CoCo Blog

East Town Park, Haverhill 8 Apr 2021 at 11:43 Start Coco care East Town Park, Haverhill 8 Apr 2021 at 11:43

Brilliant morning today enjoying our first of four karate sessions. Everyone tried really hard participating in a good warm up, practising punches and kicks. Really felt like we had worked hard!

Today we did some dramatic exercises, including improvisation in the morning and reenacting a famous movie scene in the afternoon. By the end of the day we were old pros at acting, both from a script and from our own imaginations!

Today we went shopping for our sensory film. We got to try pork dumplings for one of the short films, picked out some sensory items to use to make some props for the film. In the afternoon we had a look at the films and got some ideas if what

This morning we decided we needed comfort food as the weather was so bad, so we made flapjack and chose what fruit we wanted by tasting all the options. Then we went to Braintree for lunch followed by a game of bowling. After bowling we came back to Milestone for

This morning we went to Walton, geared up in full waterproofs and braved the weather! We had a great walk across the Naze but got rather soggy! We then warmed up with a hot chocolate at lunch and headed back to CoCo for a movie afternoon!

Today we went to Sudbury to have a wander around some charity shops, working together to find them and decide which ones to have a browse in. This afternoon we went for a lovely walk in Belle Vue Park and had fun on the outdoor gym and some swings. We

We ventured to Lakeside today to check out the upside down house. We were a little unsure at first but after a while we found it hilarious. We went upstairs by going downstairs ! After lunch we had a game of golf in Puttshack. It’s all very technical in there

We got a special tour of the museum today and also got up close and personal to Basil and Percy, two recently retired race horses. We all had a go on the jockey simulator, with speed 1 being a slow walk, up to 5 a fast gallop of 40mph. We

Today we got ourselves down to leisure world for a swim in the leisure pool. We swam, socialised and enjoyed the warm spa pool. After lunch we pumped some iron in the outdoor gym at Castle Park, before finishing the day with a Pooh Sticks competition.

Today we went to Chelmsford central park for a game of Basketball, two team captains chose the teams and we began. A 45 minute game was had. After lunch we had an hour of clip and climb, some of the group made it to the top as you can see

Sports Adventure 2 and Developing Indepence 3 joined forces today. We went for a walk in Castle Park, followed by lunch and bowling, we also had time for a boogie in the afternoon. Nice day had by all.

After a morning bowling at Braintree Village, we enjoyed a long lunch at Prezzo which lasted until it was time to travel back to Milestone. We discussed our plans for March while we finished lunch off with a hot drink – this month we are going to experience some of

This morning we went to a spring wreath workshop at Hobby craft. We enjoyed choosing all the different decorations for our wreaths and then assembling them. We then enjoyed a late lunch at Toby carvery before coming back to CoCoCare for games and music.

 

 

This morning we enjoyed a splash around at Crown pools. Followed by a visit to burger king for lunch which we thoroughly enjoyed. This afternoon we started working on our DIY ukuleles.

PP2 had a lovely morning doing soundboard. We enjoyed using the ocean drums and the different textured items in the bird in the woods song. In the afternoon we had lots of fun trying all the different afternoon tea foods at tiptree. We are all very full now. 😂

Today we visited the Escape Rooms as part of our research into games design. We managed to escape the brig and return with treasure and map with one whole second to spare! We loved it and want to experience the other themed rooms on another occasion – maybe Harry Potter,

This morning we had a group discussion about e safety and staying safe on the world wide web. We are working towards our Gateway Qualification. We chatted about different scenarios that we could find ourselves in from dealing with internet trolls to learning new computer language. We then went to

Today we braved the cold weather for a trip to the Centre for Computing History in Cambridge. We really enjoyed exploring all the technology, and having fun on some classic games. We loved the classic Centipede game (when we could prise Maria away from it…) and the PlayStation 1.

We ventured to this museum today in Suffolk. We found the kitchens and homes of yesteryear interesting and a good talking point of how things have changed. A lovely big museum with great grounds, over 75 acres with lots of interesting things to see. We will be back in the

Today we took part in a music workshop at Snape Maltings. We worked alongside another group to help make up a song and enhanced the song with drums and shakers. We were able to use our signing knowledge within the song. We finished the afternoon with a warming hot chocolate

Today we worked to finalise our PowerPoint presentation projects before showing them in the next couple of weeks. In the afternoon we continued our coding project, with some of us now learning the rudiments of computer game design!

Today CCE traveled to Ipswich and visited recreate. We found lots of lovely things for us to make, got lots of ideas and liked speaking to the staff in the shop. We had a lovely afternoon recreating and have lots more to do over the next few weeks.

Seeing as it’s Shrove Tuesday today, we decided to have some fun with pancakes! We all made our own pancake mix and then took turns in cooking them and seeing if we could flip them in the pan. We then chose our toppings and enjoyed eating our creations. In the

Today we visited the lovely people at Freedom 4 U in Walton on the Naze to see what it’s like to spend the day using a wheelchair or mobility scooter. We had a go travelling around the town, visiting the pier and finding somewhere comfortable to eat our lunch. We

We had a great swim this morning followed by a sensory session that included using our microphones as switches in the sensory room.

Today we combined groups and spent the morning perfecting our shooting skills in the rifle range! After lunch we got kitted out in our sumo outfits for some sumo wrestling! As you can see from the photos; not only were we sporty today, everyone had a fabulous time and a

What a great morning we spent at Lush in Colchester, with Daniella showing us how to make a Comforter Bubble Bar, trying out massage bars, Guess the Body Spray games (our favourite was So White, which smelled of apples) and creating our own rainbow fun products which we also had

Saturday squad decided what to make for lunch and walked to the shops. Even though we got a bit wet it didn’t dampen our spirits. We made chicken fajitas, cookies and chocolate orange cheesecake. Everyone worked really hard and afterwards we had eaten we washed up and had a chill.

Part 2. SCFT and PA joined forces today. In the morning some of the PA group cooked and some helped with the SCFT sensory film. It was really nice to see what PA thought of our sensory film. In the afternoon we joined up and had a pamper afternoon. We

SCFT and PA joined forces today. In the morning some of the PA group cooked and some helped with the SCFT sensory film. It was really nice to see what PA thought of our sensory film. In the afternoon we joined up and had a pamper afternoon. We had yummy

Today we went for a walk along the seafront in Felixstowe and had lunch in the pub. On the way back to Cococare we stopped off at B&Q to get some sandpaper for our ukeles. The last part of the day we did some sanding down and some one to

Despite the wind and the rain we had a lovely day today at the Royal Gunpowder Mills. We had a look in the exhibition, watched the Kaboom show, went on the trailer ride and did some experiments. Sorry there aren’t many photos, the weather was rubbish and we were having

Both groups joined forces today for a day of group decision making, cooking, sharing and working as a team. Firstly we all decided on our favourite pizza toppings, lists were written and ingredients purchased from the shop. We all had different elements to do on creating our pizzas, it looked

We had a jam packed day today. Ice skating at Chelmsford followed by slime making at Hobbycraft. We had great fun!

Today we popped over to Lauriston Farm to work with wool in their craft room. Everyone enjoyed one or more of the wool processes we tried – hand carding, drum carding, needle felting and weaving. We learnt that wool only comes from a sheep, how the tools and equipment is

Today we continued our work with Code Combat, and we are almost ready to move onto the next phase of our coding – gaming design! Then we took a break from our laptops this afternoon to visit Tiptree Jam Museum, before heading back to Milestone for afternoon tea.

We had a chosen craft to complete in the morning at our studio and then after lunch we went to the cinema to watch Dolittle. Our thoughts of the film, we all either gave it a thumbs up or said how much we liked it.

Today we joined Wellies On for their open day and had a try at welly wanging and even tried milking goats! We also had lots of cuddles with Lottie the lamb, Nettle the pygmy goat, lots of dairy goats, ducks, guinea pigs, horses and a firm favourite all round- BABY

We spent the morning milking goats and wellie wanging at butterfly lodge. The group also looked around the farm to see what was there, what a lovely place. After lunch at the Swan in Chappel we spent the afternoon at the railway museum checking what it has to offer, we

We spent the morning planning and choosing their recipes, ready for this afternoon Cookery session. Some set up the room and the rest went to do the ingredients shopping at Sainsbury’s. We all had recipes to follow, working hard in pairs to achieve great results. After a break and some

today we had a slight change of plans, going shopping for chocolate and bowling! We’ve become a dab hand at knocking over the pins and enjoyed our Cadbury’s pick and mix while we did so. It was a fun treat day!

Today we travelled to Suffolk and walked the gorgeous walk to Thorpeness. The group did the 4.2 mile round trip with lunch sandwiched in the middle. Lots of people were out and about making the same walk

We continued with our silk painting today, and some of us started making silk covered needle cases.

Today we went to the cinema to watch Sonic the hedgehog, to say we were excited is definitely an understatement. We then had lunch followed by exploring the shops at Freeport.

Today we began the daunting task of choosing and scouting locations for our upcoming movie. We brainstormed ideas in our groups in the morning and came up with a wide variety of places to seek out, then headed out to the beautiful village of Polstead in the afternoon to scout

Today we travelled to the studio and had lots of fun making valentine’s sensory jars. In the afternoon we made bath bombs. We like smelling the different scents before choosing which one to use for our bath bombs.

