2012 - what

We are sad to have to report that Centre volunteer George Milne passed away earlier this month. George started carrying out voluntary work at the QE2 Activity Centre over ten years ago and had been a volunteer for Meals on Wheels for many years before that. In 2009 he was recognised by the Daily Echo in their Good Neighbour Campaign. Interviewed then he said "I started volunteering because I wanted to do something worthwhile that would help others. When I started I had no idea I would be doing it for 20 years but I’m definitely not going to stop now."

At the age of 70 he took part in a wingwalk to help raise funds for the QE2 Activity Centre and was an active supporter of the Centre's fundraising committee as well as volunteering with Friday Club. Our thoughts are with his family.

explorers day club
This year's Explorers Day Club will be running from Monday 30 July until Thursday 24th August. Aimed at children with additional needs, their brothers and sisters and friends, this will be an exciting alternative to traditional play schemes.

As usual there will be plenty of things to do every day including arts and crafts, fun in the forest and adventure activities. From climbing and canoeing to baking and model making there will something for everybody.

We aim to provide a service that meets the different needs of local families. Some parents like to stay with their child - and that is ok; other parents prefer to leave their children with us so they can do other things - like going to work or IKEA or doing something with siblings - and that is fine too.

Explorers Day Club meets every Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday between 30 July and 24 August. You can sign up for all of the days or just one or two - whatever suits you. There is a charge of £15 for Hampshire families and £20 for non-Hampshire families

QE2 Activity Centre marked World Autism Awareness Day by providing holidays and day activities to a host of Hampshire families this week. First of all we had a QE2/HAS Short Break with families with a child on the autistic spectrum coming to stay for a couple of nights and take part in activities including climbing, archery, ropes course, zipwire, canoeing, crabbing, motorboat, team challenge and bushcraft.

Yesterday we had our Chill Out Day with a morning of woodland activities, including creating art, music and games plus a yoga session with Shelley and an afternoon on the ropes course and in the tunnels. This is what one parent had to say about the day: "The staff are truly fantastic, encouraging and inspiring. Brilliant."

It was 34 years ago today that HRH Princess Margaret came to Bursledon to open the Queen Elizabeth II Silver Jubilee Activities Centre. The Queen's Silver Jubilee year ran from April 1977 to March 31st 1978 so the Centre managed to be conceived, planned, built and opened during the Jubilee year. The Centre looks a bit more colourful these days!

Thanks to everyone who came along to our Inspiring You activity days and an Elvis Tribute evening over the last week. Suffice to say, a good time was had by all. Next up is MultiSports Club barndance on Saturday night, the first of this year's QE2/HAS short breaks starting on Sunday and WAAD Chill Out Day happening next Wednesday.

every week the QE2 Activity Centre has visitors from all over Hampshire and some from Dorset and Surrey; today we had some visitors from further afield - all the way from Kimry in Russia. Although they weren't here for long they managed to fit in some climbing, archery and zipwire. Not only that but they sampled some home made English scones courtesy of the GreenHouse.

Inspiring You activity day for Hampshire families with a child with a disability. A whole host of exciting activities for the family to take part in together - climbing, canoeing, archery, problem solving, motorboat, zipwire, ropes course - the lot! On Saturday March 24th you can book for a half day (that's 10:00 in the morning until 1:00 or after lunch 2:00 until 5:00) at £8 for adults and £4 for children. If you're not a Hampshire resident you can come but it will cost you a little more (£10 adults and £5 children).

another Inspiring You activity day for Hampshire families with a child with a disability. This time you can stay for the whole day from 10:00 in the morning until 5:00 so you can make sure everyone has a chance to have a go at everything! The cost is £16 for adults and £8 for children. Again if you're out of Hampshire its a little more (£20 for adults and £10 for children)

To mark World Autism Awareness Day this April the QE2 Activity Centre will be holding the following event aimed at families in the autism community. It aims to provide an opportunity for families to have a fun day together and at the same time learn some strategies for making life easier! This will be through learning about relaxation techniques, developing communication skills and trying out activities that your family will be able to carry on independently.

