5 Aug 2024
Almost forty young people took part in a summer camp to remember.
Friday saw the final day of our Tobermore Summer Residential, that had 38 young people head away for the week to take part in a range of teambuilding activities, good relations exercises and outdoor adventure challenges.
On Monday, once the group were packed onto the bus, they made their way to Woodhall Outdoor Learning Centre for some teambuilding challenges and water activities. In smaller groups, the young people took on challenges such as Human Jenga, High Ropes courses and Jump Rope challenges. On the water, members had a fun time trying out stand up paddle boarding.
Throughout the course of the week, the young people filled their time at the Kilcronaghan Centre by creating music videos - a challenge that has been set every year for summer camp groups. Three groups set about making music videos for three different songs - Katy Perry's Last Friday Night, Queen's I Want to Break Free and Wheatus' Teenage Dirtbag.
Day two saw the group take part in a good relations session, where they discussed various issues faced by local young people and completed exercises based around the ideas of equality and discrimination, particularly around the idea of someone being hired for a job based on things like religious beliefs, ethnicity and cultural background. As there were a number of young people who had never experienced the residential centre before, the good relations session was followed up with a perimiter quiz to get to know the centre area.
Next up was a trip to Shane's Castle for a packed activity afternoon with Escarmouche Activities. Members had to overcome an Assault Course, battle each other in Gladiator Combat and work in teams to win at Laser Tag.
The group travelled to Belfast to visit the Peace Line. The tour included visiting the Falls Road, Shankill Road and Crumlin Road Gaol before concluding at Lanark Way Peace Wall, where some of the members wrote messages of peace.
A high ropes course, Black Bull Run and zipline at Colin Glen rounded off the day trip to Belfast.
Thursday saw members venture to Cultra and Bangor, as they spent the afternoon exploring and experiencing the Ulster Folk Museum. In the evening, the group took part in some go-karting, an F1 simulator, pickleball, laser tag and some roller skating at the Eddie Irvine Centre.
After a Friday morning of evaluations and a big tidy up, the group made it home safe, bringing with them a week of incredible memories.