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WSM employees look forward to the annual Summer Event with great anticipation and perhaps more so this year with our day at JB ski water sports. Friday began with a light drizzle, but not enough to dampen our spirits and by the time we had assembled for the coach and a bacon roll, the rain had stopped and the sun had started to appear.
JB Ski is a water sports centre in Chertsey, and as the coach pulled up, everyone gingerly surveyed the large reservoir, quietly wondering who was going to fall in first. The morning was spent on personal development, something usually met with groans, but Chris Scoble kept us all engaged and entertained with exercises looking at different personality types and traits, how we manage our time and a fun ‘bingo’ type game helping us get to know each other. It definitely got the grey matter going, with people still discussing the outcomes of the activities into the evening.
Lunch was a delicious BBQ of lamb kababs, rib eye steak, chilli prawns, halloumi burgers and fresh salads, and after a safety video we donned our wetsuits and swimming costumes ready for the first activity of cable skiing. Starting off on our knees and a board, we had to get round the entire circuit three times before we could graduate to standing on skis. There were many false starts with the cable jerking suddenly as you left the jetty, but if you managed to hold on, the rush of adrenaline kicked in as you raced along the water. All too quickly the first corner arrived which defeated all but the elite competitors, the majority crashing spectacularly as the cable unexpectedly slackened and then tightened again, jerking us cleanly off the board. Ben S was the clear champion of the wakeboard and Ekow won the prize for the energy exerted in practically swimming all the way around the course.
During this time the first banana boat went out with another group who clung on for dear life as the boat twisted and turned. The whole left side where triumphant, managing to stay on the entire ride and poor Maureen who went flying several times into the water, vowed to never do it again! Next up was the infamous JB Ski Aqua Park: a huge inflatable obstacle course set up in ‘Total Wipeout’ style. We slithered on and cautiously moved around the park with many people falling into the water causing much hilarity. There were a variety of techniques used with Louisa running around like a ninja, Saran trying to push others in to give him space, and Ben C with his ‘frog slam’, which looked not dissimilar to a flying seal. Samara never once lost her footing and was paddled elegantly back to the shore by a hunky life guard.
Finally, we spilt up again for a final banana boat ride where the whole banana managed to flip over with only Anthony staying on, and the other group having a few competitive games of human table football where Mahima luckily managed to duck out of the way several times from Tom’s aggressive kicking!
Those still keen for a party headed back to The Alex in Wimbledon for several jugs of Pimms and a dance. What a fun, action packed day that left many people with aching muscles and comparing bruises the following Monday. A huge thank you to the partners for the day out, it was enormous fun and a great way to get to know our colleagues away from the computer screen. Some of the photos from the event that Stephen kindly snapped throughout the day can be found on our Facebook page here: www.facebook.com/WSMPartnersLLP.
Amanda graduated from Brunel University, with a joint honours degree, achieving a BSC and BA degree in Leisure Management and Television and film studies. Amanda started her career in a customer service role before joining the hotel group Le Meridien as an Events coordinator, she was in the hotel industry for seven years and during her time won an award from a major international airline for her outstanding attitude and dedication to customer service, which she achieved while working for the Rezidor hotel group in the position of Airline Crew Manager. Amanda has over 20 years experience in customer relations and event management.