From Friday 26 to Sunday 28 September, 23 young people and 6 adult volunteers headed to buzzing Brighton for another marvellous London Link group residential.
We met for dinner at Wagamama whilst the stragglers battled with disruption on the underground, all being present and correct by our appointed departure time. The rear half of the post rush-hour Friday evening train was out of action, so with the other passengers, we squeezed on to the half of the train that was operational, and enjoyed catching up with Friends old and new as we trundled through the dark past Selhurst Park, Gatwick Airport and up over the South Downs.
We pulled into Brighton station and stepped down to the sanctuary of the Quaker Meeting house, where some participants had already arrived from Brighton, Lewes and environs, as had our Sainsbury’s delivery.
After a few “getting to know each other” games, we closed the day with epilogue and settled down to our improvised beds, snuggled in sleeping bags and roll mats.
On Saturday morning we feasted on Cheerios and toast with freshly brewed tea and coffee, made picnic sandwiches and headed off to Brighton Museum.
The museum was pleasingly interactive, and had an exhibition on Mod Fashion and style (1958-66). A rolling video reminded us that Abba’s Eurovision success with “Waterloo” had taken place at the Brighton Dome over 50 years earlier.
We had our picnic lunch in Pavilion Gardens and headed off in small groups to enjoy free time in Brighton, some taking in a graffiti art trail. Back at the Meeting House garden, we got to work trimming green beens from bushes which had bean gleaned the day before from a nearby farm, being uneconomic for the farmer to harvest. They were delectably cooked up in a Thai green curry and coconut sauce for dinner, and given out to Friends at meeting on Sunday.
After a dinner of mostly Mexican fajitas and nachos (with aforementioned green beans on the side) with cake and custard for afters, we played games and walked down through the busy Saturday night life to the beach for a memorable epilogue, under the stars and seagulls, the lights of the pier visible to the east.
On Sunday morning we joined a bumper meeting for worship of almost 90 Friends, with a brilliant Children’s Meeting to accompany it. We enjoyed participating in a marvellous shared lunch of soups, quiche, salads, breads and cheeses. After clearing the meeting house we headed back to the train, sorry to say goodbye but happy to have spent a delightful weekend among the company of Friends
