Speckle is off to London...

I got in!!! EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!!!

So, by the 19^th of September I will be in London! It is really exciting and it really feels right to be there. It was great to meet the staff, and see how friendly they were, and that they still had a passion for their work, even 5 years down the line for some of them! Most of the staff there were people who had been on the same gap year course and stayed on. It was really positive to hear their stories and experiences; it was both fascinating and reassuring.

I start on the 19^th of September (argh only two weeks :D) and will meet my host family/couple/person and then go to the celebration evening, which people are welcome to come to. From there all us students will go to the induction week and do some crazy awesome teambuilding stuff and also some admin on how to settle in etc. We get taught budgeting. Yay~

I will be placed in one out of 5 boroughs under a team leader for that borough. There will be about 5 people in a team, and all 20 of us will meet every Monday for training and team building, the rest of the week will be practical activity in the schools in the borough. My placement church, which is also the church of my host family, will have me as an additional youth worker – I was glad to hear I wasn’t going to be chucked in the deep end and that I have a great deal of support from the church and XLP. They don’t leave you on your own!

I think that’s about all the technical details of the course, so here is a little about my interview and induction day...

The journey there took less time than we expected, and was also cheaper than I expected, so I will be coming home to see y’all as often as possible~

Me and Mum got a bit lost in Lewisham but a very nice man came along and gave us directions. Londoners are so friendly! Some of the other girls there had the same experience, and I saw a total stranger help a woman carry a pram down the station steps. London gets such bad press and it was great to see the newspapers proved wrong. Again ;)

Lewisham looks like an awesome place – we were there on market day and it reminded me so much of the market in Uganda. Apart from it was all on tables and there weren’t live chickens running everywhere~ I told Mum: “who needs to travel the world when you can come to London?” We saw lots of amazing things like huge piles of peppers going for only a pound, and a fabric shop selling wonderful bright colours for only £1 a metre! (blates, take me there). I also discovered that one of the other girls on the course does art textiles, and one of the leaders works part time in a fabric shop! We can be sewing nerds ^_^

There were 3 other girls there at the interview today: Bex, Kate, and Heather. They were all really lovely and I can’t wait to work with them. Heather was keen to bring her keyboard, and as she mentioned it you could see Mike Coates’ mind working as to which host family had a piano. They are really accommodating and keen to cultivate your interests and hobbies, which is great. Angeline (The Sewing Machine) can come after all ^_^

Mike Coates is the training manager person thing, and he will be overseeing our training in youthwork and theology, and generally keeping it all together. He is really friendly. Ali (the fabric lady) was great, with a wicked sense of humour, and the various other staff were all really friendly and enthusiastic. We got to see their basement recording studio for the arts showcase, and the attic prayer room (puts the Weekend Away one to shame ^_^ ) , and their offices and training rooms. I was half expecting a really polished complex but it used to be an old Benefits Assesment place, and it needs a little work. I like the beaten up feel actually, its good to know they don’t care so much about the staff building and that they put the money to the work they do instead.

I could write about it forever, so best to keep it short and update it to answer any questions you might still have. Ask away~