On Tuesday 30th May HistoryWorks had a great afternoon of fun in the glorious sunshine alongside ChYpPS, Abbey People and other play partners, with a whole afternoon of "Active Abbey Adventures" including sports and making activities - kicking off with a free lunch and badge making from 12.30 to 1.30pm at Barnwell Baptist Church!  

It was fantastic to see so many children and families come join us there and then at Dudley Road Rec for more exciting activities. The *star* attraction of the afternoon was meeting owls and falcons, with a visit from Terry from 'The Raptor Foundation'.

Children and their families had the opportunity to pet and hold the birds, as well as learning lots of interesting facts about these amazing birds of prey!

For those children keen to craft there was the chance to make your very own butterfly or bird of prey wings with Miriam and Ed from ChYpPS and Scrapstore! There were some beautiful designs made and the Rec was filled with children running around and showing off their incredible creations!

Children could also make pterosaur stick puppets with Helen and Mario and learn about these prehistoric creatures that used to fly above the area millions of years ago!

There was also an active way to take flight, with Simon Wall from the Cambridge United Community Trust leading an exciting parachute activity.  In addition, for children and families keen to join in team sports there was tennis, football and other games organised by the City Council's Street Games group - all on Dudley Road Rec.    

Children enjoyed taking a break from their sports activities to have a refreshing orange slice, kindly provided by FoodCycle, with donations from M&S, which were a very welcome healthy snack to help children keep hydrated and energised!

GEOCACHING INTRODUCED TO THE ABBEY AREA

Another highlight of the afternoon was the chance to explore the Geocaching trail around the surrounding area led by Mario and Helen.

Children had the opportunity to make badges with Tizzy, so they could then keep one for themselves and put one into a geocaching box on the walk, in exchange for another item from the geocaching box.

The badge making was extremely popular, with children making some beautiful designs and carefully helping make the badges using the badge making machine, with Tizzy’s careful assistance and guidance.

The afternoon’s activities on Dudley Road Rec ended with a supervised walk led by Mario and Helen for those new to Geocaching, starting at Dudley Road Rec at 3.30pm and ending at the Margaret Wright Community Orchard.

At the end of the walk everyone had a chance to sit down and enjoy a well deserved rest at the Orchard with Lorna and the Orchard Volunteers providing delicious refreshments, including hot chocolate, juice, cake and fruit for people to enjoy.

Mario led a longer walk, taking families to a number of stops in Abbey and on Coldham’s Common and Helen led a slightly shorter walk for those with little legs or who just wanted to get a taster for geocaching.

Mario and Helen gave out toy prizes to ALL who finish the afternoon with the geocaching hunt from Dudley Rec to the Community Orchard on Whitehill Road on arrival at our destination to find the geocache hidden at the Orchard! The children particularly enjoyed finding the new geocache hidden, sneakily inside a hedgehog figure at the Orchard!

There was a lovely relaxed atmosphere at the Orchard towards the end of the afternoon, as people gathered to enjoy a drink and chat both outside in the sunshine and inside the Orchard’s club house after a busy afternoon of activities!