Today we spent the morning in Clacton and the afternoon in Ipswich looking for comic figures and movie merchandise.

Today we visited the Zoo, going to several different areas that we hadn’t been to. We saw several of the animals being fed and of course we had to go and see the Tigers and their cubs who were having an afternoon nap!

Today we’ve made some sweet treats for the people we love, including white chocolate and apricot truffles, heart shaped lemon shortbread and badam bhurfi – an Indian almond, cardamom and pistachio fudge. We’ve worked really hard and all of our treats looked delicious – particularly when put in the gift

Today we escaped the weather and went to Braintree. We had pool tournament in Namco at first. After lunch we had a choice of 2 films to watch at the cinema, most of us chose Dolittle and some chose Bird of Prey. Great reviews after following a discussion on both

This afternoon we started work on making our own CoCoCare version of Guess Who? Two teams used different materials in order to see which ideas worked best. One team spray painted their boards and used tape, cocktail sticks and plastic tubing to pivot the cards, while the other team started

This morning we visited B&Q (other DIY superstores are available but a local home-based store didn’t have what we needed!) to buy materials and equipment towards our board game designs. More to follow later …

After settling the fish in to the tank we went to jump Street to let off some energy.

This morning we headed over to Betta Aquatics to buy some more fish to add to our tank! We got 10 Neon Tetras, 4 Cherry Shrimp and a stunning Siamese Fighter Fish!

Today we trekked off to Billericay. We explored all the little independent shops and spent time with the lambs that were indoors. On the way back to CoCoCare we stopped at a pub for a warm desert and escape the cold.

Today we had a jaunt off to Namco Funscape for a game of bowling, which the guys organised and ran themselves. In the afternoon we trundled back to Milestone to continue working on our golf course made out of repurposed materials.

Today we carried on with our volunteering with CBH. We changed the groups around a little so half gardened for the elderly residents whilst the other half of our group planned, shopped, prepped and cooked the brunch club. Really positive feedback from the residents. Some of us even cooked things

This morning CCE enjoyed one of the crafts chosen by one of the group. We did a unicorn craft box. Even though it wasn’t everybody’s cup of tea, everyone found something they liked about it. In the afternoon we did Valentine’s crafts we made candles, cards and dressed our gift

Today we carried on with our healthy eating project. We looked at fresh food versus processed food and, as we often do, managed to work in a taste testing! The pomegranate seeds and calamari both proved popular. We also planned our trip out next week – a treasure trail hunt

Today we enjoyed multi sports at Milestone, especially kurlling . This afternoon we went to White Dragon Archery and shot some zombies! Great fun!

SA2 had a valentine’s themed day. We enjoyed sensory trays, with different items to explore texture, smell and taste. This afternoon we relaxed with a valentine’s themed Tac Pac and felt very relaxed and chilled.

This morning we travelled to Dance East in Ipswich to look at the wonderful Dangerous Pockets exhibition organised by local artist Paula MacGregor. Paula visited us at the end of last year to help us make our own pockets and we were thrilled to see them hung alongside the many

Today we headed to the zoo for the day, we enjoyed looking at all the animals.

Sensory Craft – did some moving around to music first thing. We then traveled to Freeport and enjoyed a drink in the cafe. Next we did some shopping for a future session and got some ideas. We had tea, some nice fragrances and finished by picking out some chocolates. Nice

This morning we had a cooking session in which we cooked spaghetti bolognese, it was delicious. This afternoon we used ICT, we played games on the computer and even set up the microphone. Our new photobook arrived this week so we also enjoyed looking through our pictures.

We are coming up with some great ideas for our board games, from a sensory around-the-world game to horror and football inspired games. We are so lucky to have the Dice & a Slice cafe at the studios – we’ll never get stuck for ideas!

What a beautiful day it’s been today! We headed off to Walton on the Naze for a swim today, though we stopped at the Naze to stretch our legs. It was really warm and sunny! We had a great time sploshing about in the pool too!

Today we went to the Trop Shop in Ipswich and chose our fish! We then went to Cult Cafe to make our final decisions on fish and do some work for our gateway. Afterwards we went back to the Trop shop, picked up the fish and acclimatised them to their

This weekend is going to be birthdays for two of our group, so we decided to celebrate. The birthday pair decided on a day of bowling, McDonald’s and some arcade fun ! What a fun day had by all

After a busy morning cooking PP2 enjoyed having some choosing time and a sensory film.

This morning we chose what we wanted to cook for lunch, we all voted for a roast dinner. We went shopping for the ingredients, we then explored them with our senses, tasting and touching the different textures. We enjoyed eating the meal best!

This morning we continued our Grand Tour by experimenting with Chinese brushes, pens and ink. We had to work fast to create our paintings but we found the traditional ink took a long time to prepare and required a lot of patience.

Today we completed worksheets on different devices that are used and the accessibility of the internet on them. We then had a group discussion on internet safety scenarios. After lunch we had a laugh and joke with a round of adventure golf, Bear Creek at Rivenhall.

Today SCR took part in Essex wildlife Trust’s Big Beach Clean at Walton. We enjoyed the beautiful sunny weather and collected lots of rubbish!

Today CCE finished decorating our note books by decoupaging them. We also looked at some ideas for further activities.

Today our two sports groups got together to go wild at the Wick! We enjoyed finding wildlife in the pond with our guide Kirsty, finding caddis fly nymphs, mayfly nymphs, water boatmen, hog lice and much more! We then had a lovely lunch, explored the site and had fun bird

Another busy days volunteering today. The group gardened with some of the CBH gardeners whilst the other group prepared brunch club. The residents have been really thankful for the work done in the garden, it really does look a great deal better. After the green fingered gardening we all went

Today we had a walk at Hylands park and a session at Back Yrd golf.

This morning we went to Jumpstreet for the first time as a group. We all loved it! Very tired now though

Today we finished off our paintings from last week and started preparations for silk painting. We ironed the silk to freezer paper to stabilise it, then drew our design onto the silk ready for next week. Then, to celebrate completing our healthy Self-Care January, we popped along to Kaspas.

Looks like everyone had a great day today. Take a look at the photos for the full story!

Today we went to Kingsland to join their family fun day. We enjoyed the photo booth and bouncy castle. This afternoon we went to town for some lunch before heading back to do some Karaoke. It was a great laugh.

Today we traveled to Greenwich and went on the cable cars. Everyone did really well of facing their fears. So many things to see!

Today we headed to Colchester Zoo, we had an absolutely amazing day! The tiger cubs we’re the group favourite. We learnt the makaton signs for the different animals as we went around. Really positive day.

Today we continued building our crazy golf course out of repurposed materials (and a LOT of brown paint…). It’s coming along nicely. In the afternoon we went out to enjoy a spot of fresh air and a Slice of Victoria sponge at Abberton Reservoir.

Today we celebrated Chinese New Year by creating paper Chinese lanterns. We had a guest facilitator who was patient, acted on advice and managed her students and support workers well. We made and decorated some great lanterns. This afternoon we visited Colchester’s Natural History Museum, where we listened to stag

PP2 used the public bus to travel to the Princess Charlotte for lunch. We really liked traveling on the bus. It was a different way of traveling. We had lunch in the pub and chose what we wanted for lunch. For the rest of the afternoon we chose what music

Today we worked through 2 learning objectives from our Gateway qualification, Researching Leisure Activities. We used laptops and had group discussions as well as some worksheets. After lunch we went to Clacton for some arcade fun !

This morning we headed out to Braintree for a session of clip and climb. We all gave it a go even though we were nervous. We had a great time! We then took a stroll at Great Notley. Now heading back for our afternoon session.

Today we went off to the museum to try and learn more about communication methods, internet and e safety. We spent the morning discussing this as a group. After lunch we all had time to explore the different computers, consoles and what the museum has to offer. We all spent

Today two of our groups joined forces and descended on sunny Clacton. Because our stunning new fish tank is ready to go we went to see all the beautiful fish and aquatic beasties that we can populate it with. We really loved watching them all. After that we had a

Were combined groups today and set about designing and building the first hole of out adventure golf course. We designed, shopped and built. To stretch our tired muscles we finished with some yoga.

Today CCE chose and designed our book covers. Most of us decided to paint and enjoyed mixing the colours. Others choose to decoupage and use stencils. In the afternoon we made Chinese new year dragons.

The group started the brunch club today. Ideas were taken from the residents from what they would like to munch in their lunch club ! We did some shopping and then got cooking. We took the orders and then got serving munch. A day of gardening in the grounds and

Today we returned to Chelmsford to take part in the activities that we researched and planned two weeks ago. We played Backyard Golf in the morning, then headed to Subway to buy lunch for a picnic in the park. Then we bought some cookies and headed back to Cococare for

It was the last session in our Self-Care month, and we relaxed with some painting. After putting together our easels, we were inspired by the work of Monet (apart from one of us, who chose Manet instead, a different Impressionist painter.) We started by covering the whole canvas with a

Today we looked at healthy meals, we decided to make Lasagne with a side salad. We tasted and smelt all the different ingredients before assembling our tasty dish. It was delicious, and we all cleared our plates. This afternoon we made some smoothies, and watched a film. Some of us

this morning we did a deep dive on the camera work, colours and characters for our upcoming movie project – all neatly split into three different film genres. It’s going to be a blockbuster… This afternoon we began preparations for a new project, one that will flex ALL of our

Today we celebrated Chinese New year, we made dragon masks, tried lots of new foods and made our own fortune cookies.

