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The successful Banteer
Youth club, thanks to the grant assistance and help of IRD Duhallow
have just returned from an exciting trip to Wales from Monday 5th
April to Wednesday 7th 2004. The trip which was
well planned and organised was part of a Transnational Celtic
Cultural Exchange to Cardiff for both youth club members and
leaders.
The group of over 50
members and leaders flew with Aer Arann from Cork and stayed at the
Cardiff Youth Hostel during their visit to the Welsh capital.
This undertaking was
the result of many months of planning work by the club and also
included 2 youth club leaders visiting Cardiff to ensure that buses,
flights, accommodation, insurance, activities etc were organised
beforehand. .
Planning work also
involved such items as having a valid passport for all travelling,
having First Aid officers for the trip, having policies and
procedures re health and safety issues, medication, emergencies,
accommodation etc.
The programme in Wales
included such items as:
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Visit to
Techniquest, which is a state of the art science discovery
centre in Cardiff on Monday evening - the members and leaders
found this a most interesting and challenging experience.
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On Monday evening
the club linked up with the Duke Of Edinburgh Awards Group in
Cardiff and this was particularly interesting for the present
members of the Youth club who are Bronze Gaisce participants as
the Duke of Edinburgh Award is the Welsh equivalent.
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Following this
start to the trip the members and leaders checked into the
Cardiff Youth Hostel, which was the base for the group during
their visit. All enjoyed dinner and were ready for more action
on Monday night, which included a cinema visit to see the new
release “Welcome to the Jungle”.
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Tuesday morning
began bright and early with a shopping trip to the many shopping
arcades in Cardiff followed by a visit and tour of the famous
Cardiff Castle, which is located in the centre of Cardiff.
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Following this the
group were treated to a full tour of the Cardiff Millennium
Stadium which has been host to many national and international
sporting events and which has a retractable roof.
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The group then
proceeded to the Rhonda Heritage Park and Coal Mine, which has
many interesting items of Welch Heritage and which particularly
depicts the coal-mining era, which was such a vital part of the
local economy up to recent times.
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The group linked
up with the Kevin Forrest Youth Group from Caerphilly at this
venue and both groups were treated to a one and a half hour tour
of the mines, which included an underground tour of how coal was
mined.
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Following this
the group were kindly invited to Caerphilly and the local youth
group and leaders treated the Banteer group to an evening of
refreshments followed by a Welsh Cultural evening, which
included an emotional history of coal and coal mining in the
region, Welch dance routine and an evening of Welch music.
Following this full
days activities the group still had plenty of more evening
activities which included a trip to the Megabowl Centre in Cardiff
for bowling and quasar before retiring to the Youth Hostel for the
night and some sleep.
The group then
returned on Weds evening and thus ended a very interesting and
enjoyable trip for all.
The Youth club would
like to thank all who helped in organising such a trip and also the
parents and members.
The club is extremely
grateful to IRD Duhallow for their assistance and help in making
this trip possible .It is hoped that the youth groups in Cardiff
will do a return trip later on this year.
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