Following on from the great success of our first visit two years ago to Littlehampton, this year on the 11-13th March 17 young people and 6 volunteers visited Littlehampton.
On the Friday evening we sq
ueezed onto a packed commuter train from Victoria and made our way down south to Littlehampton, West Sussex. We were met in the Youth Hostel that we hired out by Keith accompanied by the welcome smell of baking potatoes, dinner was soon on the way. After finding our rooms and settling in we had a intro session and played some name games. We then went out to have an epilogue by the sea in one of the sheltered wiggles in Littlehampton’s mega bench (which is apparently still part of the UK’s longest bench).
CC by-nc-nd https://www.flickr.com/photos/dhedwards/
In the morning we had some breakfast and made some packed lunches. Sam then ran a workshop on the campaign called ‘Kites not drones‘ this is a campaign to raise awareness of the use of armed drones and the impact they have. We did a role play Q&A to explore the different sides of the arguments, with special guests Barack Obama, Donald Trump, a Quaker peace activist and a drone operator. A lively debate ensued!
In solidarity with the many children who can no longer fly their kites safely we made many kites our selves with slogans and wishes written on them.
In the glorious sunshine we ate our lunch, flew our kites, ran around on West beach and some even braved a paddle in the sea. We came back to the Youth Hostel had some drinks and cups of tea and then got into groups to have a wander around town, including have a look in on the Life boat station which houses Blue Peter 1.
Bluepeter 1
In the evening we played some games, the well loved classics; wink ministry, sardines, empire and mafia all run by the young people. Dinner and then an epilogue again by sea.
On Sunday we joined Littlehampton Quakers for meeting and lunch. A last opportunity to sit in the sun, play games and pop down to the beach before we headed back to the station and back to London.
Thanks to volunteers Keith, Sam, Katy, Tavi, Olivia and Michael and all the young people for a fantastic weekend.
– Michael
