Resurgam Christmas events prove a great success

Mayor Brian Bloomfield with the winners of the Resurgam Youth Initiative Christmas colouring competition.

It was a frantic start to the festive period at Laganview Enterprise Centre with the arrival of Father Christmas, who was given a lift by the Highwaymen Motorcycle Club, as he was welcomed to the centre by an expectant crowd of more than 400 people of all ages.

The Mayor of Lisburn and Castlereagh, Councillor Brian Bloomfield MBE was also in attendance and posed for pictures with the winners of the Resurgam Youth Initiative Christmas colouring competition before turning on the Resurgam Christmas lights. The young people then made their way into the main hall to receive their gifts from Santa in his grotto before taking part in activities facilitated by Lisburn Sure Start.

During this hive of activity, The Journey Church provided Christmas Carols to delight of the crowd.

Over the Christmas period, some of the Resurgam Youth Initiative staff and participants, along with some young people from the Poleglass area, came together at Asda for a bag pack event to help raise money for Amethyst Outreach - a group of volunteers who work with homeless people on the streets of Belfast.

Another popular event was the Christmas movie night, which saw 50 young people enjoy festive film ‘The Grinch’.

The young filmgoers were treated to popcorn, pizza and light refreshments which was provided by the Resurgam Women’s Network.

The Resurgam Youth Christmas production, which involved young performers aged eight to 17 years, was a big hit. And the young people’s Christmas party also proved popular.

The young people were able to play games such as ‘Candy Cane Fishing’, ‘Rudolph Hoopla’, ‘Pass the Parcel’ and ‘The Christmas Tree Ball Game’. Entertainment was provided by Wilson Magwere and his African drums, which the young people seemed to enjoy as they got to play the drums and make a racket. The magician Mr Jingles was also there to entertain the families with some extraordinary magic which left the boys and girls (and all the adults) gasping in amazement.

Thomas Kynes from Resurgam Youth said: “We have no doubt all the young people and their parents enjoyed our activities throughout the Christmas period and we would like to thank everyone who helped us pull it together.”