It gives parents and carers the perfect opportunity to have a little break and sit down, knowing that the kids are happily letting their imaginations run wild in this little play world. Will they hone their cooking skills in our play kitchen, or build a grand new fort with our building blocks?
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You can visit our Quarry café for free, with plenty of parking on site, or let the excitement continue by getting a day pass to the Country Centre to enjoy a whole host of fun activities including the open farm, soft play for 0-5’s, mini golf, maze, and more!   ​

I went down for a visit to the farm this morning to see who I’d choose to adopt. It was great fun going around and meeting all the animals, some were very friendly and inquisitive, others were more interested in their breakfast! Now normally goats are my farm favourites, but it was the pigs today that made me laugh out loud with their grunting and snuffling. I decided that I would like to adopt Horace the Kune Kune pig. He looked quite happy in his muddy home with his friend Rosemary – it looked like he had a big smile on his face!

I can't wait to receive my adoption package – most of all the chance to visit the farm again especially to meet Horace up close. I’d get the chance to feed him, give him his favourite tummy tickle, and have the opportunity to learn some interesting facts from our friendly farm staff.

Also included in my adoption package is a personalised certificate, photo and a fact sheet on Horace, it’s a great way to get involved in the farm and learn more about all sorts of different animals. Plus, I will receive regular updates and photos on how Horace is doing throughout the year.

For more information about joining me and adopting an animal visit www.aldingbournetrust.org/adoptananimal.html#/

Emma Lennon - Lancing 

On the 11th January the people we support at the Country Centre had a special visit from PCSO Caroline Wilson and PC Rachel Walsh, they came to give a talk about keeping safe and what the Police do to serve our community.  
 
The talk was organised by one of our Support Workers Tracey Ford, who wanted the people we support to understand the role of a Police officer so they would feel confident in asking for help if they ever needed it.  Everyone really enjoyed the talk and a few people even had the opportunity to try on some police uniform, which also helped them feel more comfortable and confident around the police officers.
 
They also brought a Police car with them so the people we support to look at and even had fun posing for a few photos with the two officers.

​Our MAKE enterprise over in Fratton teaches the people we support art and craft skills to help them express themselves through the way they experience the world.
 
Art provides a way to explore your life and feelings, it can have a positive effect on mood, function, behavior and cognition.  Buy working with the people we support with different art projects, they have lots of fun creating and exploring different skills and techniques.  
 
They have recently been looking at the surreal artwork of Pablo Picasso, by creating their own collages of the staff, volunteers and friends at MAKE.
 
Their artwork is on display for everyone to see, so why not pop into MAKE in Cornwall Road next time you are in Fratton and don’t forget to try one of their delicious homemade cakes too!

The Gig Buddies Portsmouth team had another fantastic time at their bi-monthly club night event at Kingsley’s Bar in Southsea, Portsmouth. The theme this time was love being so close to Valentine’s Day, and the people who came along certainly knew how to get the night going with song requests being fulfilled by the DJ and Bar Owner Steve Kingsley, and his sidekick Arthur.

Our Wednesday group in our Earthworks enterprise have been having great fun creating pictures and crafts with a Valentine and Spring theme.
 
They really enjoy creating artwork using recycling paper in a mosaic technique, to produce pictures of different themes that are used to create greetings cards for our Country Centre shop.  They have been working hard on producing images for Valentine, Mother’s Day and Good Luck cards so we have a range of cards available for all occasions.  Their designs are scanned up by our Digital Media team and then printed on cards which display who the artist is on the back.  So, our special greetings cards are designed and made in house by the people we support. 
 
Each day in Earthworks a different group of the people we support take part in craft activities, and as each group is different, we look at a variety of arts and craft techniques to suit their own unique skills set.  What will they be up to next?

One of the people we support, Kerry Tapper enjoys working in our horticulture department.  She enjoys helping to keep the department tidy and organised. 
 
We work towards being environmentally friendly trying to reduce, reuse and recycle as much as we can.  Claire Seaby, one of our horticulture volunteers was able to obtain a donation of gardening gloves for the horticulture team to use.  This has meant that every member of the team has their own pair of gardening gloves, so we no longer need to use plastic gloves! 
 
Kerry had the idea to organise the gloves, so it was easier for people to find them.  Creating this shelving system, each one is named to make it more personal for each member of the team.  She even organised them so the tallest people’s gloves were at the top!  Now everyone has a pair of gloves and hopefully will always know where they have put them.  Kerry has also spent time organising all of the plant labels, which are colour coordinated by type to make it easier to find what they are looking for. 

Number 73 hosted their first Games evening on Thursday 23rd January as part of their new co-production programme.  The sessions are being led by the people we support who have a learning disability and/or autism, who enjoy taking part in Roleplaying Games.
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Their first night led by Tony Jolly was a great success, where they enjoyed Roleplaying Games, Warhammer, D&D, wargames, model building and painting. They are looking forward to their next session on Thursday 6thFebruary.