Chill Out Day - 4^th April 2012

Do you experience stress and need to relax? Would you benefit from learning some relaxation techniques while you and your family have a fun day trying new activities together? QE2 Activity centre is teaming up with Progress to Success life coach, Shelley Edwards, to provide a day of activity focussing on working together, communicating and learning some techniques for stress release and relaxation.

There’ll be yoga, ropes course, art and problem solving activities, starting at 10;00 and finishing at 3:00. Hampshire Autistic Society will be on hand to provide information on other service available.

time for the obligatory daffodil picture! That's right, its that time of year, Spring is in the air. Time to be planning your summer holiday! There are still some weeks available for school bookings during summer term, so give us a call on 023 8040 4844 to discuss.

Don't forget that there are three weeks set aside for family bookings during the school holidays in August. Here's what one family who stayed a few weeks ago had to say: ". . . a big thank you for our activity week, we all had a fantastic time. The range of activities was amazing and it was great that the adults could have a go as well as the children. I enjoyed the climbing as it is something I hadn't attempted before. Thank you for all of your time, enthusiasm and patience!! As we left my son asked me if we could come back next year . . ." Dates for the summer holiday family weeks are Monday 30 July - Friday 3rd August, Monday 13th - Friday 17th August and Monday 20th to Friday 24th August.

That's not all. We'll be running our very popular Explorers of the World playscheme right the way through the Summer holidays and having some family activity days too. Details of these will appear in the 2012 Events section.

It only comes round once every four years so you should do something memorable every 29th February. So, well done to Senior Instructor Kerry who popped the question to Klayr today! Congratulations to the happy couple from everyone at QE2 Activity Centre.

once again QE2 Activity Centre will be running Inspiring You activity days this spring. On the weekend of Saturday March 24th and Sunday March 25th you will be able to come along and take part in activities including canoeing, motorboat, climbing, archery, ropes course and zipwire. There will be a charge but you'll get your money's worth!

On Saturday March 24th we're splitting the day in half: you can book for a morning (from 10:00 until 1:00 - three hours of activity) or an afternoon (from 2:00 until 5:00- three hours again).

For non-Hampshire residents the cost is £10 for adults and £5 for children (age up to and including 19).

For Hampshire residents (that is, if you pay your council tax to Hampshire CC) there is a 20% discount so it is just £8 for adults and £4 for children

On Sunday 25th March you can stay for the whole day from 10:00 in the morning until 5:00 in the afternoon, spending half the day doing land based activities and half the day doing water based activities. For non-Hampshire families the cost will be £20 for adults and £10 for children; for Hampshire families it will £16 for adults and £8 for children.

And don't forget, the same weekend, it's ELVIS NIGHT! Dale Fontaine will be returning to the Centre on Friday 23rd March, performing a host of Elvis' greatest hits. Only £6 for an evening of music (plus refreshments). See you there!

We have always known how important it is that children and adults with disabilities have access to activities. As well as providing activities ourselves we see it as part of our role to help others. At the end of last year we ran a disability awareness course for instructors from other local activity centres, in conjunction with the Institute for Outdoor Learning. Centre manager Phil Oates was involved in setting up the IOL special interest group Accessible Outdoor Learning to further promote the involvement of people with disabilities in outdoor education. Also we like to show people what we do, this month that has included 30 Brownies from Southampton and Sports Management students from Southampton Solent University. We're expecting a visit from a Russian delegation in March. On March 31st Centre staff will be heading to Hindleap Warren in East Sussex to help run a Climbing for All course, working together with Hindleap staff.

Greetings from the frozen wastes of Bursledon. Pictured above: the Hamble River this morning - ice all the way from the QE2 Activity Centre pontoon to Botley. The like has not been seen in these here parts since time out of mind. Summer seems a long way off!

Pictured above:students from Great Oaks school in Southampton have been helping at the Centre over the last few months. Before Christmas they carried out work in the Centre garden, maintaining the grounds. Now they've moved indoors and are painting the skittle alley - and doing a fine job too! Thanks, guys.

Starting on February 22nd the GreenHouse day service will be based at Manor Farm every Wednesday! This means a whole new range of experiences available. The GreenHouse will still be helping develop independent living skills and work related skills but there will be a whole new bunch of tasks to be carried out.

