North Belfast Team

Week 6- Fishing Trip

2008-03-04T12:12:00.001Z

After all the hard work at Nursery Schools (did we mention we got our photo & a write up in the North Belfast News?) the TEAM headed off to Dromore for a day's fishing. It seems that everyone who went had a fantastic day, with plenty of fish caught! Some were big, some were tiddlers, but a great day was had by all (as the photos show!).

However the week also involved getting some preparation for the TEAM up coming work placements. Skills were taught in hazards and risk assessments.

Weeks 4 and 5- The Community Project

2008-03-04T12:08:00.002Z

Everyone was eager to begin the project and get stuck in, as you can see from the photos the nursiers were in need of a bit of colour.

Week 3- Planning and Preparation

2008-03-04T12:03:00.002Z

After the action packed week at residential it was back to the TEAM room to discuss a very important issued - the Community Project.

The TEAM spent some time planning and phoneing a number of potential projects that they wanted to undertake. After some discussion it was decided that not one but 2 local nursery schools needed to have a make over!As the project is the TEAM's responsibility - it is up to the TEAM to raise the funds themselves for the project. Much discussion was had to come up with fundraising ideas - this included a very succesful raffle and bag packing at ASDA on the Shore Road (thank you!)

Week 2- East Coast Adventure

2008-03-04T11:58:00.003Z

The TEAM spent the week in the safe hands of the East Coast Adventure Team in Rostrevor.

An action packed week included bouldering, nightwalks, the nightline, canoeing, banana boating, rock climbing, abseiling, an archery competition, and orienteering and of course gremlins!!

The TEAM worked as a team many times on residential. Helping each other when people were scared or simply through problem solving activities such as the dreaded shelves. Overall the TEAM seemed to enjoy the week although with Mods, cooking that wouldnt be too hard.

Team 5 Underway

2008-03-04T11:48:00.003Z

Team 5 started on the 14th of January 2008 with a group of young people aged between 16 and 25. The team consists of Andrea, Danielle, Grainne, Arold, Anthony, Cathy and last but not least Naomi Carroll.

The Team is set for 12 weeks of fun, activities and learning. The programme includes a 5 day residential, community project, 2 week work placements and a week of team challenges culminating in a final presentation.There will also be a number of guest speakers invited to talk about many different issues affecting young people today.

The programme will presnt opportunites to learn new skills, work on pre-existing skills, team building and hopefully give each memeber a real chance to finding employment and training.

Week 12 - Final Week - Go-Karting

2007-12-07T11:09:00.001Z

So finally it's arrived - the last week. What a journey the 12 weeks have been. There's been highs and lows, ups and downs, but overall it has been absolutely fantastic. Many of the team commented that it has been the best thing they've ever done, and they are now ready to progress to bigger and better things. As a reward for all their hard work, the team headed off for a day's Go-Karting. The pre-race challenges were already in place, the engines were ready, now it was time for the talking to end....let the race begin!!!!

As you can see Roy 'no fear' won again (to the dismay of Andy), but it wasn't just about the winning - everone had a terrific day; well deserved too!

So Team 4 move on into the sunset.................the best of luck to everyone!!

Time for a relaxing Christmas and new year.............time to recharge the batteries in anticipation of Team 5 kicking off on 14th January 2008......................bring it on!!

Week 11 - Team Challenges

2007-11-29T15:05:00.000Z

The Team embarked on a week full of team challenges which included helping out with an Essential Skills awards ceremony, providing food for the homeless, a fun day for pre-school children, and bingo at a local nursing home. They say you get out what you put in, and the team put loads into this week; from the preparation of events to co-ordinating the day itself - it was a great success all round so once again......WELL DONE!!

Weeks 9 & 10

2007-11-28T15:57:00.000Z

Now that all the work placements are over the team arrived back in the team room ready for a very busy fortnight. The team spent some time looking for jobs and completing application forms; they made up CVs and had mock interviews - all to prepare them for work in the near future. The team also gained certificates in First Aid & Food Hygiene as well which will make us more employable!! We also got our certificates from Darren (FASA), thanks Darren you were great! It wasn't all hard work though - We visited Mr Tayto (and ate a bucket load of crisps!), we spent some time with Billy Murray (World Champ) at Pro-Kick..Andy won the contest, Hugh came runner up. We also went Ice Skating at Dundonald Ice Bowl which was fantastic (we've got the bumps and bruises to prove it!), and Ten Pin Bowling at the Odyssey, Andy won that too!!! In between all this the team had to come up with some ideas for the Team Challenges for week 11, and start thinking about the final presentation which is looming large....

