How to do a team away day PROPERLY!

We wanted to have a memorable outing, an uplifting experience, and a top-class treat - doesn’t everyone? Well, we did just that.

Our venue was picked based on the wide variety of activities, the beautiful and relaxing setting, and the ease of access for all involved. Carden Park excelled at all these aspects and made sure that we had no other option than to have a fantastic away day!

After the long, beautiful drive up we all made our way to our meeting room for the morning, cleverly expanded to accommodate our ever-increasing team. Presented to us were many types of freshly-baked goodies, including fruity Danish swirls and custard croissants, all washed down with a luxury hot chocolate or a tantalising fruit tea – yum!

Next, the lovely Dave from Cheetham Bell advertising agency came to enlighten us about how to make the most of our marketing careers. The key message was to ‘just do it’, which resonated with us all. Cue the breakfast chaser/lunch appetizers – tiny yogurt, granola & strawberry puree pots – perfect to help us power through until lunchtime.

Next up, Ali Wheeler from Feelgood Co spoke to us about the 5 ways to Feelgood, to “enrich and enhance our daily routine, change habits and create a Feelgood lifestyle”. We were introduced to ‘walking meetings’, which help us to stick within a certain time frame, while getting exercise and fresh air all at once - great for productivity and creativity. You can discover Ali on our website where she will be sharing her Tip of the Month, and her best hints on how to FEEL GOOD in Cheshire's Gardens.

All that walking and head-clearing called for a belly filling, so we headed over to Redmond's Restaurant in the heart of Carden Park. A tempting display of delicious meals and treats greeted us, and we descended upon the warming dishes and incredible salad bar with gusto. From quinoa to poached salmon, mozzarella to katsu curry, the array made sure to please everyone’s tastes. Surrounded by immense windows with charming views of the grounds, Redmond's is the perfect place to sit and relax and enjoy a great meal.

Fully fuelled, we set out in the blissful Autumn sunshine for our team building activities - which, as apprehensive as you might be about team-building activities - looked very intriguing and had us all curious about what we were about to do… We were greeted with half-cut drainpipes, wooden blocks, twine, a toilet seat, a camping chair, and a golf ball, and tasked with building a circuit… obviously! In this task, we had to get the ball around the circuit using only the materials provided and in the slowest amount of time possible. Needless to say, this took a lot of strategic planning, countless trials and errors, lots of laughs, quite a bit of screaming, and some awesome team work! Other exercises included tipping a golf ball along a line of connected pipes and running like crazy from one end to the other, making a square from a seemingly impossible set of shapes, and a giant version of Mastermind. They had us all testing our grey matter as well as our skills and stamina!

To follow this crazy afternoon, some of us got loose and some were let loose. The individual activities offered facials, massages, manicures, pedicures, 4x4 driving, quadbiking, the driving range, and high ropes course, and we can definitely vouch for them all. The massage ladies all came out feeling ‘energised and revitalised’, and the 4x4/quadbiking maniacs just couldn’t hold in their giddiness!

Overall, all our staff thoroughly enjoyed our away day and it was (and still is!) the ultimate talking point of the office with questions of “How are we going to top it next year?” bouncing around, it’s safe to say that Carden Park truly outdid themselves.