Women and children celebrate summer at Hestia's Big Day Out Women and children celebrate summer at Hestia's Big Day Out Today, 20th August, Hestia hosted the annual Big Day Out for families across our services. Using funds raised through our participation in the bi-annual The Big Give campaign, The Big Day out enables families to take part in an afternoon of energising activities, alongside raffles and prizes for mum, a buffet lunch and, best of all, a bouncy castle obstacle course. We welcomed over 120 attendees to take part in 2019’s Big Day Out, in addition to a host of our spectacular corporate partners, Hestia staff and a legion of our dedicated volunteers. It’s safe to say that we can stamp this years’ event as a success. The Big Day Out forms part of our wider Summer Play Scheme, which takes place throughout the summer holidays and gives the families we support an opportunity to bond through days out, sports events and fun, local activities. This too is provided solely by the funds raised during The Big Give campaign week. Teams from PZ Cussons Beauty took over our face painting, glitter art and cake decorating tables, as well as supplying us with mountains of pampering and beauty gifts for the raffle, whilst business management consultancy firm Business Data Partners taught children the art of coding. It’s never too early to get prepped for the future. Law firms Winckworth Sherwood and Hogan Lovells also took part, with the former holding the fort at our arts and crafts table, and the latter manning our giant playground games. We’d also like to extend our thanks to beauty brand ZOEVA for their gift donations, which were offered up as part of the raffle. With the children taking home skateboards, balloons and their cutesy cupcake creations, no one went home empty handed. Iris*, a Hestia service user, said: "I don't know where to start! We have been busy every week...if we couldn't do things like the Big Day Out, our motivation would be very low. When there are things organised, we really look forward to it. I get to spend the whole day playing with my children." Jessica Harrison, Family Fitness Programme Manager at Hestia, said "The Summer Play Scheme is so important because these families are often isolated as they have had to leave their homes and leave their support network. The thought of planning activities by themselves for their children, for six weeks, when living in a refuge - it's almost impossible. The Summer Play Scheme enables us to take that stress away from parents and organise safe and fun activities that families wouldn't otherwise be able to do. It's an opportunity for these families to create really fun memories together." Showtime Photo Booth joined us for the Big Day Out, they are the go to company for photo booth hire in London. Read more like this: For some children, the Summer Holidays are harder than you think A Pizza The Action: Children Supported By Hestia Enjoy Pizza And Skateboard Day Families Learning How To Cook Up A Storm This Summer Manage Cookie Preferences