Many of you will know our involvement with this project and how we have sponsored the week long footy camp for quite a few years now. I always come back from our trip to Belfast really inspired and full of admiration for the great work Peter and his team do for the young people in north Belfast.
He recently sent a report of this years footy camp with some feedback on the impact it had made on a couple of the boys who attended. Here are the details
"What an amazing week my son Luke, along with 70 odd other boys was fortunate enough to be part of this year again. Football, fresh air exercise, team work, confidence building, banter, making new friends and generally just having fun and enjoying themselves with fab role models at the legendary BlueHouses football camp. We are truly blessed in Ballysillan to have Ballysillan Youth for Christ in our area and I for one am extremely grateful for everything you do for our kids and subsequently our area. I've said before what a novel way to spread such an important message. Super people doing a super job. Or as my young son calls them 'The Christians with the X-box' ",Lee Conville
From a family support worker who referred a 10 year old to the camp……
"Before Blue Houses involvement, he was not involved in any social activities and was very reluctant to do so. The family had limited funding and there were behavioral problems at home. Since being part of the Summer Football Camp, not only has he developed a real enthusiasm for the sport, he has also grown in self confidence and belief.
He has now joined his local football team, which involves training twice a week and a match on Saturday. From this, he is learning to work as team and to take the winning with the losing! He enjoys it so much that he will be bringing his younger brothers to join the club too! This has helped developed his social circle and ability to interact with others. It has had a grave impact on the family home as now he has learnt to re-focus his energy that was previously being used in a negative way. It has been amazing to see such a change in his life and how it can impact the family as a whole. A massive thank you to all involved."