These will include developing a new allotment specialising in traditional Victorian crops, learning about the care of farm animals, maintaining the birdhide area and helping with maintenance around the farm. If you'd like to find out more about joining the GreenHouse. either at the Centre (Monday, Tuesday and Friday) or at the Manor Farm (Wednesday), please get in touch.

After more than thirty years as Chair of the QE2 Activity Centre Cllr Godfrey Olson stood down this week, as did Vice Chair June Sanders. Both had been involved since the earliest days of the Centre. Cllr Olson was Mayor of Eastleigh in 1976 when the request came for local authorities to commemorate the Silver Jubilee. He was Chair of the group which developed the idea from Chris Gardiner to provide an activity centre for children and adults with disabilities. The Centre has gone from strength to strength under his Chairmanship and we are grateful for his dedication.

June Sanders, also an Eastleigh Councillor for many years, has been involved from the beginning. The fundraising for the new Centre was kicked off in June 1977 when Mrs Sanders swam lengths of Fleming Park swimming pool, raising almost £1000. Her husband, Cllr Joe Sanders was Mayor in 1977-8 when HRH Princess Margaret visited Hampshire to open the Queen Elizabeth II Silver Jubilee Activities Centre. During her Mayoral Year 1986-87 Mrs Sanders adopted the Centre as one of her chosen charities and helped raise funds for the A frame cabins. She has continued to be an enthusiastic and generous supporter of the Centre and will continue to serve on the management committee.

pictured l-r Cllr Joe Sanders, Cllr Godfrey Olson, Cllr June Sanders, HRH Princess Margaret

The incoming Chair, Cllr Peter Wall, (pictured above with new vice chair Jerry Hall) thanked Cllr Olson and Mrs Sanders for their contribution over the years and praised their energy and commitment.

At QE2 Activity Centre we like the idea of teamwork. Bringing together the skills and resources of several organisations to make something happen seems to me a very good way of working. So we’re kicking off the year with an activity week for families organised by QE2 Activity Centre in conjunction with Hampshire Autistic Society and Wessex Cancer Trust, with financial support from Hamble Valley Rotary Club. Thanks to all those involved in putting this together.

The GreenHouse, QE2 Activity Centre's day service for adults with learning disabilities, had a fantastic boost today, with the presentation of a cheque from Jan Halliday of Southampton Airport, on behalf of BAA Community Trust. The grant is towards a new building for the GreenHouse project which will be built over the coming year!

Pictured above are members of the Green Team watching Jan present the cheque to the Centre's chairman Godfrey Olson. Also there is Henry Evans of HGP Architects, who drew up the plans, and Sam from Foreman Homes whose continued support is so valuable to the Centre.

Here we go again! We're starting off the year by giving the website a facelift so please bear with me while I sort it out. It might take a while to reach some of the darker recesses.

Bookings for 2012 are now being taken, if you haven’t booked yet you should get a move on or you might not get the week you are after!

You can book a self catering cabin for a full activity week at QE2 Activity Centre for £810. Each cabin sleeps up to eight people, so that’s only just over £100 per person.

We have, as usual, been busy over the winter, extending the caving system again, making changes to the climbing walls, giving the pontoon boat an overhaul and buying new kit.

The sports hall looks very smart with an amazing new mural by artist Eldon Griffiths (as well as some lesser pieces by QE2 staff).

We’ll be running some Explorers short breaks this year – an expedition on foot and by canoe exploring the whole length of the Hamble River followed by a night sleeping out under the stars, only for the hardy! We’ve been developing our Bushcraft sessions and have lots of new ideas.

The success of our family activity days and family weeks means that there will be more of those this year, including a World Autism Awareness Day event in April and a Paralympic Flame festival in August.

Our GreenHouse day service is going great – it even has a greenhouse now, and we have recently secured a “substantial” grant to put up a new building for the Green Team to operate out of. It is planned that this will be completed by the end of the summer.

And, to celebrate the Diamond Jubilee, in June three of the Centre’s staff – Kerry, Nick and Graham – will be paddling round the Isle of Wight to raise funds for the Centre!

So give us a call on 023 8040 4844 or email qe2centre@aol.com or write to QE2 Activity Centre, Manor Farm Country Park, Pylands Lane, Bursledon, Hampshire SO31 1BH