London trip

We got up really early in the morning and Hannah, a Project Worker, picked myself and three other residents up and we set off to the train station.
    
When we arrived we got a cab and to the Houses of Parliament. On the way we saw Trafalgar Square, the London Eye, Big Ben and loads of other famous sights of London!

We then went to the Houses of Parliament and went for a tour.  Our guide was a rather strange looking; he had really dark hair and a ginger moustache, looked a bit like John Cleese!

He showed us the Houses of Commons and the Houses of Lords. He also showed us where the Queen sits when she comes to the Houses.  He said the throne she sits is made of gold leaf and is worth a lot of money!

He showed us a big hall which if you turned its roof upside down it would be a boat! It was there that the Queen’s Mother laid for four days when she died. Our tour guide told us that they had found an old tennis ball that was traced back to Henry VIII!

We found out some interesting history, like one of Henry VIII’s wives was married to his brother first until he died of ill health so she then married Henry!

We eventually left the Houses of Parliament and walked to portcullis house.  We went to a conference room, which was already full of people; there were people from all over the UK.  Once we’d had our introduction a few MPs came in and spoke to our groups. We discussed EMA and free education for over nineteen’s.
 
After lunch three MPs came in from the Houses of Parliament, one of them goes out with a Cheeky Girl, the popstar! We were allowed to put questions to the panel.  Something that came up was should sixteen year olds be allowed to vote? One of the panel said that if we wanted It badly then we should march down to London and protest, that way we might get listened to! This guy from Northern Ireland turned around and said; “you say you want us to march through London, but when two hundred thousand people turned up to appose against the war in Iraq, it still happened!” This was a very popular comment and the whole crowd roared!

It was a fantastic atmosphere and opportunity to be sat in front of a panel of MPs and has our say!

It was a fantastic day and now I feel a bit more confident about going to London and would definitely go again!

On the 29 February, residents from the Market Rasen Foyer packed their bags and spent a weekend of fun at the Edale Youth Activity Centre in the Peak District, thanks to the Local Network Fund.

The trip was a huge success with all the residents and staff having a fabulous time. Everyone worked well together and had a tremendous amount of fun, laughter and by the sounds of things, some good food too!

The residents would like to thank sincerely the Local Network Fund who funded the trip and their Instructors at Edale.

Here are some of the residents feelings in their own words:-

Wayne said “As soon as we got there we went abseiling, we did this off an 80ft bridge; I hate heights but I eventually did it, and when I had done it once it was easy to do again”.

Tom added “Our first night was spent on a night walk in the pouring rain which nobody seemed overly keen to do! We walked across terrains, gravel, mud, rocks and grass; with massive rivers flowing down the hills. Most of the walking was uphill with 40 mile an hour winds on the way back down. Everyone was drenched and had to take their clothes to the drying room, it was absolutely immense!”

Adelle said “A group of us went canoeing, it was amazing; we were put into groups of two or three and I had such a good time. The most difficult part was actually getting into the canoe! My favourite part was going over the rapids and overall I had a fantastic time.”

Henry said “I went caving, it was an exciting experience. To begin with we had to abseil down a 14ft drop, this made me quiet nervous but once we had made it into the cave we began our adventure. It was a unique and exciting experience and I would jump at the chance of doing it again!”

Brian said “The 40 ft leap of faith pole was slippery and made my heart pound as I climbed up to the top ledge which was only 50 cm wide! Every second at the top of that pole felt like a minute, but I jumped off and felt my stomach as I plummeted towards the ground. I don’t know why I did it, but I can now say that I’ve jumped off a 40 ft high pole!”

Briony said “On the morning of the last day I took part in the archery and rock climbing, it was really cold and windy. I soon learned how to get my shots into the middle; my group actually won the competition. The rock climbing wall was really good fun, I had to use all the muscles in my arms to pull me up. You really have to rely on the person holding the ropes because if you fall only they could stop you hitting the floor!”

We have recently been awarded a Young Roots Grant from the Heritage Lottery Fund to research the history of Market Rasen Foyer (which is a grade 2 listed building) and its past occupants.

Participation in the Young Roots project has been offered to all residents within the foyer and a large number of them have become involved. We have already obtained some useful information about the building from old newspapers held in the local library and have attended a coffee morning at a care home where elderly members of the local community were able to provide some interesting recollections about previous occupants of the building. We are also busy rehearsing some entertainment we intend to provide for Age Concern as a thankyou for their participation in our project. The Young Roots team have written poems and songs which they will deliver individually at the event and we will all sing a number of songs specially selected by the team members. Surprisingly I think for everyone, we have enjoyed the rehearsals, in particular the singing where there has been much fun and laughter as well as plenty of tea and biscuits.

We have also contacted the local newspaper who will visit the foyer to take some photographs and discuss our requirements. From this we hope to be able to interview various members of the local community who have knowledge of the history of the building and its occupants, and if they are willing to record this on video. We also intend to carry out research at lincoln archives, local estate agents, local solicitors, land registry as well as numerous other activities and as a consequence team members will gain some useful skills such as teamwork, communication, decision making, research, problem solving, interviewing, presentation, photography and video skills.

At the end of the project we intend to produce a brochure containing the information and pictures we have  obtained about the building and its occupants which will be distributed to local health centres, libraries and educational establishments. We also intend to produce a DVD which will contain interviews of members of the community and past residents and we will design a plaque to be situated at the foyer. The project will culminate in a presentation/open day for family, friends and members of the community where we will deliver our findings, unveil the plaque and bury a time capsule containing all of the information we have obtained and photographs of team members, residents and staff for future historians.

So all I can finally say about our project is that our Young Roots are fed, watered and cared for and as a result are growing and flourishing.

OPEN DAY

We recently held an open day and invited referring agencies, the local community to come and have a look around our Foyer and speak with us and the staff. We wanted to try and raise the Foyers profile and give everyone a chance to see exactly what Foyers do.

The residents led the day as we had designed the invitation (well Chloe and Steph), we all cleaned the building the day before, and Kyle, Jenny, Sam, Steph, Hannah, Danny and myself helped out on the day. We were responsible for showing the visitors round the building, serving tea and coffee and raising money for a new pool table through selling cakes etc. We didn’t raise a great deal that day about £20 as we didn’t want to turn it into a fundraising day, but every bit helps. However, we have since received some vouchers from the local co-op and some funding from the Rotary Club, so we are well on the way now to getting our new pool table. We were visited by the local Mayor and the High Sherriff of Lincolnshire and his good lady, who were very impressed with the building the residents and the staff. It was a very interesting day and it really boosted my confidence.

Mark Wright

Market Rasen Foyer

We took part in events for comic relief to help underprivileged children, we did a sponsored walk and a window wash in the local community. We were supposed to be going down to the local police station to do a car wash for them, but unfortunately something happened that morning and all the cars were out and about. We raised £94.46 in total from all the events. On the evening we had a bit of fun with the staff which everyone was looking forward to as it was Role Reversal time. The residents became staff and the staff became residents. We took on the roles of manager, secretary, key workers, someone from Head Office. It was an eye opener as the staff (pretending to be residents) caused some havoc for us to deal with, but we felt we dealt with it very well, issuing warnings appropriately. It was certainly hard work and we appreciate a bit more what the staff really deal with!!! I think everyone was in bed by 10 o clock that night!

Residents of Market Rasen Foyer