We were delighted to be invited by Robert, our local community Police officer, to attend a charity football match at Adams Park, home of the Wycombe Wanderers.

The football teams were made up of the local emergency services crew members - Police Officers vs Firefighters, with proceeds going to The Horse Trust, the Firefighters charity and the Thames Valley Police Benevolent Fund. 

Service users Robert, Vivien, Wayne, Spike, and Tony were all eager to attend and were looking forward to showing their support for the Police officers and the Firefighters.

It was a lovely sunny day when we arrived and we went straight to see the Police and their vehicles. We went past one car that had a Police sniffer dog and her handler who was so popular with all the children that we couldn’t even get close!

Robert and Spike met up with local officers and Robert (pictured below) had his picture taken wearing one of their helmets.

Tony (pictured below) was delighted to sit on the Police motorbike and have his picture taken. Luckily they didn’t leave the key in the ignition, as he looked ready to ride off with it!

Once we had found our seats we decided that the service users would support the Police and team members from Downley Lodge would support the Firefighters.

It was a very tense match, which in the end went to penalties. Both teams played so well that it took a long time for a team to come out on top. Just as we were getting into the taxi they announced that the Police had won, much to the service users’ delight.

Not only did we have a nice day out, but we met some lovely people and made even more connections with the local community.

We can’t wait to come back next year!

Justyna Baluka, Service Manager of Downley Lodge