Blurb to follow….

This morning we enjoyed soundboard. We sang a few regular songs and some new ones. Everyone was really engaged. Sensory story photos to follow.

This morning we headed to Braintree for a game of bowling, everyone did really well. There’s been lots of interaction & communication! Now having a spot of lunch before we head off for our next activity.

Personal Progress 3 have had a morning of artistic flair, making dragons and castles out of clay (as well as Jungle Book characters!). We got good and messy (and had a sneaky chocolate chip cookie when we had a break) before heading to Dice and a Slice for an afternoon

Today was chosen by one of our group and took the lead on cooking. Butter chicken curry and coconut rice and as an alternative home made burgers and sweet potato wedges. We wrote our shopping lists and went to buy the ingredients we needed. We all had our baskets and

This morning we visited Hollytrees Museum and then the Sip and Tuck Cafe where we drew on the tables in chalk and some of us sampled their delicious milkshakes. On the way back to the studio we spotted an art installation next to Firstsite – A Field for the Cultural

The sun was bright and the weather was glorious today, so off we went metal detecting along the idyllic beach on Mersea Island. We found around 80p in mixed coins and a bit of metallised twine! Ok, so it’s not pirate bullion, but we were excited to find things anyway!

CCE went to Hobbycraft today to pick out which craft they would like to do. We enjoyed looking round the shop for ideas and putting our personal stamp on our crafts.

We continued our project this week. After meeting more of the residents we got to work on clearing the paths so access was easy and safe for people. We were then invited to the day room for tea, slice of cake and a natter. After lunch we completed some of

We fitted a lot in today. Firstly, we packaged up our bath bombs that we made last week. They are perfect and still smell gorgeous. Then we had a look at a painting by Arcimboldo from 1590 that shows a man”s face made up of fruit and vegetables, and we

We enjoyed the sun today with a day at Walton. An exciting game of cricket on the beach, followed by fish and chips and then a walk at the Naze. Finished off with a drink in the EWT cafe. Lovely!

This afternoon we enjoyed a sensory session, we had hand massages and explored the different sensory items. We also enjoyed listening to music and having a stretch.

This morning we went to Braintree for a game of bowling. Everyone played well! Ready for food now 🙂

This morning we continued with our food diaries and began thinking about how much exercise we get in an average week. We also planned our trip to Chelmsford next Monday. This afternoon we made ourselves a vegan tasting menu to mark Veganuary, with wildly mixed results – the sausages and

Today we took a road trip into the heart of London to visit the National Theatre, where we got up close and personal with costumes from over 40 years of stage shows. Then we visited the theatre’s set design exhibit – we were amazed by how detailed the set models

Today we went to Jump street Chelmsford, lots of energy burned off. Then we spent the afternoon looking through some of our photo’s and organising them into a Photobook!

This morning sensory craft enjoyed getting messy. We choose different materials to decorate our bags and canvas.

We travelled out to the famous Jimmy’s Farm today to have a look at the animals. We enjoyed seeing the chickens, meerkats, goats and kangaroos, and spent a while in the bird house watching the crocodiles and the turaco (a really colourful bird). There was a kookaburra hiding somewhere too

Today we went to Barleylands Farm, we looked around at all of the animals, had a go at feeding them, went on a very bumpy tractor ride and had a great day! We all loved the animals but some of us were rather taken with the mini tractors and pedal

Most of the group had not been to Cambridge so it was nice to go somewhere new and to go to the Zoology Museum. We looked around both floors and checked out all the amazing displays there. Some of the creatures are now extinct sadly. Afterwards we discussed our favourite

Today we went to Colchester Zoo. We enjoyed looking at the red pandas and loved looking at the tiger cubs. They were really sweet. We also got to feed the giraffes. We had a really lovely day.

This afternoon we started doing the research towards our own board game by, yes, playing board games. 😃 We also asked Rob and Annabelle from the Dice & a Slice cafe some questions about board games. We discovered that the cafe has over 600 games, and that the most popular

This afternoon we started doing the research towards our own board game by, yes, playing board games. 😃 We also asked Rob and Annabelle from the Dice & a Slice cafe some questions about board games. We discovered that the cafe has over 600 games, and that the most popular

This morning we updated our Working in Art and Design scrapbooks with photos, leaflets and information about our trip to the William Morris Gallery that we visited before Christmas. We agree with William Morris when he said “Have nothing in your house that you do not know to be useful,

This morning we had a practice of our radio presenting skills, as well as interview and listening skills and broadcasting standards. We enjoyed listening to music and deciding whether it was appropriate to broadcast those songs on various shows. In the afternoon we practiced our computer coding skills through Code

Continuing the excitement of our new fish tank, SCR had their turn at making tealight aquariums, our fishing competition and our carrot and hummus fishing snack game! In the afternoon we headed over to Swallow Aquatics to look at fish that we will be adding once the tank is ready!

Today we escaped the weather by watching the movie version of Cats at Braintree cinema. We had a sing song in the cinema to the songs we knew whilst watching on the big sceeen. On discussion afterwards we all said that we liked it.

Today we had the exciting task of setting up our very own fish tank with Peter from Riverwood Aquatics! He helped us build and aquascape our tank, he also answered all of our questions for us. We had lots of fish themed game and crafts! More to come on our

Today we braved the windy weather to travel to Felixstowe to try our hand at kite flying. Most of us hadn’t tried it before but we did really well (though we had lots of funny crashes too!) Some fun running around with our kites we had our lunch on the

Today CCE chose which recipe to cook from the cooking books. Half of us went to buy ingredients and the others worked on Chinese New year crafts. Over lunch we got to look at our new fish tank. In the afternoon we made and tasted our chosen recipes.

We started our volunteer project today with a service in Colchester. We met the manager, wardens and some residents, they even got some cake and biscuits ! We had a chit chat in the day room to start to get to know one another. The residents gave us a tour

Had a great day today at Holywells Park and then had a mad hour toboganning! Thrills and spills enjoyed by all!

Today we continued with our activities towards self-care month. We made bath bombs which we coloured with food colouring and added lavender and rose petals, as well as essential oils so they smell gorgeous. This afternoon we took part in another yoga session which stretched and relaxed us.

Today we went swimming and enjoyed having a splash around. This afternoon we made some smoothies which were thoroughly enjoyed!

This morning we headed out for a game of bowling. We had a great laugh, it was a close game!

Started thinking about our movie today and practised with cameras.

Today our group ventured to Chelmsford by train. They independently bought their tickets and found which platform we needed; then took charge by searching the local area for facilities and activities we would like to do in the future.

This morning Sensory Craft went to Sainsbury’s to buy cheese and wine to taste. We got a really nice different selection and really enjoyed tasting them. To finish of the day we relaxed in our Tac Pac session.

Today we headed to Ipswich for a swim, everyone loved it and we were all very happy and relaxed. Sorry there are no photos today.

This morning we visited First Site to see Anthony Gormley’s Field for the British Isles, which we enjoyed drawing in our sketchbooks. Back at the studio, we created our own version, Field for CoCoCare from air-drying clay. Our models are all individuals, just like us!

We kicked off the new year with a morning of planning and researching working towards our gateway qualification. We used the laptops to search the web, made telephone conversations and sent emails. After lunch we went to Tiptree Jam Museum and tea room for a tea and scone, yummy .

This morning we got a bit wind swept walking along the pier. We enjoyed lunch at the end of the pier. In the afternoon we had fun in the arcades.

Today we stayed out tooth brushing project. We all made progress in our own way. We had a game of ocean bingo, to keep us excited about the arrival of our new fish tank next week and the really enjoyed letting of steam at jump street!

This morning we indulged ourselves at Costa enjoying a refreshing drink. This afternoon we headed to the arcade to play on the slots. We won a grand total of 414 tokens.

We started the day with a bit of spice making enchiladas with a choice of fillings – spicy barbecue beans, roasted tomato and pepper fajita and crispy chicken. We all made our own filled by mix, wrapped and topped our enchiladas and enjoyed tasting them – we decided the fajita

Today we got creative and innovative. We went to Hobbycraft in the morning and all chose our craft of choice. We had our own budget and took charge of our own shopping baskets (they were on wheels which made shopping easier !!) In the afternoon we were at our studio

Today we had a whale of a time trying out Bck Yrd Golf on Chelmsford river front. We really enjoyed looking at all the quirky obstacles, all made out of recycled materials – particularly the bath tub ball pit! To finish the day we went for a look around Chelmsford

CCE have been really busy today. We sanded and painted our pictures frames. We started looking at colours, starting with primary colours. In the afternoon we went to Poplar nurseries to look round and get ideas for things to make. Well done CCE.

Again, another group had the traditional CoCo bbq today. We really enjoyed the play equipment and the bbq was delish! Well done everyone!

