The greatest thing about working for Book of Beasties for me, is when I get to spend time with the people that could benefit from what we do. There is nothing more fulfilling than playing the game, chatting about our Beasties and most importantly getting to know our audience better.

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Connecting on a more personal note so I can listen to what people think, how they feel when playing, what they expect or want helps us to create the materials that are really needed, not just what we think are needed.

Which is why when Caudwell Children invited us to join their family open day and spend some face to face time with the children and families that directly benefit from what they do, we jumped at the opportunity.

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Caudwell Children, an organisation founded by John Caudwell, aspires to change the future of disabled and autistic children by providing diagnosis, equipment, services and support to help them lead a full and active life.

We spent the day introducing families to and playing the Happy Heads Card Game, where the children got to meet the likes of Populo and how she gets a foggy brain, or Gagatek and talking about what might be making him feel low.

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We spoke about what stresses us out, things we are worried about (and in some cases maybe don’t have to be), exploring the benefits of deep breathing, trying out some yoga moves and creating comforts that can help us feel more at ease.

One young lady in particular stood out. Sharing her experiences at school being neurodivergent, how they make her feel and how she (expertly) stays positive. Before saying of the game “let me guess, you want me to talk about the Beasties to see if I feel the same… cringe, you won’t get me doing yoga or deep breathing”.

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She subsequently joined me in trying out some yoga and practicing deep breathing through the paper boat races (if you know you know), and came back a few times throughout the day to sit and chat some more.

The open day was filled with incredible people, animals (including a massive lizard and an arctic fox), wheelchair football, diggers that the children could operate and most importantly an ice cream man.

It was so apparent that beyond the Caudwell Children facility being such an incredible place, the people that work there and those that benefit from their services love it so much, that it felt like walking into a family home.

I couldn’t be more proud to be supporting Caudwell Children, and I look forward to introducing more of Book of Beasties to their family.

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Ben Sutcliffe, the Director of Executive Projects at Caudwell Children, commented: “Phil and Book of Beasties were the perfect partners for our family open day as the combination of fun, play and positive outcomes for children and young people is what the day was all about.

“At Caudwell Children we strive to help children understand themselves and overcome any challenges so they can reach their full potential; the Book of Beasties game does exactly the same and we are extremely proud of our relationship with Phil and the team.”

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