A hot, sunny and dry week enabled the 104 boys and girls who attended the summer Oakley holiday to take full advantage of magnificent fields and parklands of Bilton Grange. 18 members were on their first Oakley Holiday and five were leaders for the first time.

The fifteen comfortable dormitories used ranged in size from 4 to 9 people and everyone enjoyed the top-class cooking from the school catering team which included cooked breakfasts on request, three birthday cakes and a lunchtime pizza picnic.

Team games of volleyball and podex, a football and hockey tournament involving 15 teams, a thorough soaking for all at the water games and the 60th year of the special Oakley golf tournament were complemented by the chance to learn squash, croquet and boules. Each morning many were up promptly to attend a social swim in the heated pool before breakfast.

In the afternoons there was a very wide variety of activities to choose from – everything from Mah Jongg, cookery and a choir to face painting, big scale hide and seek, contemporary dance and water aerobics.

There was glorious weather for a walk and relay games at Draycote Water Park, two miles away, whilst the Oakley Olympics were marked by a parade in ingenious national costumes, a spectacular opening ceremony and 12 varied and light-hearted events.

In discussions groups and through our evening services we thought about and debated a number of current personal, social, religious and environmental topics.

A theme of ‘Making a Difference’ ran through the week which included the sale of fair-trade chocolate, dormitories lit by solar panels, news from Oakley members on expeditions in Tanzania and India, a specially written song and the launch of a directory of ideas and information. Members also contributed over £800 to six chosen charities.

Evenings were spent in the Ravenscroft Hall where members put on an excellent range of diverse entertainment. This included a guest appearance by Mr. Borat, clarinet, piano and guitar solos, gymnastics, tap dancing and the Chelsea pensioners’ ensemble, together with quizzes, solo and choral musical items, story-telling and community singing.

New members were presented with certificates of achievement and a book to mark their first holiday and the five members making a significant contribution as leaders for the first time marked the occasion by choosing gifts for communities in developing countries worth £60.

All members were given details of the two holidays planned at Bilton Grange for April and July, 2009 which will mark the 90th anniversary of the Oakley Holidays.