King George’s Outdoor Adventure Play Area

Hi everyone, Ruby here. This week I would like to share with you my experience visiting the newly refurbished King George's Playing Fields new outdoor Adventure Play Area, which is designed for children 8 years old and over. We booked our session in advance via Every One Active App.

As well as the recently opened play area, there are lots of other activities to participate in at this park like pitch and putt - Rascal Bay, another fantastic free playground, skate park, splash park, TAG Active and a couple of football pitches, which I enjoyed playing on with my mum and dad to practise some shots. We also took pleasure in relaxing with an ice cream and fruit juice on the new Pavilion cafe balcony, which overlooked the bowling green.

Once inside the play area, I could climb, slide and explore to my heart's content! I really liked the equipment because there were two fun slides to go down and obstacle courses underneath with swings, which I absolutely loved. It has a range of challenging structures, with both high and lower levels to be explored. However, I would advise to wear cycling gloves or just thin gloves in general because the whole play area is rope, which caused my hands to slightly blister after 25 minutes. Despite that, I loved all of the equipment, it was very exciting when trying each different area. Climbing helps your muscles in your upper and lower body and regular climbing can also improve your overall stamina.

For me, I liked the fact that there was a maximum number of children allowed in at the same time, this gave me a chance to have a go on everything even multiple times.

“There’s so much to explore when you're outside!”

Ruby Xx

Ruby's verdict: 8/10, I really enjoyed climbing and the slides but after a while my hands felt sore.

Overall experience: A fantastic array of activities for the whole family to enjoy.

Price: Book online £2 for 55 minutes

Fun Factor: Lots to climb and explore, a fun day spent outdoors.

Contact: 01277 598886 or www.everyoneactive.com

Stubbers Adventure Centre

Hi everyone, it's me Ruby. I've visited Stubbers many times, for cross
country races and in primary school our year group had a two night stay
where we stayed in the Smash Camps area, I stayed in a large tent with bunk beds, which was my first time staying away from home but I really enjoyed it as there were so many activities to get involved in.

Stubbers is a great place for fun with family and friends as you can
participate in multiple activities like archery, paddle boarding,
kayaking and climbing. Recently, I tried indoor rock climbing and it
was so much fun. You wear a safety harness and are guided through to the best route to reach the top; you can go at your own pace or climb at the same times with friends.

When I went on the school trip, my favourite activities were paddleboarding (I was the only one not to fall off) and driving a Land Rover throughout a course, it was epic and such a
great experience!

Personally, I think it’s the perfect place to try an activity,
which you haven't tried before. For example, if you’re scared of
heights, you can work your way up the obstacle course until you reach
the highest level, when I tried it, I loved it!

Stubbers has recently added a whole new giant outdoor adventure playground, sand play and paddle beach area which is extremely fun and there are so many different things to go on like swings, hills, slides, bars, tunnels which are all made from wood, perhaps you can
challenge your friend to a race through the course.

If you are interested in visiting all year round you can purchase annual passes, which allows you into the adventure centre at any time throughout the year. You can also host birthday parties at Stubbers Adventure Centre, try banana boating, open canoeing, laser combat, survival, or target sport, which sounds amazing! I was given a gift voucher for Stubbers at Christmas and I can’t wait to visit again soon, It’s great to get together and start making some awesome memories.

"Have fun climbing high!"
Ruby Xx

Ruby's verdict: 10/10, lots of great activities to enjoy.

Overall experience: This adventure centre is really enjoyable and a
chance to try something new.

Price: visit https://www.stubbers.co.uk/book/adventures-for-individuals-and-families/27

Fun Factor: A great entertainment for you and the family to enjoy as a day out or over night stay.

Contact: 01708 224753 or This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. & www.stubbers.co.uk

Ice Skating at Sapphire

Hi everyone, Ruby here. Recently, I watched the winter Olympics in Beijing and really enjoyed it, especially the curling; it was great to see Great Britain bring home a gold medal. Watching this and the return of Dancing on Ice inspired me to visit my local ice rink- Sapphire Ice & Leisure centre.

My friend and I received an hour and a half skating session, which is open to the public, to enjoy with family and friends. This was an open activity but you can book ice skating lessons for different levels of your ability.

Don't worry about falling over on the ice or knowing you have to hold onto the rink wall because you'll have a whole hour and a half to improve. There are marshals who are always skating round whilst you are on the ice, meaning, they will be there to help you if needed. Just have fun!

This can be an exciting activity for any age, so you can learn a new sport and ice skating improves your balance, joint flexibility, posture and muscles as well as cardio health, endurance and helps weight management.

The ice rink is home to The Everyone Active Raiders (Romford Raiders) ice hockey team, where fans can cheer the team on in the stands, which are open to the public.

On a Friday there is an after-school disco, which sounds fun, and learn to skate sessions during the week for members. 

"When in doubt, skate it out"

Ruby Xx

Ruby's verdict: 9/10, the session we went to was extremely busy.

Overall experience: I really enjoyed this experience and can't wait to re-visit.

Price: https://www.everyoneactive.com/centre/sapphire-ice-leisure/#activities

          Adults and child skating from £10.

Fun factor: Very fun for a day out with family and friends as well as a nice idea for birthday parties.

Contact: Call 01708 206 892 or visithttps://www.everyoneactive.com/centre/sapphire-ice-leisure/

Everyone Active Swimming

Hi everyone, it's me Ruby. I managed to experience another event in the newly refurbished Harrow Lodge leisure centre; this time I thought I would try swimming.

Upon arrival, I walked into the freshly decorated changing rooms there was separate facilities for group or family changing. In my opinion the changing rooms were extremely big and the space for showers was expanded, there was access to hairdryers to use after swimming and sauna and steam rooms nearby.

When I walked into the main pool area there was a teaching pool on the right-hand side, which was 0.9 metres at the time but can reach up to a depth of 4 metres because you can dive in that pool. Meanwhile, on the left of this pool was a public pool, where you can book privately to experience swimming lessons with others who enjoy your same interest. You can also book into the main pool and choose your correct speed lane whether it is slow, medium, or fast to practise swimming your lengths to improve. 

I would like to try the diving boards. Diving can help with breathing techniques because of the amount of air consumption you inhale to absorb more oxygen and can reduce your heart rate with the cardio and strength training, which burns calories.

There are many benefits of swimming which can improve your overall health and fitness, such as keeping your heart rate up, improve sleep, build endurance and stamina, which you can use for long distance running, muscle strength and is part of cardio fitness. I think you should visit the swimming section of Harrow Lodge because this sport will help improve your overall fitness and it’s fun!

Also, you can teach someone to swim as they can start in the teaching pool before swimming in the main public pool.

Free swimming for children and young adults in Havering is available until summer 2022 visit: https://www.havering.gov.uk/news/article/984/free_swimming_launches_for_school_aged_children

"Swim like a shark!"

Ruby Xx

Ruby's verdict: 9/10

Overall experience: Enjoyable if you want to perhaps race each other to see who can do the most lengths in the least amount of time or to practise yourself. I found it really cool how as a part of the teaching pool the floor can sink to a lower measurement and manage to lift for when the times of sessions change (diving or teaching).

Price:https://joinonline.everyoneactive.com/lessons This provides you with times of available bookings and prices for adults or children a month depending how long you want your session to last.

Fun factor: Great for learning to swim and trying different activities like diving.

Contact: https://profile.everyoneactive.com/login