A Capital Day Out

On Saturday, we ran our second Henry Smith Charity funded trip to London! We took 20 young people from Stockport - from across all our different groups, most of whom had never been to the capital before - to explore London and spend time learning, exploring and experiencing a new place. It was an early start, with an 8:20am train from Stockport Station to London Euston, but excitement was high as the group set off for the day ahead.

After arriving in London, we jumped straight onto an open-top bus tour, which took us past some of the city’s most famous landmarks, including the Shard, the London Eye and Tate Modern. Our first stop was Covent Garden, where the group split off to explore everything the area had to offer. This included trying the famous cookies from Ben’s Cookies, watching a brilliant street performance, and even seeing one of our young people picked out from the audience — a true, traditional London experience.

We then headed over to Leicester Square for lunch at the new food hall before giving the young people time to explore nearby attractions, including the LEGO Store and M&M’s World. A quick stop at a souvenir shop followed, allowing everyone to choose something to remember the trip — especially meaningful as it was the first visit to London for many of the group.

In the afternoon, we hopped back onto the open-top bus and made our way to Westminster, where we took in Big Ben and the Houses of Parliament. Our final stop of the day was Buckingham Palace, where we grabbed some fantastic group photos before beginning our journey home.

The young people were incredibly grateful for the experience and clearly had a brilliant day. It was a memorable trip full of new sights, shared experiences and plenty of smiles.