Today we did some gardening around milestone. We all had our chosen jobs and got stuck in. After our tea break we did a tip run and came back to finish gardening. We cleared out the little rockery and mowed the grass at the front. Busy day ! To finish

In the CoCo tradition, we started the new year with a Bbq at Thetford. It was a beautiful day. We messed around on the play equipment for a bit before cycling. Really impressed with the progress of a certain young man on a two wheeler! Well done everyone, great to

Today our Developing Independence continuing exploring our healthy eating module. We started our food diaries, then spent the afternoon trying out our very own smoothie recipes (the swede wasn’t as successful as we thought it might be!).

This morning we went ice skating in Chelmsford, we all loved being back on the ice! Great first day back.

This afternoon we continued with Self-Care month. Firstly we thought about our anxieties and the sort of things that make us angry. We wrote these things down on post-it notes and then tore them up into tiny pieces. Then we thought about the sort of things we could do to

This morning back, after a healthy fruity breakfast, we created some digital art on the Tate Gallery website. We played art games and took part in quizzes that tested our knowledge of art.

This morning back, after a healthy fruity breakfast, we created some digital art on the Tate Gallery website. We played art games and took part in quizzes that tested our knowledge of art.

Fantastic Christmas party for our last day before Christmas. Everyone pulled together peeling veg, making table decorations and creating delicious desserts. There were films, Sensory play, singing, dancing and games. It was a real celebration of everything CoCo! Have a fabulous Christmas and a happy new year and see you

Today we had fun at the zoo, looking at Santa’s Reindeer, exploring the enchanted forest and successfully navigating the snowflake maze. We saw meerkats and sealions, along with lots of other animals.

Today we had Christmas early in Ipswich ! We visited the international Christmas market, very festive and fun ! We then had a game of bowling in the Buttermarket followed by Christmas snacks on the quay, a fun way to end 2019 for our group

Tuesday 17th December, Cococare Lazer Tag – today we combined groups and went to Bury st Edmunds. The groups started out at Moyes Hall Museum and completed the Star Wars theme secret hunt, we all found the figures ! Then we went over to Planet Lazer for 2 games of

CCE went to the winter wonderland at St John’s garden centre in Clacton. We had a lovely trip on the train and met Father Christmas. We had a festive drink in the cafe and a look round at all the Xmas decorations. Lovely day had by all.

What a fantastic day today! Our Christmas treat day. We had a high speed, exhilarating trip on the North Sea. We wrapped up warm, stepped into our waterproofs and gently made our way up the river towards the open sea. Once there the throttle opened and we jumped the waves,

Today we did some Christmas baking and chose some festive treats to make; apple strudel and traditional stollen, influenced by our trip to a German market last week. We learnt some new techniques and had a lovely time whilst listening to some Christmas music.

This afternoon we took a stroll to the Princess Charlotte and had a lovely meal out for the last monday.

This morning we made Christmas wreaths to take home, we enjoyed smelling the dried fruit and cinnamon before constructing them.

This morning we watched 10 Sorry Tales, a dance show at Dance East in Ipswich. It was dark, weird and funny, and included the scary Pierce Sisters, a horse that stole buttons, a hermit, some beautiful butterflies and the story of the girl who collected bones. It was very clever

Today we made calenders, gingerbread houses and had a very chrismassy day!

Two of the group’s joined together and had a Christmas dinner party. Lots of delicious food! We than spent the afternoon making gingerbread houses and watching a festive film. Smiles all round 🙂

Today we went to the Mercury Theatre to see Cinderella. After the performance, we were lucky enough to go backstage to learn how all the magic works behind the scenes and also learnt a few tricks of the trade which we promised never to reveal! Then we all headed to

Today we visited Ipswich Art Gallery to look at the Art Forms in Nature exhibition, and sketched in our sketchbooks. After lunch at Burger King we walked back to the museum and learnt all about skeletons, ducking stools and wrote our names in Egyptian hieroglyphics. Apart from the rain it

Lovely day in Southwold today. We all particularly enjoyed the pier!

Today the group made calendars, choosing all the different pictures we wanted to stick on each month. We chose Disney films, cookies, handbags and Zayn Malik. We had a lovely day making our calendars while listening to Christmas music to get us the festive mood!

All groups went to see Aladdin at the Wolsey Theatre today and had an amazing time. We laughed, clapped and sang our hearts out! Afterwards we went back to CoCo and made crackers, ready for our Christmas dinner next week.

Today SA4 tried out our new metal detectors on the beach at Walton. We didn’t find any treasure today but we had great fun looking! In the afternoon we joined SA4 for yoga and meditation.

CCE made hot chocolate gifts. We made some biscuits in the morning and in the afternoon we decorated our jars and biscuits. They were delicious and of course we had to try some!

Today we went to Lakeside to do some Christmas shopping. We planned our way round like professional shoppers and were able to purchase all that we had set our minds on ! What a team. We even had time to try out the virtual reality sleigh. What a great day

Today we headed to Chelmsford for some BCK YRD GOLF. We had a go on the ‘Sid’ course first where we all found it funny to get in the bath! After lunch, we played the second course ‘Jack’ which liked the best because of all the UV street art. Back

Today DI3 enjoyed some Christmas retail therapy!

This morning we had a game of bowling at Braintree with plenty of spares and strikes being scored. After lunch we made Christmas biscuits which we decorated with plenty of icing and sprinkles and took home.

Today SA1 had a great swim at Crown Pools. We all really enjoyed ourselves and felt tired but refreshed afterwards. We went for lunch at our favourite cafe in Ipswich, Cult Cafe and had a few games of pool and planned some new sessions.

Today we hit the shops in Colchester to search for Christmas presents for family and friends. Then, as ladies-that-lunch, we spent the afternoon in Pizza Express.

We made some beautiful Christmas wreaths today, followed by bowling. We had a great day!

Today the PA group went into local charity shops to search for costumes for our characters we would like to play. We had a budget we had to stick by, and we found some interesting stuff! We then went back to Milestone to work through our back stories, which included

White chocolate tasting and Xmas Tac Pac today. We went to the shops to choose chocolate and yogurt to taste and to make our chocolateS. They where delicious. To finish the day we enjoyed Christmas Tac Pac. We loved the music and all the items to explore.

PP4 went to Ipswich to swim this morning and had great time, not really wanting to get out the water, loved wave machine. Returned to studio for lunch and made a Christmas card each.

PP1 went to recreate this morning and picked out items we wanted to use for our Christmas craft. We decide to turn what we brought into Christmas trees and gingerbread man. They looked just great. We also went for a walk around Lexden Grove when we had had enough of

DI1 had a chat about their festive mince pie gifts. They chose to check the recipe, make a list and head to the shops near Asda where they purchased ingredients and gift boxes from various stores. They all chose very different items and thoroughly enjoyed their trip, purchasing personal items

This morning we visited Santa, taking a ride on the train and seeing the reindeer relaxing before their busiest day of the year! In the afternoon we relaxed with some yoga and then made lots of noise with a sound board session, each choosing a song to sing.

We planned our day today with discussion, checking cupboards and writing shopping lists ready for this afternoon festive mince pie gifts. We headed to the local bargain shops and had a good mooch and walk in the sunshine. The group all chose their boxes and ribbons etc and worked in

This morning we looked at what fruits we would like to put in a smoothie. We all chose one from the large list that we wrote and went to Aldi to buy them. Back at CoCo, we cut all the fruit up to see what we liked and what we

Today the group had their meeting and finalized their volunteer plans for in and around Colchester. Volunteering starts in January, lots of really valuable work is planned. Compliments were given on how well the group engaged. Afterwards we got some fillers for our Christmas crackers and headed back to Milestone

CCE went to Hobbycraft this morning to choose which Christmas decorations they wanted to make. We chose hanging decorations and garlands. We liked the different textures and chose how we wanted to personalise them. Well done everyone.

Perfect day to explore Winter Wonderland in Hyde Park today, SA1a’s Christmas treat! We started off by visiting the ice sculptures. This year they were based on Dickens’ A Christmas Carol. To keep the sculptures from melting they keep the building at – 10°C! It felt lovely and warm when

Today we had great fun finding all the walk-through Christmas decorations at Freeport, we particularly liked the twinkling lights inside the giant Bauble. Because it was cold we warmed up with a nice hot chocolate. When we got back to CoCoCare we had a nice stretch and a bit of

Today we finished our paintings inspired by Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer. We had painted the background last week, and this week we used a metal cut-out of a stag”s head as a template to draw around. When we had the basic shape we painted it and added red noses

This morning we went to Bullbanks Farm to choose our Christmas tree, we chose the biggest we could find. A massive 11 feet tall. This afternoon we decorated the tree, danced and sang to Christmas music and did a Christmas overhaul.

Our annual celebration evening was a wonderful success. The Blue Meteors were as incredible as ever. Thank you Murray, Evelyn, Martin and John! But of course the stars of the evening were our customers. Presentations included gateway qualifications, food hygiene certificates, CoCoChallenge certificates and eight special awards for 2019. There

SCFT made Christmas tree garlands today. We chose and used lots of different textures to decorate them. We loved the different textures and had a lot of fun. They looked amazing. Well done everyone.

Today was the last rehearsal of our performance for celebration evening tonight. We spent most of the day perfecting our song ready for our debut later. We also started to brainstorm ideas for our CoCoCare movie and there were quite a few!! We’ll keep you posted throughout the film making

This morning we took a stroll through Hylands park, the sun was shining and we enjoyed the fresh air. This afternoon we went to jumpstreet and bounced all our energy away.

