Spring Common Academy Donation
Christine Luckham, Chairman of Dreamdrops, was delighted to present some sensory items for the children at Spring Common Academy.
The sensory bags will be used for the classroom and the bubble tube for the sensory room, which is a quiet safe place for children.
Although Spring Common is a SEND school, they still need lots of sensory items to meet the individual needs of the children and Dreamdrops is delighted to support this.
Photo: Christine Luckham and Ms Grieg, Head Teacher, Spring Common Academy
Dreamdrops Pottery day
You can only wonder what an archaeologist would conclude, if in years to come, they ever excavate the site of the Dreamdrops pottery experience day and discover the many artefacts that can be ascribed to Dreamdrops history.
Ten budding Dreamdrops Clay Modellers, divided into two groups, let their imaginations run wild and channelled their creative flares, to form some of the finest clay ornaments (yet to be discovered).
Under the watchful tutoring of Richard Cranwell, Liz Deeks, and Romayne Brown – Anglian Potters, lumps of innocuous clay, were transformed to life as they took on shape, colour, and expression in what can only be described as a phenomenon of metamorphosis!
The pictures say it all!
Pip Winser and Pauline Rawlings of the Dreamdrops Committee said “This has been a phenomenal day and a fantastic experience for the Collin’s Club. Can we look forward to our own exhibition next?
“We are very grateful to Potclays for sponsoring the air-drying clay used for the event and Richard and Kate Cranwell for hosting the day.”
Collage:
Top left in pink top – Aimee Bradshaw
Top right in yellowy top – Noah Morris
Middle left – either Evie or Autumn Stewart and Emily Quail.
Bottom left – Evie and Autumn Stewart with Emily Quail at the back
Bottom right – Emily Quail
A new year, a new group, a new adventure!
Treading a well-worn path of angling adventure, eight members of the Dreamdrops ‘Collins Club,’ had the opportunity to experience mixed match coarse fishing at the notorious match angling venue – Rookey Waters, Fen Road, Pidley, Cambridgeshire, owned and operated by Alex Bates.
Facilitated by the Fly-Fishing Academy and their band of familiar instructors, they were invited on Saturday 6th July 2024, to what was for many, their first ever fishing experience.
As normal, Richard and Phillipa Winser were ably assisted by angling legends Roger Adams, John Clark, Ginnette Waters and Richard Frood, as they embarked on yet another gruelling session of demanding concentration, all in pursuit of angling goals. For some, this would be catching their first fish but for others, it could be any number of things – fishing is so much more and full of complex challenges.
Richard commented: “There are numerous reasons why people go fishing; being in an outside environment, learning new things, doing things with their friends, or just finding nature. It brings together a complex spectrum of many skills. It is competitive but not just in a way where you compete against another; you are often competing and challenging yourself to set and excel your own personal ‘bests,’ and you never stop learning.”
Perhaps this is why there is a renewed emphasis on fishing within ‘social prescribing’ or to enrich school curricular activities?
Having braved persistent rain at the start, the day consisted of two parts, with a break for lunch and incorporated a traditional light-hearted competition.
Certificates were awarded for the Angling Skills Activity Award (Bronze – participant level) with many other notorious prizes, most notably; first fish to Jack, last fish to Noah, prettiest fish – a beautiful ‘ghost’ carp to Nathan and largest fish – a fantastic mirror carp to Aimee.
Now in its fifth year, the Dreamdrops Fishing Programme has enabled so many local children to be immersed in angling as a canopy to core skills such as problem solving, communication, working with others, resilience and having massive amounts of fun!
Chris Luckham, Chairman of the Dreamdrops Charity said:” “For me, it has been one of the major highlights of Dreamdrops. Seeing children who are often sidelined by most people, suddenly come into their own and be happy and feel valued. You simply cannot put a price on that. If I had not seen it for myself, I would never have thought that it would be possible.”
Dreamdrops were successful in being awarded grant funding, from the Get Fishing Fund (in conjunction with the Angling Trust and The Environment Agency), where money generated from the sale of Environment Agency Rod Licences is awarded to good causes.
This has enabled the acquisition of fishing tackle for the charity and facilitated days like this.
For the second year running, Richard and Phillipa will volunteer their time to coach on a one-to-one basis and take some of the nominated Dreamdrops group through a formal angling qualification.
