Antonia and Victoria live in services which are fairly new to MacIntyre. Antonia popped in to visit Victoria at her home a few weeks ago after a visit to the Exotic Zoo. This was the first time they’d both met and introductions went well and we were given a tour of Victoria’s home which Antonia really enjoyed.
The other day Antonia expressed that she’d like to go to a trampoline park as an activity and was asked if she’d like to see if Victoria was free to come along too. We met Victoria at a trampoline park where everyone had the most fun we’d all had in ages!
After putting our stuff in the lockers and having our safety brief we were off and ready to bounce. We had a bounce on the small trampolines first to get ourselves warmed up and to see if we’d enjoy it. We then sat in the foam pit and this is where the fun begins… We got into the foam pit and spent some time adjusting to the softness all around. Victoria was first to throw a foam block and found this hysterical and then Antonia joined in; collaborating to get me and Emma, our Senior Support Worker. We worked together as a team to make our way through the foam pit by moving foam pieces and guiding one another through. This provided Antonia and Victoria with much laughter to the extent that Antonia had tears in her eyes…we even had the staff at the venue laughing with us. After some more time on the trampolines we stopped to refuel with a drink and a bite in the café before heading home.
Today we tried a very different activity and shared an extremely good time with lots and lots of laughter. Antonia and Victoria have begun to build their friendship with a new activity which they both thoroughly enjoyed. Verbal communication between Victoria and Antonia is very limited but they put this aside and had a blast together and were literally ‘jumping with joy’. The activity, laughter and friendship that came from today was simply a pleasure to be a part of and witness.
Kirsty Stephens
Frontline Manager, Shropshire