Today we went Christmas shopping. That’s all you need to know – top secret! Sorry can’t show you many photos of might give the game away…

PP1 enjoyed Mr Mulligan’s golf today. Everyone was very helpful and supportive of each other and had a really great time. Well done PP1.

This morning PP3 decorated our christmas decorations. We each had a wooden christmas tree which we painted different colours before moving onto baubles, snowflakes and trees which we all decorated in our own unique way! In the afternoon we visited Dice and a Slice for an afternoon of board games

This morning we carried on our work with digital media by diving into the world of coding. We’ve finished the first part of our training on the CodeMonkey app and will be exploring further in the weeks to come. The group has split in the last few weeks while we

This morning we headed to Ipswich crown pools for a swimming session. We enjoyed splashing around and we worked on our confidence in the water. This afternoon we did a spot of baking for tomorrow’s celebration evening. Hope to see you there! (sorry no pics today)

Today we braved the crowds at Lakeside to do some Christmas shopping, it was busy but there was a lovely atmosphere with carols playing and the decorations were all out. Great day !

This morning we played some communication based games and then represented the conversation through drawings. After lunch we headed to jump Street to burn off some energy before a relaxing yoga session.

SA3 went to Leisure World to attend Carnival Dance Class which they all participated fabulously in, out performed the staff. All would love to go again. Had lunch then relaxed in Aqua Springs, quick refreshment before walking through castle park to get the bus back to Coco. Great day had

CCE made some more Christmas decorations this morning and started our seasonal advert trees. In the afternoon we made candles and enjoyed smelling all the different scents.

A busy sporty day today, starting with a trip to Felixstowe for sports on the pier. We had a bowling tournament, followed by a basketball shootout, a skee ball competition and air hockey – we got so many prize tickets we were all able to get a prize from the

This week we continued our epic adventures on the DLR with a trip to Greenwich. We all enjoyed the train journey there, had a lovely lunch looking out of the Thames (which splashed onto the path and tried to wet our feet!) And had a look at the Cutty Sark,

Today we continued our mission on the District line. We solved the clues around Tower Hill and Monument. We are getting very comfortable on the underground and becoming more confident with tube maps. We chose a very nice bakery for lunch and had a great day.

CCC has watched Frozen 2 today. We loved it! We have one question for you. Do you want to build a snowman? In the afternoon we used inspiration from Frozen to paint our night sky background.

Today the PA group practiced our song ready for the Celebration Evening next Friday. Some of us have solos to sing so we all practiced out vocal warms ups with lots of different oooooo’s and mememe’s! After lunch we visited town to look at locations for our movie coming out

Sensory craft went to the Braintree Freeport to the cinema to watch Frozen 2. We all really enjoyed it. Guess who we met?

This morning we did some cooking, we made burgers and chips which were thoroughly enjoyed. This afternoon we went for a walk and a bit of fresh air before ending the week with a trip to the pub.

Today we started thinking about our Christmas party – it’s only a month away! We planned our party lunch, and thought about the games and activities we’d like to take part in. Then we got good and messy making props and game pieces out of recycled materials and poster paint.

Today we went to Colchester Zoo. As a group we chose a route around the zoo which incorporated all our favourite animals, such as the sun bears, elephants, lions and lorikeets. We also enjoyed creating our own dinosaurs and scanning them onto the interactive screen to be part of a

Today we travelled to Stonham Barns again in order to pick up the pottery items we painted on our previous visit. They look great! Then we went into the Suffolk Owl Sanctuary. We saw meerkats, rabbits, eagles and an angry buzzard as well as lots of owls, including the snowy

Today we went to Snape Maltings to take part in participate, a music workshop. We thought about Autumn and used instruments to make the noises heard during Autumn. We also made up our own song about the colours of Autumn after adding leaves we had decorated to a tree. We

Today we finally got to Mr Mulligan’s indoor golf, other groups have all said how good it, they were right ! We did the fairground course and we all really enjoyed it. Afterwards we braved the cold weather and hit the shops at Barleylands

Today we wended our merry way to Braintree for a game of bowling and a flutter on the 2p machines. Everybody got a great score on the bowling, and loads of tickets out of the 2p machines – we had a great time. Before we headed back to Milestone we

CCE made topiary trees and bath bombs. We chose and bought the flowers we wanted and everyone create there own design. In the afternoon we made bath bombs. We enjoyed all the different scents and everyone had a different favour

CCE made topiary trees and bath bombs. We chose and bought the flowers we wanted and everyone create there own design. In the afternoon we made bath bombs. We enjoyed all the different scents and everyone had a different favourite.

Today we continued researching local volunteering opportunities and discussed the reasons why we volunteer, what are the benefits for all concerned and outcomes. We then went to the pub for lunch and went to First Site for a look about. We ended the day admiring CoCoCare’s art exhibition at Level

Our PA group went to firstsite this afternoon to see the Peanut Butter Falcon. Everyone enjoyed this amazing film which was both funny and thought provoking. Catch it if you can, you won’t be disappointed!

While some of SA1 were completing their spy mission on the district line, the others were challenging themselves on the DLR. Really proud of what you achieved today.

Today DI3 went to Ipswich to take part in various challenges around Ipswich Town centre.

This morning we made a trip out to Hylands park in Chelmsford to try out the inclusive park. Everyone really enjoyed using the different play equipment and taking a stroll. A cheeky stop at Costa for lunch before we head back for the afternoon.

This morning we visited our inner space : outer space art exhibition at Level Best Art Cafe. It was great to see our work all displayed together. Then we walked over to Firstsite to look at Antony Gormley’s Field for the British Isles. Some of our feedback: “They are looking

Today some of SA1 went to London to experience tube travel. We started our treasure trail by traveling on the district line to Earls Court. We are very proud of the guys, some of whom had not had any experience of tube travel before and were very nervous at the

SCFT enjoyed cheese and wine, tasting (and smelling!). We went to the shops to have a look at the different cheeses and wine we could try. We came back with a nice selection and had a lovely afternoon tasting them. We also really liked the interactive floor.

We had a demonstration of the omi vista today. This is a system that responds to gesture and movement creating dynamic images on surfaces including floors, tables and wheelchair trays etc. We are hoping to be able to deliver more sensory IT experiences for our customers with pmld. We were

We combined groups today and half of us played a rousing game of Hockey while the other half of us made pizza, bread and butter pudding and crumble. Then this afternoon we all went bowling.

Today we visited the William Morris Gallery in Walthamstow to find out all about William Morris’ life and work. We discovered that he was a designer and craftsman, as well as a poet. He ran his own business Morris & Co that designed and produced wallpaper, furniture, stained glass and

Today we went to the Southend Sealife Adventure Centre. We all got up close and personal with the amazing sea and land creatures they have. Some of us were really taken with the red tailed catfish, he was stunning ! We learned about some of the creatures that were rescued

Don’t worry, there hasn’t been a big accident today! Fran and Ian are with St John Ambulance, completely their first aid at work.

Today we worked on our Gateway Qualification workbooks relating to volunteering, we also researched using the laptops. After lunch some of us tried Ninja Tag, we loved that ! The other half of the group went bowling, the strikes were coming thick and fast. We then had a volunteering plan

We went to Ipswich today and had a lovely drink in the Cult cafe where we also had a few games of pool and ate our lunch. We then walked to the Butter Market along the Waterfront where we had a couple of games of Ninja Tag. We all had

Today we had an exciting visitor – Paula MacGregor from the Dangerous Pockets community arts project. She explained where the idea for the project had come from, and read out a poem by Sharon Owens called Dangerous Coats, which starts: Someone clever once said Women were not allowed pockets In

This morning we went swimming at leisure world, we all loved it. This afternoon we started our Christmas string art – we’re really pleased with how they’re turning out!

This morning we headed out to play a game of bowling. This afternoon it was soundboard, we had a great day!

DI3 are beginning to look at diet and healthy eating, and for their first foray into planning their own meals and dishes they made cheesecake. It looks like they had an amazing time!

We had a wonderful evening tonight at Level Best for the preview evening of our art exhibition inner space : outer space. As always, really proud of what our amazing customers and staff can achieve. We are already buzzing with ideas for next year! The exhibition will be on display

45 minutes left to see our art exhibition at the preview evening. Come on down. There is still wine available!

Today we made advent calenders ready for Christmas, they were all unique and wonderful! This afternoon we had some sensory fun – mouldable foam was popular with all, we love to get messy.

Today the group kick started their next phase of gateway qualification. We spent the morning planning sections of our qualifications and the coming weeks. After lunch the group got messy making cakes for Cococares art exhibition.

SCR went to Cudmore Grove on Mersea for a beach clean and games. We took out litterpickers and had a look any rubbish lying around, but we have to say, it was quite clean. After lunch we played hoopla and enjoyed some parachute games, seeing how high we could get

PP1 went to Colchester castle today. We liked trying on all the different clothes and some of the more interactive items to look at. We went to the Swan in the afternoon to talk about other places we wanted to visit and things we wanted to do.

Delivering our artwork to Level Best Art Cafe. Looking forward to our preview evening tomorrow. Please come along!

