Events

The siblings weekend is an annual event especially for members of the Siblings Network. The weekend is packed full of fun activities and gives members the opportunity to meet up and share experiences.

When is the next event?

Due to popular demand (for better weather!) the 2013 Siblings Weekend event will be held in June! We are hoping for some nice warm sunshine to go with all of the fun and exciting activities we have planned. We will send out lots more information closer to the time, but keep an eye out in Sibs Matters and on Facebook and Twitter for the latest updates!

Read about our previous Sibling Network events below.

Sibling adventures - the 2012 weekend away

The last siblings weekend took place in February 2012 at PGL Caythorpe Court activity centre in Grantham, where 31 young people aged from 6 to 17 years came together to make new friends and have a great time.

The shenanigans began on the Friday evening with dinner, followed by some very loud and raucous get-to-know-you games. Siblings then chose between a game of football, getting creative with mosaics, or popcorn and a movie.

After a busy evening, to wake us all up the next day PGL had loads of activities planned, including a high giant swing, a testing challenge course, tricky problem-solving games and, very bravely executed in February temperatures, raft building.

After such a busy and adventurous day, Saturday evening saw the older siblings, keen on an adrenaline rush, go-karting offsite. Inspired by Top Gear"s the Stig they raced one another around the course in a bid for the fastest lap. To top the evening off they finished with dinner and bowling.

Meanwhile, the younger siblings played party games at a disco and then took on The Cube in PGL's own version of the ITV show.

On Sunday morning there was time to squeeze in more action in the form of a sensory trail (yes, in blindfolds), where the siblings experienced how it must feel to navigate themselves with touch, plus aeroball, and the appropriately named high ropes.

"That was epic," said six year-old Freddie as he descended more than 40 steps from the high ropes course.

Everyone was tired out by the end of such a busy weekend but we all left with many happy memories - and a bunch of new friends!

Here's what members said about the weekend:

"The activities were really fun."

"I made lots of friends."

"The giant swing was awesome."

"It was good to be with other children that know how my life is and how I feel."

"It was a fabulous experience."

"I want to do it again!"

"I had a great time."

"The giant swing was brilliant."

The 2011 siblings weekend

A weekend away for Sense siblings!

The Sense siblings weekend away is a highlight of anyone's calendar, and this year proved no exception. A record breaking 24 siblings came together and experienced daredevil activities, with lots of socialising and laughter. There was also enthusiastic singing and dancing - and even a spot of spontaneous fundraising!

The activity-packed weekend included zip wire, archery, abseiling, aeroball, fencing and climbing. In among all this action we still managed to squeeze in a trip to the tuck shop, a disco, a quiz night and a cinema session, too!

"It was great to be able to be adventurous and try new things," one sibling said.

After some serious Saturday night dancing (Dylan, you are a pop star in the making!) and while older siblings watched movies, the younger ones tapped into their entrepreneurial spirit and ran a sweet sale. A total of £8.10 was collected and generously donated to Sense by the under 8s. The Sense fundraising team were very grateful and wrote a thank-you note to the siblings involved.

The siblings also had a massive brainstorm about their Network and in particular, their magazine. Some fantastic ideas were shared, many of which you can see in the Network newsletter.

"[It was] a superb weekend at PGL. I really enjoyed it, especially the zip wire and aeroball (although the fact that I was on the winning teams helped!). It was good that everyone there had something common, and it was great to meet up with old friends and make some new ones too," said another sibling.

The weekend was fantastic fun and packed full of adventure and opportunities to try new things. There was a great mix of people, and old friends were reunited and new ones made.

Roll on next year!

What members had to say about their time at PGL:

"I met some brilliant people and had fun."

"I found it quite nice to talk about my sibling and my problems and they understood."

"The activities were very fun."