Every year the Sickle Cell Society runs a week's holiday for 22 young people. The venue is Woodrow High House in Buckinghamshire. It is a great centre for young people; it has lots of sports and activities. During the week there are lots of trips. Below are some accounts from those of you who were lucky enough to go on one of the holidays.

Children's Holiday

A popular annual event on our calendar last year was the children’s holiday.

Twenty children between the ages of 7 and 16 joined our carers at Woodrow High, a 17th century Cromwellian House based in Buckinghamshire.

The activities were well received by the children, which included swimming, table tennis, karaoke, arts and crafts and much more.

Our ten carers were diligent in their roles and ensured that the outings to Madam Tussauds, Chessington Zoo and Thorpe Park were all conducted safely and with maximum fun in mind.

‘It is so rewarding to watch how well the children integrate and grow in confidence within this environment where there they are not made to feel different’

Hello Everybody, welcome to Planet Sickle

On Saturday we went to Buckinghamshire, we stayed at Woodrow High House for a week. It was a very big house, they had 40 rooms, a games room and an art room.

On the holiday we came to London on a coach to Madame Tussauds, we watched T.V., went through the 'Spirit of London' and then went to the shop. When we got outside we chose where to go for our lunch.

We went to Thorpe Park. We went to The Dome and to the shops but it started raining. We also went to Whipsnade Wild Animal Park, the first thing we did was go to see the animals. The Brown Bear we saw first then lots more animals. We saw the elephant show then the sea lion show. Then we went back and everybody had a rest. The disco started, it was in the basement, we danced and then went to bed.

My name is Stephanie. I am 8 years old.

My Holiday

On Monday we went to Thorpe Park and we went on rides, the first ride was No Way Out. All my friends went on it but I was scared. Then we had our lunch then we went on more rides then we had to go home. I did basketball then swimming. Then we had dinner and went to bed.

On Tuesday we went to Madame Tussauds. When we got there we had to line up for about 5 minutes. When we finally got in and we watched a film about Planets and space. After we went to the people made out of wax, in the room I saw David Beckham, Michael Jackson and Frank Bruno. After I saw lots of famous people we had our lunch and went home.

On Wednesday we stayed at the centre for the day. We all played pool and football. In the afternoon we did basketball and swimming and made tie-dye T-Shirts. We had a BBQ and steel band in the evening.

On Thursday we went to the park and I saw monkeys, tigers, zebras and elephants. Then I spent £1 on a train that takes us all around the park. Then we went home.

On Friday we went home. I enjoyed myself and the people there.

By Michael - Aged 12

Woodrow High House

In August I went on holiday with the Sickle Cell Society to Amersham in Buckinghamshire. We stayed at Woodrow High House. We had our own indoor swimming pool and there was a farm. Each of us had a carer who looked after us and made sure we took our medication. I made lots of friends quickly and I still keep in contact with them on the phone and we also write to each other.

We went on lots of interesting trips and on the days that we didn't go on trips we had lots of interesting things to do like arts and crafts and I made a tie-dye T-shirt. In the house we had our own games room, which had lots of activities. We had a disco the night before we left which was really nice and the night before we had a steel band playing. We also had barbecue.

I really missed my mum while I was there but I am glad I went. The carers were really nice and made me laugh. I hope other children will go again next year and I hope to hear about their experiences. Thank you to the Sickle Cell Society for inviting me, I had a really good time.

From Morenike aged 10