Today we travelled to sunny Cambridge to explore the Centre for Computing History. We were all really excited to have a go on all the equipment, to try out some games and to see how technology has changed. Maria demonstrated some ninja-level skills on Centipede too. We all had a

This morning we put the finishing touches to our Space Junk artwork, just in time for hanging in our exhibition Inner Space : Outer Space. The exhibition opens at Level Best Art Cafe tomorrow – come along to our preview event from 5.30 to see what else we have been

inner space : outer space Eventbrite – CoCoCare presents inner space : outer space – Friday, November 8, 2019 at Level Best Art Cafe, Colchester, Essex. Find event and ticket information.

We had an adventure around Maldon today, taking in the last of the Autumn sunshine. We enjoyed the promenade and stopped for a hot chocolate to warm our fingers. The tea room we visited was on a boat, which was quite exciting! When we got back we all had a

Today we worked on our volunteer work books and discussed what volunteering means to us and the people we volunteer for. We chatted about different charities and opportunities and wrote down our thoughts and planned our next volunteer workshop. In the afternoon we went for a walk around Jimmy’s Park

CCE made 3d poppies. Everyone decided there own design. They are all individual, but amazing. We finished off our space items and started our seasonal trees.

CoCoCreatives have been putting the finishing touches to our artwork for the upcoming exhibition at Level Best Art Cafe. Don’t forget, it’s the preview evening this Friday from 5.30 till 8pm. We are looking forward to showing you all our ‘space’ related art. Most work is for sale and you’ll

This afternoon we did soundboard and sensory exploration. Everyone was really engaged and enjoyed the singing. Lots of smiles all round.

This morning we all went ice skating. Everybody loved it and we’re really engaged and laughing. It was a great morning

We had a lovely day exploring the Naze and finding the remains of its World War II heritage. We climbed up the Naze Tower to take in the beautiful views before lunch, then headed down to the beach for a spot of fossil hunting. At the end we looked at

This morning we went to the cinema and watched Abominable, everyone really enjoyed the film and have given good reviews. This afternoon we spent time in the studio finishing off our masterpiece for the art exhibition.

Today our wonderful support worker Maria graduated. After years of hard work she received her degree, with the Open University. We are very proud of you Maria!

SCFT 1st Nov. SCFT enjoyed soundbroad today. Everyone was really engaged, very responsive and had such a nice time.

CCE made spooky Halloween crafts. We made spooky bags, t shirts and pumpkins. Everyone was very pleased with what they made.

This morning we painted the background for our string art designs. After lunch we finished painting and started adding pins to our designs ready for the string. We also watched monsters university and had a few nibbles. Lots of laughs shared today

We had a fabulous halloween party today. I think the pictures speak for themselves!

Today we went on a pumpkin hunt at Beth Chatto Gardens and found all ten in order to claim a mini pumpkin! This afternoon we went to Mill Race Nursery and Aquatics to have a look at the different fish available ready for our very own fish tank.

Today we made beach art. After collecting our artifacts from Brightlingsea beach, it was cold ! We went to our art studio to compete our own sand and shell art.

It was a beautiful morning. We completed the spooky trail and had a detour into the walled garden, where some of us enjoyed rolling down the hill like 8 year olds! We won our small pumpkins before having lunch and then playing basketball. We were all incredibly tired at the

Today we carved and decorated our own pumpkins ready for Halloween. This afternoon we had cake and drinks celebrating a birthday.

Today the group jetted down the M11 to the Imperial War Museum – Duxford. We spent the day looking at our past and present aviation trimuphs and looking at our great RAF history. The group even tried VR headsets and walked through a Concorde plane !

We spent this morning making spooky biscuits: pumpkins, ghosts witches, skulls and bats galore. Hopefully they don’t taste too scary!

We did shop, cook, eat and switch work in the sensory room today. We chose which ingredients to put in for our mixed fruit crumble. And liked the different textures and smells. We spent some time in the sensory room and linked up the switches and microphone.

Today SA3 planned for future sessions before going out and playing foot golf! We decided that as we enjoyed foot golf so much we would stay and test our golf skills further by going to the driving range after lunch! Once we were all golfed-out we went back to Milestone

SCR spent the morning in Assington to plan our new fish tank. It is getting very exciting! They might have also sneaked a tasty breakfast in aswell at the farm cafe. Shhhh! In the afternoon they updated their scrapbooks.

Our group went to Colchester Zoo. We found animals and parts of the Zoo we had not seen before ! We even had mallard ducks join us for lunch. We got to see 4 of the big 5 today !

CCE made pumpkin bird feeders. We loved the textures and the smells. Everyone really enjoyed making them and worked really hard. Well done.

We had a really lovely walk in the sun in Hylands park this morning and had a play on their accessible adventure playground. Then this afternoon we went to Jump Street and bounced on the trampolines.

We had a competitive game of hockey this morning before going to Enfield for lunch and some games of Laser Quest. Well fought war everyone!

We are celebrating a 21st birthday today. The morning was spent baking, pampering and decorating the hall. Then we all sat down for a birthday lunch of domino’s pizza and Ask Italian before exerting a bit of energy to work off the birthday cake!

It’s not long now until our art exhibition at Level Best Art Cafe in Colchester. The theme of the exhibition is Inner Space : Outer Space and we’ve all interpreted that theme in different ways. Come to our free preview evening on Friday 8th November from 5.30 to 8.30 (there

Today we made space themed canvas’. Once the paint is dry we are going to put little lights in them so that the stars twinkle.

Our groups combined together today to create some beautiful music, at Participate Snape Maltings using different musical instruments and our voices to make our very own opera! We based our opera on the 50th anniversary of Concorde breaking the sound barrier.

The group made a spooky start to Halloween this year with a shop and craft session ending up in the studio crafting our halloween decorations. Everyone chose their craft of choice for spooktackular celebrations.

Today we made space themed canvas’. Once the paint is dry we are going to put little lights in them so that the stars twinkle.

SA1 went to the Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park today to ride the slide! Unfortunately due to the weather it had been closed. However, we took the opportunity to go to the top of the orbit and saw the slide up close so we could decide who wanted to give it

Today we worked on a banner for our Inner Space: Outer Space exhibition. First we ironed the creases out of the fabric, then we protected the tables with cling film and newspaper and laid the fabric out flat. Next we heated up the wax and used tjantings to create wax

Today we worked on a banner for our Inner Space: Outer Space exhibition. First we ironed the creases out of the fabric, then we protected the tables with cling film and newspaper and laid the fabric out flat. Next we heated up the wax and used tjantings to create wax

Today the CoCoCreatives group went to Hyde Hall to take photos of the flowers using disposable cameras, to use for inspiration later on. We had a lovely day and even had a trip on mobility car!

Today the Performing Arts group went to Ipswich Crown Pools to enjoy a bit of swimming and beach ball games. Then in the afternoon, we went to have fun at Holywells Park and someone decided they wanted to do more swimming under the sprinklers!

PP4 have been designing and drawing their own cushion covers and bags

DI1 group spent the morning preparing the area for pallets. Area was raked, weeds pulled and levelled out before placing two pallets on top of each other. In the afternoon a nice walk to the Live and Let Live pub.

Personal Progression groups second session on their poppy’s this morning. Yes we all got covered in paint but the end result is top work ! A painted his horse and did the framing himself.

Today PP3 went to Alton Water and Suffolk food hall. We had a great time in the pedaloes!

This morning, the Theatre and music skills group went to a great drumming workshop at Colchester Arts Centre, it was very loud and tired us out! Then this afternoon we played some drama games and used Maori sticks on each other and relaxing music to chill us out.

DI2 showing us how they are grasping their Gateway qualification today.

Today SA3 and CIV joined together to take a trip to Nowton Park in Bury St Edmunds. We all decided to brave the maze which was a bit overgrown!! After several wrong turns and dead ends, we just about made in out in one piece. After lunch at the park

CCE enjoyed their time at Wivenhoe park. They spent the morning creating a twig bird mobile. Great teamwork by all. The mobile was left up to provide a beautiful display for the community to admire. In the afternoon, we had lunch at the Rose and Crown. The staff were great

Today CoCoCreatives created a page for the Travelling Sketchbook that is currently at 37 Queen Street. Using our own paintings as a background, we added quotes and phrases that we sourced from magazines to inspire us and anyone else who sees the sketchbook on its artistic journey around Essex. We

SA went to Wicken Fen today for a walk around the nature reserve. We saw lots of different insects including butterflies, bees, a bumble bee, damselflies, a chiffchaff and some very large dragonflies!! We all enjoyed watching the different birds while we had lunch. After lunch, we had a stroll

SA2 went to Wicken Fen today for a walk around the nature reserve. We saw lots of different insects including butterflies, bees, a bumble bee, damselflies, a chiffchaff and some very large dragonflies!! We all enjoyed watching the different birds while we had lunch. After lunch, we had a stroll

After a failed attempt at Aqua fit (through no fault of our own), the Performing Arts group had a lovely day- we had lunch at Bures and then did some exercise in the park. This afternoon, we went to find the Bures Dragon and enjoyed the beautiful scenery!

Zoo day today. Lovely hot weather. Unfortunately this meant some of the animals were hiding.

