The Summer Barbecue has become something of a tradition at Playground over the years.

It’s a chance for the extended Playground family – staff, partners and kids – to get together and enjoy a summer’s afternoon of food, drink and fun. This year’s event was held at The Stag at Offchurch, a beautiful country pub just outside Leamington, and was our busiest barbecue yet. It also set the record for the youngest ever attendee, at just two weeks old.

Family has always been an important focus of the Summer Barbecue and this year kids of all ages enjoyed face-painting and a bouncy castle, while the adults enjoyed the surroundings, free bar and excellent barbecue. Later, some of the adults availed themselves of the face-painting and bouncy castle too, possibly as a direct consequence of the free bar.

We try to invite partners to as many PG events as possible, but the Summer Barbecue is our chance to invite the whole, ever-growing family. This year, it was great to see ‘Horizon babies’ playing with ‘Horizon 2 babies’, and to get an opportunity to meet some of the most recent additions – the ‘Undisclosed Project babies’. Perhaps next year we’ll have a better name for them.