Roll on the individual sessions…
Collage:
- Ella receives her certificate (one of two Dreamdrops participants), who will now undertake a wider angling award with one-to-one tuition
- A very proud Malcolm
- Nathan receives his certificate
- Nathan, winner of the prettiest fish category for his beautiful ghost carp
- Aimee and her mirror carp
- Nathan and his carp
- Mathew and his roach
- Joshua and his certificate (one of two Dreamdrops participants), who will now undertake a wider angling award with one-to-one tuition
- The Bradshaw Family in action
- Ella and Josh in action
1st Brington Scouts and a Piscatorial Pilgrimage to Bedfordshire
Eight scouts from 1st Brington Scout Group have recently had the opportunity to experience some of the country’s finest coarse and match fishing at Greensands Fishery near Sandy, Bedfordshire.
Enabled by the Dreamdrops Children’s Charity, who are part of Cambridgeshire Community Services NHS Trust, they were invited to their inaugural fishing experience event this year and immersed in a memorable piscatorial adventure!
As normal, Richard and Phillipa Winser were ably assisted by angling legends Roger Adams and Richard Frood, as they embarked on yet another epic day; introducing the scouts to the many skills, tactics and challenges of specialist coarse fishing – and optimising their collective experience to bring some sizeable carp to the bank.
Greensands Fishery is owned, operated, and managed by Chris Rose.
The fishery is infamous amongst coarse anglers, and is regarded as a top competition water, hosting many matches each week throughout the fishing season. Tuesdays tends to be the day when matches stand aside and allow group events, such as ours, the opportunity to fish there.
Richard commented: “We are very grateful to Dreamdrops and Chris for making this day possible, without doubt it will be one that will be remembered. The tactics we adopted from the outset were to employ two approaches; the first using elasticated whip poles to allow fine presentation to the fish and the second to target Carp specifically, using more specialist feeder techniques”.
It certainly paid off… if you took your eye off your rod for a split second, it risked it being towed off to the other end of the lake!
Rob managed to catch seven different species, the largest being a carp of around 4.5lb.
Jonny was justifiably proud of his Mirror Carp which weighed 5.5lb and was possibly the largest fish of the day. Followed narrowly by Maker with another Mirror Carp that weighed in just over 5lb.
The first fish of the day was claimed by Bailey, who also caught the first fish of the afternoon session, and a massive Common Carp of 5lb.
Not to be upstaged by the ‘Prettiest fish’ category, awarded to Martha who managed to catch a staggering 30 fish!
Finally, there was a tie for last fish of the day, awarded to Zac and Martha who both were in the process of landing a fish when the final whistle blew.
Sarah Fox, Scout Leader at 1st Brington said: “Our Scouts had a fab day trying something totally new to them, and as well as covering most of their Angler award, they also achieved their Personal Challenge award for being willing to try something totally different. One of our Scouts is from the Ukraine so nice to be able to offer them a relaxing experience and see a different aspect of our country.”
The Scouts have several badges that you can earn for activities you undertake; one of which is the Angling Activity Award Badge.
Dreamdrops were successful in being awarded grant funding, from the Get Fishing Fund (in conjunction with the Angling Trust and The Environment Agency), where money generated from the sale of Environment Agency Rod Licences is awarded to good causes.
This has enabled the acquisition of fishing tackle for the charity and facilitated days like this.
For the second year running, Richard and Phillipa will volunteer their time to coach on a one to one basis and take some of the nominated Dreamdrops group through a formal angling qualification.
They have probably also been talked into assisting the scouts complete the remainder of their Angling Award Badge…!?!
Phillipa said: “Last year we had remarkable success and Ammie, Jack and Shay have now completed the Angling Skills Activity Award through Dreamdrops. It really was tremendous fun, and we are looking forward to getting started with the new group of participants this year – all very exciting.”
Photos:
- One – Bailey watches her Feeder Rod for the next sign of a fish – Greensands1
- Two – Maker (and Roger Adams) with his 5lb Mirror Carp – Greensands2
- Three – Jonny helps unhook a Mirror Carp – Greendands3
- Four – Connie and Martha admire one of their many fish – Greensands4
Huntingdonshire Philharmonic – amazing end to their season!
Dreamdrops were lucky to be able to attend the final concert of the season held by the Huntingdonshire Philharmonic on Saturday 29th June 2024.
