, finishing off with Cambridge FC (not the highlight of the trip!).
Our young person was fantastic throughout, coping with changes to the plan brilliantly, and helping to plot different routes. He showed excellent manners within the hotels and engaged brilliantly with everyone they met, as well as managing the long drives without complaint.
This venture is a true football fan’s dream, and our young person spoke about how he would like to tell his children about the challenge. He has two trips left to go and then he will have seen all 92 football league stadiums in the country as well as some extras. This leg of the challenge was brilliant, thoroughly enjoyed by all.
Avocet House held their first ‘Shine a Light’ open day for adults on 2 April 2025. The premise for this was for the young people to show their books, artwork, technical skills and ping pong prowess to key adults from Avocet House.
Two of the young people were unable to attend as they were on an adventure in a tall ship on the high seas! However, all the other young people and the Learning Centre adults put on a good show of the work and progress that has been made.
Everyone visiting enjoyed the experience with many of them mentioning that they were truly amazed at the quality and progress of all the young people. Drinks and snacks were supplied and fun was had by everyone attending, it was clear they all enjoyed the experience.
We are aiming for this to become a regular event in the Avocet House calendar, complementing the holistic approach of SES and ensuring all adults fully appreciate the hard work put in by all the young people. Next term the care team will have a turn to showcase everything they’ve been doing with the young people.
The event proved to be a truly lovely end to a busy term.
One of our young people had a dream to visit all 92 football league stadiums in the country. His dream was included in the Turnstone House Development Plan and adults worked hard to make this happen for him. In February 2025 two adults and our excited young person embarked on the first of four trips, this one would cover 23 stadiums in two days!
It turned out to be a test of endurance for all three of them, as the days were made longer than planned due to traffic and diversions. However, the first day started off smoothly with Ipswich, Colchester, and Gillingham ticked off the list in no time. Crawley, Brighton and Portsmouth followed after having endured a motorway closure, then back to Wimbledon, Fulham, Chelsea, QPR and Brentford. The day had been an epic 15 hours and everyone was exhausted.
On day two they drove to Crystal Palace, Bromley, Millwall and Charlton then hopped on the train to West Ham, Leyton Orient, Arsenal, Tottenham, Wembley and Watford. Back in the car to finish the day travelling to Luton and Stevenage. All three were extremely proud of their achievement and how our young person had dealt with the trials and tribulations, including very sore legs and feet!