Weeks 7 & 8 - Work Placements

2007-11-07T10:10:00.003Z

Hi Ho Hi Ho, it's off to work we go.................
The TEAM all got their packed lunches made and headed off bright and early to their respective work placements. Some went to work at a recycling plant, others went to hairdressers & beauty salons, one went to a builder's yard for some hard graft, another went to a local leisure centre, and one even went to the local cemetery for a spot of gravedigging!!
Although the jobs were very different, everyone on the TEAM gave 100% commitment and showed that they are all very capable individuals. Well done everyone!

Week 6 - Gone Fishing

2007-11-07T09:48:00.000Z

After all the hard work at PIPS (did we mention we got our photo & a write up in the North Belfast News?) the TEAM headed off to Dromore for a day's fishing. It seems that everyone who went had a fantastic day, with plenty of fish caught & had for dinner that night! Some were big, some were tiddlers, but a great day was had by all (as the photos show!).

Community Project Before During & After

2007-10-18T14:55:00.001Z

FROM THIS (ABOVE).............................................................................................................!!!!!!

TO THIS.............................................. AND EVENTUALLY...TO THIS!!!

The whole TEAM worked extremely hard from start to finish. We are so proud of our effort and are delighted to do this for PIPS which deserves all the support they can get. WHAT A TEAM!!!

Weeks 4 & 5...The Community Project!!

2007-10-18T14:26:00.000Z

Once the TEAM decided on PIPS it was time for the hard work to start! Firstly we managed to obtain a skip free of charge (thanks to Batesy Skip Hire) to enable us to completely clear the area which was overrun with rubbish. We then had to make a shopping list of materials needed for the job in hand, including paint, brushes, plants, hanging baskets etc. Once the TEAM realised how much money was needed it was off to Tesco at Ards shopping centre for more fundraising!

Week 3

2007-10-11T11:12:00.000Z

After the action packed week at residential it was back to the TEAM room to discuss a very important issued - the Community Project. The TEAM spent some time visiting a number of potential projects and then had decide what one they most wanted to undertake. After some discussion it was decided that the PIPS (Public Initiative for the Prevention of Suicide and Self Harm) project was the one!

As the project is the TEAM's responsibility - it is up to the TEAM to raise the funds themselves for the project. Much discussion was had to come up with fundraising ideas - this included bag packing at Marks and Spencers at AbbeyCentre (thank you!)

Week 2 - The Residential

2007-10-11T10:23:00.001Z

The TEAM worked brilliantly together; some helped those who were perhaps not as confident in certain activities, while others gave encouragement to the rest of the TEAM to help them face and overcome their fears. The endurance of the orienteering helped bond the teams together, as along with the many problem solving tasks, the trek through (and up!!) the mountains was extremely tough and everybody had to dig deep to get through it....and they did so well done!!

A special thanks to the whole team at East Coast for making this a memorable week for all of us, especially Maudie whose cooking was different class and well needed!

Now for the rest of the programme!!!!!!!!!

TEAM 4 up and running

2007-10-11T08:42:00.000Z

Team 4 kicked off on 17th September with 11 young people aged between 16 and 25 committing to 12 weeks of fun, adventure and learning. The programme includes a 5 day residential, community project, 2 week work placements and a week of team challenges culminating in a final presentation. There will also be a number of guest speakers invited to talk about many different issues affecting young people today.

Every single team member has a lot to gain from, and of course contribute to the programme. Everyone will learn many new skills, some may realise they already had these skills! They will learn how to work effectively as a team, especially during the residential and community project. They will also make decisions around their future career options; this will involve learning new interview techniques, CV writing and telephone skills, and of course a 2 week work placement of their choice.

They will learn alot about different groups of people in their community, and the different needs that they may have. The can also gain a number of certificates throughout the programme.

Oh yes, not forgetting the bucketfuls of fun that they will be guaranteed along their journey.

Bring it on!!

Team 3

2007-04-17T14:23:00.000Z

Team two are away onto brighter and better things now and recruitment has begun for Team 3. If you are interested in signing up for the 12 week Personal Development Programme please contact us on 07760121970.

Team 3 starts on 23rd April 2007.

Look forward to seeing you all there.

Closing comments from some Team members of the Jan - April Team 2007

2007-04-06T08:43:00.000Z

Jeff - Team Leader - Thanks guys, you are legends, wont forget you! You've made my last North Belfast Team so enjoyable and memorable. Have a fantastic future.
Natalie - Thanks for everything, you've made me see there is more to life!
Fra - Won't ever forget you all, thanks for the last 12 weeks.
Stephen M - You've helped me change my life. I will miss you all.
Laura - I dont have one highlight of the 12 weeks, it was all a highlight.
Mandy - 2007 is going to be the year I change my life and the Prince's Trust Team has been the start of that. Thank you to Sister Una for recommending it and thank you to my new friends for making it so enjoyable.
Tommy - Everyone should be a PTTM (Prince's Trust Team Member)

Our closing ceremony

2007-04-06T08:39:00.000Z

Team challenge

2007-03-27T15:14:00.000Z

So, fundraising again. This time in Marks and Spencer and Asda in Ards shopping centre. (thanks to you both for letting us in!)