DI group went to Cambridge today to visit the Museum of Technology and look at the pump house and how it used to work although some of us weren’t too keen on how it used to smell!!! After a walk around the museum and lunch with a view of the

All in another days work…

DI group at the Emirates Cable Car. J decided to stay ‘on land’ and wave the others off…

TS have been busy painting ceramics at Greenstead Green. The afternoon was spent at Chappel Millennium Green.

CCE had a great day making their Kites. We went to Castle Park to fly them but no wind to fly them well. We asked the Loch Ness monster for some huff and puff but still no wind so walked back to the studio.

This morning CIV weren’t to Mouse’s hall museum and had a look around their new Alice in Wonderland displays.

This morning the Sports Adventure group went for a walk around Marks Hall. We played hide and seek in the walled garden and did an alphabet scavenger hunt with some interesting results. This afternoon SA went bowling. Lots of support for each other and encouragement going on with a few

SA1 & 2 combined this afternoon and decided to have a foot race. Safe to say everyone has worn themselves out but there was some good sportsmanship!

This morning the CCC group went fabric shopping and now we can make more beeswax wraps and a starry wallhanging. We chose fabrics covered in flowers, unicorns, sheep, cakes and sloths. How do you pronounce sloth? We also popped into Poundland and then had smoothies at Costa to help us

This morning Performing Arts have been working hard on their improvisation skills, creating a scene in pairs between a doctor and the a patient. They were very comical and some of them very realistic!! The group also enjoyed a few drama games and vocal exercises which kept us on our

This afternoon the DI group have been clearing some ground at Milestone for our bug hotel. We found lots of twigs that we can use too. We are thinking up names for our bug hotel. Any ideas?

Today PP1 and PP2 went to Helmingham Hall where we went to walk around the spectacular grounds and gardens in the great weather, looking at their vegetable patches, flowers and even a moat!

At Sue Rider this morning for work experience. Tasks included sorting out all the DVDs into alphabetical order and putting back on the shelves. In the afternoon all the group had a make up a and hair session. Customers loved putting on the makeup and experimenting with colours, even Tom

Today the Theatre Skills group went to Snape Maltings to take part in the ‘Participate’ music workshop. We experimented with lots of different musical instruments and even made our own songs. Everyone really enjoyed it!

Today the Theatre Skills group went to Snape Maltings to take part in the ‘Participate’ music workshop. We experimented with lots of different musical instruments and even made our own songs. Everyone really enjoyed it!

Today the Theatre Skills group went to Snape Maltings to take part in the ‘Participate’ music workshop. We experimented with lots of different musical instruments and even made our own songs. Everyone really enjoyed it!

The weather was kind enough for DI group to hold their car boot sale today. Selling and interactions were really good.

CCE had a great morning designing flower pots for sowing our sun flower seeds. After a relaxing lunch we finished off our piñatas

CCC also went to the Level Best Cafe to prepare the art exhibition in November by measuring the space.

This morning we were excited to see how our resin coasters looked now they are dry. How beautiful they are! We are looking forward to making more of these, including some to sell at craft fairs.

SA2 enjoyed going to Thornden Forest to follow the Gruffalo trail. We found them all and completed the trail!!

We all enjoyed dovercourt beach and the beach hut today. Some of us swam in the sea, which was lovely and warm. Others enjoyed playing volleyball and cricket. We ate fish and chips in the rain. Well it is summer!

Today we enjoyed a game of rounders after a walk around the forest

This morning we went adventuring into the woods, set up our camp and built a campfire. The best bit was eating the sticky and sweet s’mores that we made! We had a woodland picnic then came back to do some gardening and some sensory interaction.

Two of our employability group carried out another session of work experience at the Sue Ryder shop. They completed their induction package which included health and safety, risk assessments, safe guarding, manual handling, pat testing, coshh and safe systems of work. Both thought the morning was awesome and practised good

This morning we have been cleaning sunglasses, which were kindly donated to us, ready for the car boot sale. We all found a pair we liked and thought we should try them on!!

Some great hedge trimming skills shown today while others in the group cut the grass and loaded up the bus for some runs to the tip. The day was rounded off with a drink at the pub for all the hard work.

SA3 are out this morning entering the world of virtual reality! We’ve walked the plank, fought dragons and went to the Savannah to see the wild animals. Everyone enjoyed the experience and would do it again!!! This afternoon was spent playing basketball and tennis!

SA2 enjoying the open day at ACE (Anglian Community Enterprise in Witham. Bug hotels have been made, Boccia’s been played, goals have been scored and a chill out in the sensory room trying out all the equipment!!!!

SA1 spent an exciting day playing golf at stonham barn. Customers had a fun filled day which included mini golf, lunch on the picnic park, browsing the amazing gift shops, refreshments and then 35 minutes on hillside trampoline.. the sun was shining, birds singing and every one had a hoot

This morning the CoCoCreatives made own waxed wraps with beeswax and pre-washed fabric that we’d bought from Franklin’s. They are an environmentally friendly alternative to cling film and can be rinsed and used over and over again. We chose fabric printed with bread, apples, bananas and watermelon.

SA2 enjoying the open day at ACE in Witham. Bug hotels have been made, Boccia’s been played, goals have been scored and a chill out in the sensory room trying out all the equipment!!!!

PA group went to Jimmy’s farm this morning and then went shopping for fruit to make healthy smoothies.

PP3 have had a very green-fingered day. They visited a garden centre to choose and buy some shrubs for our garden. This afternoon we weeded, raked, pruned and planted and have made the front of the building even nicer than it already was!

Today Personal Progress 1 and 2 had a lovely day today. We went to Hobbycraft in the morning to get some clay and utensils to make some remembrance poppies and this afternoon we all worked hard to create as many poppies as we could!

This afternoon we had a great tour of the Colchester Roman Circus where we learnt all about charioteers and walked through the vomitarium. We found out that the day of the circus was a really exciting and loud event with the crowd fighting and gambling ,and some charioteers and horses

DI group had a discussion on what is the Gay pride flag and what do the rainbow colours mean.

EMP group have been given a challenge to buy goods at a good price, then market the items and sell. They have learnt skills in communication., haggling, team work and money management. They found the task challenging and enjoyable.

Today SA3 went to Felixstowe for a stroll on the beach then crazy golf after lunch. We all enjoyed the fresh air, sunny weather and cool breeze!!

CCE have been making Father’s day picture box gifts. They really loved choosing their crafts to put in. We had an afternoon walk round the town for exercise and chose healthy refreshments in Starbucks. Excellent day all round.

Today SA went to Crown pools swimming, lunch at wetherspoons, followed by a couple of games of pool.

This morning we’ve been making decorations and crowns for our tea party this afternoon. Happy birthday to the Queen herself!

The performing arts group had a lovely day today visiting the Theatre Royal at Bury St Edmunds, having a guided tour around the theatre and backstage.

PP4 ventured to Greenwich today to experience the Emirates cable car across the Thames. The rain and wind couldn’t stop us.

After a hard day at school, ASC enjoyed some healthy wraps for snack and a game of Jenga and a drink in the garden!!!

PP1 & PP2 are at Stow Marie’s aerodrome today celebrating the 75th anniversary since DD day. We were also fortunate enough to watch a plane take off.

This morning the Employability group looked at the different clothing required for different jobs.

DI2 This morning was spent at Marks Tey Car Boot, this has helped us to decide on our pricing. This afternoon we are checking our goods and pricing them. Everyone has focused on the job in hand really well.

Today TS practiced some games of passing the bean bag to each other in a line and then in pairs. After a lovely session of yoga, we had a lunchtime concert at Lion Walk Church and then a drink at the Lion Walk Cafe to end the afternoon!

Excellent climbing today!

The pinatas are coming on really well now!

SA2 went sailing at Alton Water. Weather was lovely there were smiles all round.

Sports adventure were joined by some of our CoCoCreatives group today and had great fun rowing on the Mere at Thorpeness. Almost everyone tried rowing. It was very interesting swapping places to take turns with rowing shall we say! Fortunately no-one went swimming!

The performing arts group had a lovely day making their own music video to the Queen song ‘A crazy little thing called love’. We all enjoyed getting dressed up, having a dance and singing along, even going to the woods to get some shots.

The Saturday squad as they call themselves, are working on their mosaic project inspired by the planets and the solar system. Ready to bask in the glorious sunshine with a drink and ice cream later today.

Today we visited Fingringhoe Wick nature reserve to take part in some bug hunting. We found three different types of ladybird, ants, a really pretty blue dragonfly, green leafed moths, woodlice, a jumping spider and a beetle. We had a picnic then a hike through the undergrowth to Crawshaw Hide.

DI group at Newmarket Palace Museum. Some budding jockeys galloping on the horse racing simulator and enjoying the 5 acre estate !

CCE had a great day making light clouds. It was challenging but customers worked through it and achieved amazing results. In the afternoon as it was raining a group was asked to make short bread biscuits which went down a treat .

The CIV group visited the National Heritage Centre for Horseracing and Sporting Art in Newmarket today. We had a tour round behind the scenes and had a go on the racing simulator. We didn’t let the rain dampen our spirits.

Great day at Kentwell Hall History Day with the Performing Arts group. We explored different periods from medieval to the sixties. Some of us even ended up in the stocks!

