One young person's dream is to see Lee Mead, who is Joseph in the production of Any Dream Will Do and this became a reality when the group secured funds from Stockton Youthbank. Here is their story..............
ANY DREAM WILL DO, Hartburn Lodge Youth Opportunity Fund Application
Following our successful Youth Opportunity Fund bid to Stockton YouthBank and securing a grant of £2673.00, the five children got together initially to discuss how they were going to raise the 10% required to support the grant. This enabled them the opportunity to take some responsibility for the trip and work together as a group.
Jack had already decided that he was going to do a monthly quiz to sell to his family and friends. Jack took total ownership of ensuring his deadlines were met, i.e. marking the quiz on the last Saturday of each month and devising the next months quiz. Jack did his quizzes for a total of 6 months and raised £61.00.
Tina opted to do a sponsored silence and raised £40.00. Katie, Adele and Ben chose to do a Christmas raffle and each took responsibility for taking the book of raffle tickets home for two weeks, selling them and then returning the raffle book and money to myself on a pre-arranged date. A total of £47.00 was raised from the raffle.
The children all realised and understood that they had to raise some of the money themselves in order for the trip to happen and it was evident that they all felt a sense of achievement for raising these monies.
The arrangements for travel, accommodation, theatre tickets etc. were all arranged by the staff accompanying the children with them being given regular updates on the bookings made. Due to Jack being a wheelchair user, he was involved with arrangements and discussions with the departments back care advisor regarding both him and the staff staying safe with his transfers whilst in London. Also, a specially adapted hotel bedroom was booked in order for all his needs to be met fully whilst in London.
Before the trip, each of the children was taken on a shopping trip to choose an outfit to wear for their evening at the theatre. This gave them all the opportunity to be independent and promoted their decision-making.
Friday 7th March, we all met at 11.30 a.m. at Darlington station and left on the 12.02 train for London Kings Cross. On the train, the group got together and agreed on ground rules and expectations for the weekend. Each of the children, and staff too, contributed to making these with one of the children taking the lead and writing them down and then each of them signing. It was observed by staff over the weekend that it was the children that prompted each other and referred back to the list should one of them break a rule.
It was also noted by staff over the weekend that all the children were looking out for each other and constantly checking that each was ok. It was also very positive to see them discussing as a group options/choices and reaching a majority vote, i.e. where to eat etc. They were all also very aware of how busy London was and how they all needed to stay safe and remain in the group especially in the crowds and crossing busy roads.
After breakfast on the Saturday morning we went to Madame Tussauds and spent three hours looking around there whilst taking lots of photos with the famous people! We had a light lunch back at the hotel before all getting ready for the highlight of the weekend - "Joseph". The three girls helped each other get ready by doing each other's hair and make up.
We got taxis to Theatre Land around 5.00 p.m. and went and had something to eat before the show. Due to all the restaurants in the area being so busy, we had to make a group decision and eat in McDonalds! We then went to the Adelphi theatre and took our seats ready for the performance - how each child felt at that point is recorded in their evaluations and the expressions on their faces told the story!
After the performance, I was handed an envelope and we agreed that we would wait until we got back to the hotel to see what it contained. We got our two cabs back to the hotel and all went in one of the bedrooms to open the envelope. The children (and staff) were delighted with the contents?a signed photograph to each of us by Lee Mead. We had also bought a programme and "Joseph" T-shirt for everyone so all were very excited by the end of that evening.
The next morning we assisted the children with their packing and had our breakfast in the hotel. The breakfast was buffet style so it was good to see the children going and making their own choices.
After breakfast, we went to Kensington High Street and had a walk round the shops and went to Marks and Spencer's where everyone chose sandwiches etc. to eat on the return train journey.
We were collected by our pre booked mini bus to go back to Kings Cross station where we caught the 2.30 p.m. train home. On the train journey home, each of the children completed a short evaluation, which we had composed.
To summarise, although we have lots of photos to evidence the whole weekend, I know that the children had a fantastic time and experiences that they may never have had without the support of Stockton Youthbank and Stockton Youth Service. We feel that the weekend was very special for everyone and also learnt a lot more about the children as individuals and all we can say is................................the dream was fulfilled.
