Families from Alafia and Christ the King travelled either on the coach or independently to join us for a delightful and relaxed day out at Camp Mohawk on 16th August.
The camp staff made everyone most welcome and all the facilities both indoors and outside were embraced by both the children and their families.
I saw parents getting in the pool to swim with their children, families making music together, picnics being enjoyed, and such a lot of joyful laughter could be heard throughout the day.
We would like to thank Local Giving's Magic Little Grants for partly funding this outing.

Some parents said a few thankyous:
"Easy to use coach, My kids love swimming and pool was so good not too deep warm water,enjoys a lot. "

"All place  is safe environment so good . All in door and out door activities. 
Everything is on one place.  Best day visit it was. Thanks to Alafia. 
Would love to go again and again...."
 
"F and I had a wonderful day, the staff and facilities were excellent. It made a fantastic day out, where no one was judging, and felt very relaxing.
Thank you so much to you and your team for organising."

Today we put smiles on children's faces!
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Smiles of excitement as they journeyed on the coach. Smiles of recognition when they met up with their friends. Smiles of awe while stroking the farm animals. Smiles of glee splashing about in the pool. Giggles aplenty at the magician. Even the ice-cream smeared mouths could not hide the beaming smiles!

And it was not just the children who smiled. The parents and carers were unanimous in expressing their pleasure at having the opportunity to join in with all the fun that Camp Mohawk has to offer. One Mum told us that the day had restored her belief that there is kindness in the world. What an honour.

On the last Thursday in May a coach load of families, each with a child or children with special needs arrived at Camp Mohawk on the outskirts of Wargrave, Berkshire to enjoy a relaxed family day in the great outdoors. Camp Mohawk has provision of both outdoor and indoor specialist equipment ranging from wheelchair swings to music and sensory rooms indoors. Find out more about the full range of facilities by following this link: www.campmohawk.org.uk/facilities/

It was a cloudy day with rain threatening from time to time and the families were warned that swimming would need to be curtailed in the event of thunder or lightning. Fortunately no rain at all fell till the coach approached the outskirts of Reading at the end of the day so there was much splash in the heated outdoor pool.

​Reading Family Aid provided additional entertainments for the day – face painting, a puppeteer, circus skills (including HUGE bubbles!) and farm animals that the children could stroke. The bubble making drew a good crowd and the light breeze allowed them to drift up to the trees – if they weren’t popped before lift off! 

​Definitely a successful combination of attractions for children. Picnics in the fresh air, drinks on tap kept everyone fuelled for the activities.

At the end of the afternoon we all enjoyed whippy ice-cream cones from the ice-cream van that miraculously arrived – mmm, a perfect end to a perfect day!

A BIG thank you to all those who support this charity, enabling Reading Family Aid to facilitate these outings for disadvantaged families from around the wider Reading area.

June 2nd 2016 dawned with grey skies as we set of for the annual day trip to Camp Mohawk. We were expecting about 100 people to join us for a day in the country and there isn’t much indoor space on the site, so we were all keeping our fingers crossed that the skies would clear, and indeed they did!

Each year we arrange for a group of families to visit Camp Mohawk - an amazing multi-functional day centre for children with special needs.

This year we kept a watchful eye on the weather forecast in the days leading up to our annual trip, but the threatened rain didn’t fall, much to the delight of the Camp Mohawk staff, RFA committee and the families who were coming to enjoy a day in the country.

In all, ninety one people, mums, dads and children arrived, signed up for swimming in the heated pool, ran around in the woods and played in the Sensory Garden and the playground, which even has a swing which will take a wheelchair.

The favourites in the Petting Farm were the baby goats and the ducklings, though learning to groom the pony came a close second, with the chicks, rabbits, sheep and cow providing an opportunity to get close up to all the animals.

Cathy and Mike demonstrated the art of plate spinning, the Hula Hoop was popular as were the giant bubbles and a variety of things to bounce on and fall off.

Many people went home carefully balancing the pots that they had made with Susan on her Potter’s Wheel, ready to dry at home and paint.

Camp Mohawk gives everyone the freedom to relax, run and play in the safety of the site where they can’t get lost, well only a little bit, and even that doesn’t matter because the site is secure and the ‘lost’ are soon found.

As always the staff are fantastic, so a big thank you to everyone who made it such a happy day!

Our annual trip to Camp Mohawk wouldn't be possible without the amazing support of the people of Reading. Special thanks go to McKay Securities who have very generously supported us for several years, Rotary Club of Loddon Vale whose significant donation also went towards the hire of Camp Mohawk this year, and Woodley and Earley Lions whose generous donation paid for the petting zoo this year.

If you would like to make a donation towards next year's trip to Camp Mohawk or one of our other Summer outings this year - more information to follow soon - then please visit our Localgiving page.