Personal Progression group ditched swimming to spend a glorious day in the sun at the National Trust Hatfield!

The DI group are holding a pool tournament today. We even have special guests and a new made-to-measure shortened rest that’s already proven to help with shot accuracy. Oh and cheers from the pub!

Community inclusion and vouluntering proudly present their veg, fruit and herb project. Everyone has contributed and all have enjoyed the project so far.

After a hard morning’s work for sports adventure at Sudbury leisure centre with all of us playing volleyball and relaxing in the jacuzzi and sauna, some of us decided to carry on the hard work on the assault course and gym equipment whilst the others played a civilized game of

Employability group were given the task of comparing made to measure suits and off the peg suits. The men visited Moss Brothers for a fitting service suit and the ladies went to Principals in Debenhams. They looked at quality suits and then visited Primark for the equivalent clothing and the

DI group relaxing in the grounds of Kersey Mill after some fun crafting in the house. Such a glorious day in suffolk.

The Community Inclusion & volunteering group went to Thetford today enjoying the glorious weather, park games and BBQ.

CCE had a lovely day today creating their own piñatas. Due to the great weather, we enjoyed lunch in the studio garden. Some of us even turned it into an athletic competition!

Sports Adventure went downhill quickly this week! We had a whale of a time hurtling down a slope on toboggans at the Suffolk Ski Centre, as well as a visit to Alton Water to enjoy some fresh air and to enjoy the outdoor equipment.

Sports Adventure had a wonderful walk today at Wicken Fen. We walked about 4 miles in the glorious sunshine. And finished the day with ice creams in deck chairs! Oscar the dog really enjoyed the walk and all the attention too!

    CoCoCreatives created our own Headspaces today, using paper mache and balloons to create our very own heads! We then made a list of things that are in our headspace- our interests and our feelings. In the afternoon, we went shopping to find our items to put inside our ‘brain’! Ranging

SA2 enjoyed exploring highwoods country park today, we climbed on some of the climbing structures and did some den building. This afternoon we went for a drink at the pub and enjoyed soaking up the sun in the pub garden.

DI enjoying the lunch they have prepared. Jacket potatoes with beans, cheese and salad. Yum! They followed this by fun relaxing games!

PP3 have enjoyed a day riding the rails (and wheels) at the East Anglian Transport museum. Stepping back in time was good fun for all of us – we particularly enjoyed getting our tickets clipped by conductors and chatting with the railway staff, and the diesel locomotive driving past us

PA participating in the light performance they saw on 3rd May. All enjoyed being involved in the use of the props and dressing up afterwards especially L! A and J especially enjoyed the dancing at the end as well as having a slice of cake and cup of tea!

Personal Progress groups meeting one of the camels at Oasis Camel park. The camel was certainly friendly and was waiting to take our customers on a ride around the farm. This was also a farewell to T who chose the activity for the day.

Today the Theatre Skills group went to town to choose some self care products to use back at CoCo. They looked at different face masks, each choosing one as well as hair products and teeth care. Back at CoCo, the group all brushed their teeth and then applied our face

The employability group are out choosing clothing that they would wear to go to an interview. Skills learnt are about co-ordination, sizing, consideration of pricing. E asked for assistance to match shoes to her outfit. The key is to select clothes that are suitable for an interview and work experience.

Developing Independence group discussing differences between relationships, known and unknown relationships that lead to safe and unsafe relationships. Working towards their posters and Gateway qualification. Also J has been working on his art work for a number of weeks now. This is his interpretation of ‘space’ street art filling space

Sports Adventure 3 went out and about in Walton today experiencing life from a different perspective. We all rented wheelchairs and had a day propelling ourselves around Walton on the Naze, which was a new experience for us all! We found out how difficult it was to find places to

The group were in the art studio today making 3D rainbow flowers. Beautiful.

Our community integration and volunteering group started their herb garden today, the latest addition to Milestone. They went to Poplar Nurseries to select the plants and even had a cheeky go on the miniature railway.

Apologies for our non-existent blog over the last few months, we have had technical problems with the site and also issues caused by GDPR. We are hoping to resurrect the blog with new enthusiasm. Hopefully there will be a daily post from each group, aswell as some older missed adventures

A trip out for brunch then an exploration of cave art using natural ingredients for paint- tea leaves, chalk and spices make good, vivid colours!

We’ve had a breezy day out on Southwold Pier playing on the eccentric arcade machines! We’ve had a brain wash, practised walking across roads using a zimmer frame, and played ‘whack a banker’!

CCE made floral arrangements today for someone special and for most of the group the first time. They look lovely.

We all pitched in, helping clear an area from stinging nettle, so we can plant some trees in the next few weeks. After lunch we had a walk on the farm where we fed sheep.

This afternoon the theatre skills group chose to go bowling. A great team-building activity for us all 😀

After a hard morning’s employability and CV workshop, what better than a flutter on the 2p machines and a hot chocolate?

This afternoon we started labelling our time line which is on the hall floor in our main building, Milestone. As the year goes on and we look at more topics, we will add them to the time line.

We’ve had a lovely day enjoying the Magic of Christmas at the zoo. Some of us watched the pantomime, we’ve seen reindeer and had a lovely Christmas lunch. Best of all though was feeding the lorikeets and watching the bird display!

Tuesday Sports Adventure group was trying out the ice slide, we thought it was awesome! Well done Laura for being the first person to do a twirl on the ice slide 😁 Some pictures of Dan enjoying some intensive interaction at the end of the day too.

Today the CoCoCreatives group went to Winter Wonderland at St Johns, Clacton. Then we had a lovely meal at the Moon and Starfish Pub and followed it up with a game of bowling.

This group spent the day in Norwich. We visited comic book shops, TV and Movie shops, toy shops and charity shops. We also went through the tunnel of lights, but felt it would be more spectacular when it was dark.

Today the PA group were inspired by last week’s visit to kentwell hall and their production of A Christmas Carol. We had a go following a script, everyone did so well. Joe played a mean Scrooge, humbug indeed. Afterwards we had a Christmas beverage and pigs in blankets.

A very short morning today before going to see Little Red Riding Hood panto at the New Wolsey Theatre. So games, jigsaws and socialising! Guess the festive jigsaw!

This morning at Lauriston Farm we made some lovely Christmas wreaths and some lanterns and in the afternoon we sang carols with the cows!

We decided it was too icy to keep to our plans today. All groups joined together, we had a lovely day joining in various games and sensory activities and had takeaway pizza for lunch. Sadly no pictures of that 😀. Our favourite games was recreating Gladiators ” gladiators are you

What a cold snowy day! The weather did change our plans a little today. We were supposed to be walking the Wivenhoe trail today to finish off at the Rose and Crown for a buffet Christmas lunch. Instead we played some multi sports at Milestone and then drove to the

On Saturday, George, Hannah, Will and Jack supported Lexden Springs Winter Fair and then went to Kaspa’s. Will and George decided to get into the Christmas spirit!

On Friday, Josh, Charlie, Jack and Dan prepared, cooked and ate a traditional Christmas dinner. Everyone worked well together and really enjoyed the fruits of their labours!

The performing Arts group had their Christmas treat on Friday and spent the day at Kentwell Hall’s Victorian Christmas. Was brilliant! See our photo album on Facebook for all the pictures.

After a very serious morning in PSD, thinking about how what we do affects other people, we decided to have a more light hearted afternoon! Here’s us at Perrywood garden centre getting into the Christmas spirit!

We had a lovely time at Red Riding Hood at the Wolsey Theatre this afternoon. “It’s behind you!” High praise from hazel and all the guys. All want to go see it again!

This morning the Theatre Skills group played some themed games. The puppet was popular.

A nice canal walk in Chelmsford with Sports Adventure group followed by team challenges and games at base.

Glass painting Christmas baubles.

We spent a lovely day today at Lauriston Farm. First we went and cut the willow and collected holly, ivy, rosehips and more. We then spent the afternoon learning how to weave the willow into a wreath shape and then decorated them. The result is lots of natural, unique and

Everyone had a great time on the ice slide at Castle Park. Thank you demon extreme for putting in the relaxed session for us!

After choosing Christmas fabrics at Franklins, our fabulous CoCoCreatives created these rice and lavender heat bags today. Pop in the microwave for a couple of minutes then apply to aching joints to soothe and comfort. The lavender will aid sleep too!

Today in performing arts we practiced film making skills, filmed our ‘Plastic Seas’ trailer and took photos for ‘Plastic Sea’s’ story book.

Today some of us made some Christmas decorations, then we decorated our Christmas tree. It is pretty!

Andrew, Joe, Mark, Reece and Chris spent the day working at Lauriston Farm. They even gave the sheep pedicures!

Christmas is coming! We went to Bullbanks Farm today to choose our lovely 11 foot Christmas tree, which we will be decorating tomorrow. Decorated pictures will follow tomorrow!

Pictures from our environmental dance piece called Plastic Seas at the Springblast Showcase, part of Dance Network Association. It was such an amazing event, performing alongside various dance groups of all ages, from school groups to professional artists and with such a range of dance styles on display. Well done

Beautiful day at Skreens Park today. Bush craft, including fire lighting and shelter building and rifle shooting. Perfect weather and we even got a chance for a game of cricket at lunch time!