Step Up head to Blackpool!

This week, Ciara & Danny are here giving us an update on the Step Up group and their summer activities...

The Step Up group is really developing! From the initial session through to the team-building activities, it’s clear they’ve become a solid group and are getting to know each other better. This is fantastic, as it means they’ll recognise friendly faces and feel more confident when they start high school.

Recently we had a great trip to Blackpool with our Step Up group! The day was packed full

of activities and fun to help the children transition into Year 7 which can be very daunting.

Our slightly delayed arrived at Blackpool around midday and the first thing on the agenda

were donuts and ice cream at the pier! The donuts were warm and lovely and the ice cream

was splendid. After enjoying our sweet treats we made our way to the main attraction of the

day which was Blackpool Tower.

The staff at Blackpool Tower were lovely and really accommodating to our big group, we had

a couple of group pictures taken and then moved onwards to the 4D cinema experience.

Honestly it was much better than I expected and the kids truly loved it, they even had

splashes of water to simulate rainfall! After that we made our way onto the lift cramped like

sardines and just like that we were looking over the entirety of Blackpool from the top of the

tower. The glass floor was harder to handle for those scared of heights (cough cough Lee)

but some of the kids were even lying down on the glass being true daredevils.

Once we had enough of the views we made our way to Mcdonalds where they unsurprisingly

got the order wrong. The most jaw-dropping part of this is that when Munji asked for the rest

of the food they consulted their CCTV to ensure she wasn’t lying! Eventually we got the rest of the food we ordered and with full stomachs we headed to the beach. We walked down close to the tide whilst trying to stop some of the lads wrestling and throwing each other onto the sand (all my efforts were in vain).

From the beach we swiftly moved on to the central pier where we separated into groups and

went on some thrilling rides. Dodgems was the highlight in my opinion though the children in my group preferred the big ferris wheel. After being on the pier for a while we headed back to the train station but not before stopping at the sweet shop and splurging cash on more sweet treats for the ride home.

As soon as we boarded the return train the children instantly burst out into song which made

me feel immense pity for the rest of the carriage who were trying to enjoy a peaceful

commute. The Justin Bieber renditions did not stop until we reached Burnage which gave my ears a brief yet deserved rest. All in all it was a great trip that every one of the kids enjoyed and hopefully they all transition seamlessly into secondary school!

The PIE team cannot wait to see how the group are getting on in Year 7!