Raised plenty of pounds from lots of generous customers (thanks to you all as well!)

This week we headed out on our Team challenge, so far we've been making lunches for the homeless around Belfast....it was such a good feeling being able to help..made us all smile.

The Class Clown (yep, Dan dressed up) and the rest of us went to the children at 174 Trust and played games and handed out goody bags. Fantastic..loved seeing their wee faces light up.

Hopefully we have lots more great experiences to tell you about.

Will keep you posted on the rest of the week.

As the weeks fly by

2007-03-20T12:52:00.000Z

So, it's the start of week 10 now. Unbelievable how it's flying by! We're doing our Food Hygiene today, but last week we did lots of work on our CV's, cover letters and job applications. We had a lot of people in talking to us about career prospects and stuff. There was a fair amount of paperwork this week, but we still managed to fit in a lot of energisers and had a visit to the local fire station.

We even got to wrap our leaders up in toilet paper, they were mummified!

Friday fun.

2007-03-02T15:41:00.000Z

On Friday we went back into our Team room wrote up our weeks diaries, did a few energisers, reviewed the 1st six weeks activities of our Team and headed out 10 pin bowling. It was good to get to do something relaxing and get to see everyone again. We all missed each other :(

Heading out for our work placements

2007-03-02T09:17:00.000Z

We've just finished our first week in the work placements. It was powerful! A really challenging week, but fun. We've been sitting in on operations in the Vets, making cookies in Tesco and putting makeup on Debenhams customers and learning all about Marks and Spencers. Mad!
Ok, so we did have some difficulties at the start of the week but we're all sorted and cant wait to do our second week of work. Our CV's are going to look even better now when we get started on them in a few weeks!

More fun!

2007-02-21T11:28:00.000Z

Having fun!

2007-02-21T11:19:00.000Z

We've done loads of Team activities and are getting a few new qualifications along the way.
Here we are in action.

Finishing our Community Project.

2007-02-21T11:11:00.000Z

Here we are at our handover to 174 Trust and having our BBQ.

What a great day it was! Some Prince's Trust staff came to see us and commented on how great our project was. Fantastic, we loved it!

Community Project 2

2007-02-21T10:59:00.000Z

Here are some more photos of us working on the project.

Community Project

2007-02-20T16:31:00.000Z

So the Community Project got started at 174 Trust. We had been out raising funds and got quite a lot donated to help us on our way.

We needed to rebuild a wall, paint another wall, hire a skip to clear the corner site, build a BBQ and plant new flowerbeds. As you can see from the 'before' picture, we had quite a job on our hands!

But, we were up for the challenge, everyone got fully involved and we all divided up into our wee groups to do the jobs we knew we would be best at. Some painted, some cleaned and scrubbed, some built walls and some dug holes and planted plants.

We had donations from Belfast Giants, Dundonald Ice Bowl, Beautycare and Colourcare, Lunarland, Movie House Cinemas, Fortwilliam Garden Centre, Galaxy Bingo, Homebase at Newtownabbey, Eglantine Timber, Dicksons Garden Centre and Nobletts. Thank you very much everyone for helping us out, we really appreciated it!

Week 3

2007-02-20T16:02:00.001Z

This week we had a few guest speakers come in, which raised awareness in some topics for the Team. We also started getting ready for our Community Project and even went out fundraising in Belfast City Centre and the Asda store in Coleraine.

The fundraising helped us raise some much needed money to complete our Community Project at 174 Trust on the Antrim Road. We planned to renovate their outdoor BBQ area for the local community to use when they visit 174 Trust.

We even headed out for a kick boxing lesson that week at ProKick. Thanks to Billy Murray for a great session!

The Residential

2007-02-20T16:02:00.000Z

Everyone had a fantastic week and took part in a lot of activities. The Team members got to know everyone really well and many pushed the boundaries of what they thought they could achieve.

Some climbed the wall when they never thought they could, others got creative for a change and made great clay structures. Others found new skills they didnt know they had, like being superb at Team problem solving. We made T-shirts, did a bit of oreinteering, rock climbing, pottery, Team games, Archery and everyone faced the fear of the nightline. Hey, we even made a movie and found a great director for it!

Everyone mucked in, had a ball and were ready to take on the rest of the programme.

North Belfast 2nd Team

2007-02-20T15:35:00.000Z

The 2nd Prince's Trust Team started on the 15th January 2007. 13 young people signed up to attend the programme which will include a 5 day residential, a community project, 2 week work placement, a week focusing on their future options, a week long Team Challenge and a final celebration day.

Throughout the journey everyone will learn a bit (or indeed a lot) more about themselves and by the end of it they will have developed some new skills which any employer will want. On the way they will have learnt how to work in a team, learnt a lot about other people, learnt about the needs of the local community and had some really great fun.