If you have been anywhere near Mary’s in the last 9-12 months, you will have heard about Mary’s trip to Northern Ireland. Yes!! the excitement started way before the plane tickets were purchased (and with good reason)
As part of Northern Irelands 3C’s leadership scheme, Mary’s has been visited by and hosted groups from Fermanagh, Banbridge, Coleraine and Derry (in 2019 and 2020) doing social action projects, joint activities, and trips, learning each other’s slang, and generally having a great time.
Showing London off as tour guides helped Mary’s members see it with new eyes, exploring local walks from Finsbury Park to Alexandra Palace or going further afield down to Greenwich Park and climbing to the observatory point. It’s nice to know that young people are still impressed by Oxford Street and central London even if they have never experienced the thrill of 1990’s Trocadero.
Our plans for a return trip to Northern Ireland were delayed due to the global pandemic. But in May 2022, our new friends from Brooklands Youth Club in Ballybean came to London, and the idea was back on!
Monday, 22 August, we met in the Early hours at St Pancras Station and made our way to Gatwick and on to Belfast. (For several members, this was their first experience of flying, and it was great to share this with them as a group.)
After taking a tour of Ballybean and hearing some local history, we all made the trip down to Newcastle and spent three days at Shannagh-More Outdoor Education Centre.
Set in fifty acres of beautiful gardens, woodland, and mountainside. The grounds stretch from the Mourne Mountains above Shannagh-More to the Irish Sea below. We tried wet bouldering where you could drink the spring water (everyone enjoyed this apart from Sally, who isn’t built for mountain climbs, but can’t dispute the amazing views) We kayaked on lakes, built rafts and raced them, zip-lined, played team games, had bonfires, walked along the beach, ate ice-creams and stayed up far too late each night. It really was a holiday for the whole group.
Before returning to London, we just had enough time to visit Belfast, see the sites including the Big Fish, get our tourist photos and pick up some souvenirs. A love of potato bread was developed on this trip.
As soon as September came around, it began… ‘when we go to Northern Ireland next year…’ I think that’s the signs of a successful trip, the members who went want to return and the members who didn’t have heard enough stories to know, they want to be part of it.
There are young people from Brooklands who have plans to return to London to live and study. I lost count of how many Mary’s members said they want to move to Northern Ireland. One mum told me her daughter had texted her to say, ‘can you sell the house so we can move?’ with mum replying ‘that will be difficult because we don’t own it.’
Many of the youth Clubs are still in contact, calling each other and facetime from the youth club sessions. They have made a lasting impression on each other.
We don’t have a return date in mind yet, BUT Mary’s loves to network, and the staff enjoyed this just as much as the young people so …. Jamie, if you ask your manager, I’ll ask mine, what is the budget for summer?