Pauline Rawlings, Dreamdrops Committee Member said: “The performance of Carmen, was wonderful, the music, the full Choir and youngsters from the school made for a memorable evening. With talented soloists from the Opera world.
“We were able to hold a small raffle for Dreamdrops and we raised £84 supported by the audience. Thank you all, for a wonderful evening and your continued support.”
Dreamdrops chosen as the Mayor of Huntingdon’s Charity of the year for 2024/25
Thank you to newly elected Mayor of Huntingdon, Cllr Karl Brockett, for choosing Dreamdrops as one of his chosen charities for 2024/25.
We are incredibly grateful for his support and partnership in helping us to provide those little extras to local children and their families.
We are excited to work together and to be able to make a positive impact in our community.
£500 Grant
G
reat news!
Dreamdrops have be awarded a £500 grant from Huntingdon Town Council.
This grant will be used to support emotional well-being in schools in Huntingdon.
St Peters School Visit
Dreamdrops were delighted to visit St Peter’s School in Huntingdon, to meet with the Year 9 students as part of their Supporting Local Charities’ event.
The students were able to find out more about the incredible work the charity does to support local families and the community and how they could be involved in volunteering.
Huntingdonshire Philharmonic raise £100 for Dreamdrops
Thank you to the Huntingdonshire Philharmonic for a truly wonderful evening of music; Elgar, Rachmaninov Verdi, and Mascagni’s Cavalleria Rusticana.
A full house enjoyed fabulous music, and Dreamdrops were happy to have their bucket collection at the end of the evening raising over £100.
The next performance will be the music and Opera of Carmen – something to look forward to.
Thank you to everyone involved.
Easter Egg Donations
Lynn, Community Champion for Tesco Extra Huntingdon
A big thank you to Tesco Extra Huntingdon for donating 24 Easter eggs, the Bradshaw family and Pauline Rawlings for donating 10 eggs each.
These will be given to local children under the care of the community nursing team and the complex care team, making Easter Eggstra special this year. 😊
Donation to Riverside Meadows Academy
Dreamdrops were delighted to support the Riverside Meadows Academy, St Neots, with a donation to support children’s emotional well-being in school.
The recent donation consisted of a sensory voyager, tactile tiles and bean bags for their calm room and library area.
Christine Luckham, Chairman of Dreamdrops said: “On a recent visit to the school we asked the students what would help them when they felt overwhelmed. Their response was fairy lights and a quiet area to sit and feel calmer. We hope this donation helps”.
Over £1,000 raised at our first Quiz night of the year!
Everyone had a great night at the Dreamdrops quiz evening on Friday the 9th of February at the Coneygear Centre in Huntingdon and we were pleased to be joined by the Deputy Mayor Karl Brocket and his wife Julie.
The quiz night also had a raffle with donations from the Mayor of Huntingdon and the Deputy Mayor, as well as from Naturally Social our sponsor for the evening.
12 splendid teams took part in the quiz which was well presented in a light-hearted way by our quiz master of the evening Mr Nigel Appleton.
Dreamdrops were also able to present Claire Heseltine, Riverside Meadows Academy in St Neots with three laptops courtesy of Wiltshire Digital Drive a non-profit Community Interest Company (CIC). Wiltshire Digital Drive and Naturally Social were instrumental in guiding the Dreamdrops laptops for school project during lockdown as well as hand-made lap blankets and book cushions for their calm room and library area.
Natalie Luckham from Naturally Social said: “What a successful evening and great fun too! A huge well done to everyone involved and thank you for the opportunity to support you through this sponsorship. As a business, we look to resource the difference makers in the world and Dreamdrops does just that. They make an enormous difference to the lives of so many children and young people in their community. Keep up the amazing work!”
Christine Luckham, Dreamdrops Chairman said: “A huge thank you to the Dreamdrops committee for all their help in setting up and for a highly successful evening. We raised a whopping £1,009! The fundraising will help this year’s project which is supporting children with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) that are in mainstream schools.
“Over 13-15% of children in our local area with SEND are in mainstream schools. The aim is to help with resources that are not funded by education but are vital to support the emotional wellbeing of children.”
Please visit our donations and fundraising page if you would like to support Dreamdrops this year.
Pictured: Deputy Mayor Karl Brocket and Christine Luckham, Dreamdrops Chairman
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