AUTUMN 2019 UPDATE

We were so busy over the Summer that we missed our Summer update and Autumn is already passing on. The photo above of the Virginia Creeper on the Centre was taken last week whilst it was still in its Autumn glory. Most of the leaves have now fallen. The seasons move on and so does the Centre. We are very proud to announce the news below:

We have just been inspected for and awarded the AHOEC Gold Standard. This is the highest accreditation for our sector and is the Outdoor Centre equivalent of an OFSTED Very Good to Outstanding. We were assessed in 9 areas such as Learning & Development, Safety Management and Customer Care. All 59 criteria had to average at a least very good standard to get this accreditation.
It is the result of a tremendous team effort from all the staff at Deanfield to make the Centre a great place to visit.

Deanfield is very much about the outdoors and we have even tried to bring a bit of it to our dining room! A new 'living wall' reflects the forest we are surrounded by and is enjoyed by all who dine with us. New paint on the walls, new curtains and plants complete the theme.

As well as our dining room we have also given our lounge a complete refurb. A complete redecoration including new carpet, curtains and chairs that hopefully creates a warm homely feel for relaxing in or using as a meeting room.

Deanfield is always developing and improving (as this Blog shows) and there are several more developments in the pipeline that we look forward to telling you about in our Winter update.

Winter 2018 Update

The beginning of January saw us busy with the usual Winter jobs of painting and filling in potholes in the carpark etc.

We've also been making some welcome new developments at the Centre

 

The dining room now has special acoustic muffling panels installed on the ceiling to reduce the noise of voices in the room. So far visiting staff are very pleased with the improvement!

 

The dining room also has a nice new heater on the wall that even just visually helps to thaw you out after a chilly morning outside!

We've added some new emergency torches to all the staff bed rooms that are on a constant top up charge and flash on in the event of a powercut

We've already welcomed our 9th group of 2018 to the Centre and groups have been enjoying their activities and getting back to a warm and cosy house. Spring however  is hopefully just around the corner...

DFSC Spring 2016 Update

Spring came early to The Dean Field Studies Centre and we had Daffodils in bloom in January. As elsewhere Spring has then lasted a long time!



We made good use of the cold weather to get lots of indoor jobs sorted like painting the Dining Room & the whole of the First Floor accommodation.

We also got some new carpets laid in some of the bedrooms.



The stairs and landings got a full make over with completely new treads and nosings etc.

All the bedrooms on the first floor now have new ceiling tiles to compliment the modern bright flush fitting LED light units.



The Staff Shower on the First Floor was completely refurbished from floor to ceiling.

 

The world class Forest of Dean Bluebells are just coming into their prime now (they should be at their best this weekend if you can make it over to see them) Summer is just around the corner and we're now on to a list of outdoor projects that need doing.

 

First on the list is a new bridge over our stream in the Centre Garden.

Subscribe to our You Tube Channel to see the latest videos we have published. This one is of doing our Zip Wire and a Ropes Course Swing with a wheelchair user.

Decorating

We have just had a very rare week without a residential group staying. This is extremely infrequent and we don't have another such term time week free before January next year. In fact we're nearly completely booked up until August 2013. So when we do get such a week we make the most of it to do things we can't do when we have guests.

 We've always aimed to make the Lounge a warm and friendly place that is somewhat homely and it's always be decorated with that in mind. But gone is the orange theme seen in the photo on the left and instead staff have been busy decorating to give it a more 'contemporary look'.

We now have a 'Toasted Beige' bottom with a 'Seashell' upper to the walls. The curtains are in the prossess of being replaced by blinds and decorative pelmets. And some colour themed artwork now complements it  for the homely feel.

The DFSC staff are displaying their supressed interior-designer personas and it's a bit like 'Changing Rooms' here.

The finished look below:

We have also had some plastering work done in the dining room and the kitchen staff have redecorated the whole of this room as well. I'm sure they have carried out a dynamic risk assessment to determine that tables are safer than step ladders! And don't worry they'll be well washed down - they want to keep their 5 stars award for food hygiene!

 

We hope our guests like the fresh new decor. In the last two years we've more-or-less decorated the entire house from top to bottom.