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 squeezed 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

To celebrate the start of the New Year, about 20 young people and 5 adults came together over great food, fun games and lots of catching up to do! We had a great time and it was great to reconnect with people we haven’t seen for a bit and to make new connections. What a better way to start the year!!

Thanks to the Young people committee and adult volunteers for organising a great party also thank you to Westminster meeting for hosting us again this year.

On the 12^th and 13^th of September 15 young people and 4 volunteers arrived at South London Scout Centre in Dulwich for a weekend of Quaker camping.

Even before everyone arrived, the most important task of any camping trip was already under way as tents were constructed at a rapid (and, in other cases, not so rapid) pace with everyone pitching in to ensure all had a cover against the elements.

When all the shelters were constructed, Friends gathered together for some camp side games. This began with everyone, old and new, introducing themselves by saying their name and something interesting about it. To really hammer this home, Friends lined up in alphabetical order. Then we went geographical with Friends House (a bag) at the centre and Friends positioned themselves according around it. In order to expend some energy we played some high speed games of chain bulldog and stuck in the mud. After some recovery time friends showed some amazing skills as they tried lifting an ever smaller cereal box off the ground with their teeth.

With games done, a lovely BBQ veggie dinner was prepared over two wood fires. After the main meal we chatted, sang songs and toasted marshmallows on the fire until our local hosts arrived for a night time bat walk. Unfortunately we did not find any bats but we did fully explore the dark suburban forest that surrounded our camp site. When we got back to our tents we had a simple epilogue and retreated to our camp beds.

On Sunday we woke early and had a good breakfast before we started the central task of de-constructing our tents. We set off for Forest Hill meeting house and before joining our local friends in worship we did some energetic and more relaxing activities. After a powerful meeting for worship we shared an amazing lunch that Forest Hill meeting prepared and in return we did the washing and drying up. And we had just enough time for a big group photo along with some musical interludes before we all went home.

Huge thanks to Forest Hill meeting & the South London Scout Centre for having us, all the volunteers, parents/guardians and young people for another brilliant weekend.

– Laurence

 

People say marching and campaigning and protesting can’t achieve anything. Well, the legal position of LGBT people has changed out of all recognition in the UK but there is a lot to do.  Being gay is against the law in 80 countries and ten of those execute LGBT people.  Same sex marriage is still not legal in Northern Ireland and people are still bullied in schools.

– Stephen Cox

On the 6th to the 8th of March 20 young people and 5 volunteers gathered at Hampstead Meeting house

We started the weekend on Friday evening, as we always do by making sure everyone is introduced and welcomed! We were glad to welcome a few new faces this weekend. The second highest priority was food of course, so we had some dinner. After dinner we got the paints out and made some really creative placards for Saturday’s climate awareness march “Time to act“.

We had an epilogue and then off to bed.

On Saturday we woke early and got a good breakfast in us for the long day ahead. We also made some pack lunches to keep us going later on. After a briefing we made our way into central London by Lincoln’s Inn Fields to meet up with other Quakers who had also assembled for the march. More about Quakers & climate change

Some lunch, photo opportunities, autographs  and we were ready to set off for Parliament square via the Strand. The atmosphere of the march was like a carnival with music systems, crazy costumes, bright banners and lots of people (organisers reckoned around 20,000).

Having thoroughly made our point and worn our legs out we returned back to Hampstead for some free time and rest. Into the evening we had dinner and played some of our favourite games, such as Zombies, Sardines, Empire and my new favourite, Newspaper hockey, epilogue then bed.

Sunday we had a bit of a lie in and a leisurely breakfast, some of us joined Hampstead meeting for it’s full meeting, while others joined a session of “any questions” where we wrote down questions that came to us and some people nominated themselves to answer them. We then went and joined the main meeting for the last 15mins. After lunch we headed out to Hampstead heath and played some games. Some coco back at the meeting house and then home time.

We’d like to thank Hampstead meeting for having us, all the volunteers, parents/guardians and young people for another fantastic weekend.