As we piled in the bus our introductions were made. Eight residents and four support workers. We stopped in at Tesco on the way to grab some munch. Then we were off. The journey there gave us all the opportunity to get to know some of the other residents from other foyers.

We were all pretty hungry after such a long and rather quite scary journey, so we set off in the direction of Pizza Hut. We all took the opportunity to have as much food as possible except some people’s eyes were too big for their bellies and so there was a lot left over.

As we arrived at the Royal Albert Hall, there was much confusion as to where we were supposed to go. We were literally walking in circles. We found our seats. Best seats in the house-front row! It all started with a clown band dressed in white, marching on, playing an annoying but quite catchy tune. The whole performance was amazing with singing and dancing, acrobatics and trampolinists. A pair of fire twizlers came on and pulled off some brilliant stunts. We all looked up and in awe as the aerial acrobats threw each other around and after a few somersaults, caught each other again. In one clown act, it started snowing. We tried to catch the snow but it was out of our reach. Then suddenly, a blizzard came out of nowhere. The fans started up and it was like we were in the crystal maze. One of the most memorable parts of the show was when one of our own residents, Sam, got dragged up on stage and had a romantic slow dance with one of the lady performers. Trouble was, she was French and long distance relationships tend not to work. Sorry Sam. The show overall was spectacular. A success for all ages and for all types of people. I loved it and would recommend it to anyone.

We made our way back to the bus with new friends and a new experience to talk about. Driving through London, we passed several sights including Big Ben, Tower of London, Buckingham Palace and the London Eye. The journey home was a little more exciting then the journey there. On the home stretch, we made sure we had all exchanged numbers so we could keep in touch. We got back to Stowmarket Foyer, said our goodbyes and set off to our own homes.

The day as a whole was a brilliant day out. I’d definitely go again if I had the chance.

A Big THANK YOU to the Cirque du Soleil Company for this making this possible.

Charmaine Rigby

Resident of Eye HEART Foyer