Summer Holiday Club 2005

Does any other event that the church holds provide a better demonstration of everyone working in unity?

With 85 children aged between the ages of 5 to 11 years a crèche of seven helpers children aged under 5 and with 38 adult helpers and leaders aged between 14 and 80+ and with varying abilities this really pulls everyone together with a single aim of exploring God’s word and at the same time, a very fundamental aim, having fun!

This year we followed the Scripture Union book entitled ‘Xpedition Force’ which we adapted to suit our needs, our age range and our facilities. As usual there was a mix of drama, craft activities, games, bible input and singing.

We followed a different ‘sense’ each day which was linked to the journey of Jesus’ last days on earth. Hearing – we heard and experienced the excitement as people were waiting for Jesus riding into Jerusalem on a donkey. And why on a donkey – well ask one of the children! Smelling – we heard the story of the woman pouring scented oil on Jesus and made lavender bags to take home as a reminder. Taste – we heard about the last supper and made iced biscuits with sprinkles – I wonder how many made it home before being eaten; hopefully the place mats lasted longer! Touch – as Judas betrayed Jesus by touching him with a kiss we made textured crosses with pasta. Sight – the final evening ‘seeing is believing’ was lead by Charlotte and Barrie and established that rose from death and is alive and with us all now.

There always seemed to be too much to do in the times allocated but that was the plan! It is not expected that all the craft activities will be completed initially, that the corners will not get decorated in the first session, that the activity sheets will prompt on going discussions etc.

All a deliberate plan to keep the children 100% occupied since mischief only occurs when children find they have nothing more exciting to do.

There’s always room for improvements and we don’t think we’ve got everything totally right yet but with each year that we’ve run the holiday club, we’ve learned something that we could improve upon and tried to incorporate that the next year.

If you’ve never been to a holiday club, you should really try to just visit us one morning or at very least join us for the final evening sausage sizzle and presentation. We hope you’d be amazed at the liveliness, the buzz of excitement, the enthusiasm of not only the children but also of the leaders and helpers frantically trying to get activities completed, banners made, corners decorated …

We would like to publicly thank all those associated with the holiday club, whether they help during the week, prepare things beforehand or just support by their prayers.

We believe this is perhaps our greatest outreach opportunity – who knows how many children we have managed to influence over the past 15 years - we certainly know that a number of children who have been in the holiday club as children have now progressed through to being helpers.

So here’s to next year’s holiday club, already being planned – ‘Landlubbers’ will see us all as pirates searching for treasure on a deserted island – why not make sure you’re part of it by putting the dates in your diary now – 29th August to 2nd September.

Christine and Steve