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As
usual, children from each of the five churches,
plus some from other churches or
outreach, converged on the Methodist church premises
for the first full week of the state school summer
holidays.
Holiday Fun Week is a tradition stretching
back 22 years now and approximately 160 children
participated this year. They were led by a huge
team of adult and teenage helpers on the theme “Seaside
Rock”. This tells the story of how Peter
met Jesus and became one of his followers, so as
the week progressed, the young people heard this
story unfurl, aided by super music, drama , storytelling
and craft activities. Clergy representatives from
each of the churches helped with the morning worship
sessions, to help bring the stories alive for the
children.
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In the afternoons, the children could
choose from quite a range of activities, both indoor
and outdoor. These included old favourites like
dance, ceramic craft, cricket and rounders plus
newer introductions, such as supervised board games,
making soft toys, scrapbooking, drama and other
outdoor games. The adult and teenage helpers worked
particularly hard to ensure that the afternoons
passed off smoothly and without incident - only
two tiny grazes reported for the whole week!
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Thursday evening saw the return of
the discos for two age groups and then on Friday,
the whole was rounded off at lunchtime with a closing
Service, to show parents and carers what Funweek
had been all about, followed by a family picnic
in Nork Park and then the Grand Clear-up.
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Finally
on the Friday evening all those who had helped
towards the success of Funweek
were invited to a party hosted by St Ann’s
church, as they are due to organise Funweek 2007.
Here are just some of the comments and observations
from the young people who participated in Seaside
Rock: |
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- "My first Fun Week as
a teenage helper was a great success due to
the commitment of lots
of people. My group leader was very organised
but we were devastated when she lost her voice
on the
second day."
- "This was my first year taking
part in Holiday Fun Week and I enjoyed making
bracelets and arts
and crafts stuff."
- "This was
my last year being a child at Fun Week, because
next
year I will be able to be a helper.
I’ve had such a good time, it takes
dedication from everyone."
- "Although I only did two days
of Fun Week, I still found it really great and
made a lot
of friends."
- "I enjoyed Holiday Fun Week,
it was a great experience and I made lots of
friends."
- "The drama
was great fun to rehearse and perform, I can’t
wait until next year."
- "The best bit of Fun Week was
being the lead archaeologist (digger) in the
drama and getting
squirted with water pistols."
- "I was the youngest fun
week leader this year, and I found it really
rewarding but very stressful.
It was really good getting to know my other
leaders who I didn't know."
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