Summer Club 2026 will go down as our most innovative and multi-cultural yet.In its fourth year we decided to invite expressions of interest from young people wishing to help roll out the summer programme. We received dozens of applications which we had to whittle down to six.

The lucky six (under the guidance of youth leader Cara Gilliland) were then handed the Summer Club and told to take forward – organising everything from the activities to the venues to the menus.

And what a success it turned out to be.

Over six weeks, from July 7 to August 13, almost 60 children enjoyed activities including cookery, wall climbing, circus skills, trips to the bowling alley and cinema and outdoor excursions to Brooke Park and Lake Kilrea. There was also a greater cultural element to the programme than in previous years thanks to facilitators like Doaa Ahmed who brought a distinctly Palestinian vibe to the North West Migrants Forum and Donna Nolongu whose Ugandan food and dancing went down a storm.

What added to the uniqueness of Summer Club 2026 was our intercultural café which opened just in time for the school break. It allowed participants to have their own space without having to worry about interrupting the day-to-day running of the Migrants Forum.

The end of the six weeks was marked with a presentation night when certificates and awards were handed out to every single young person who took part, our way of congratulating them on their energy, enthusiasm and approach to each day they were with us.

Once again we want to thank our principal funder, the Co-Op Foundation, without whom there would be no Summer Club. And we want to say a huge thank you to everyone who participated, who volunteered and who delivered a brilliant programme.

Also a word of thanks to the parents who entrusted their children to us. It is a duty we never take for granted.

Onward to Summer Club 2027!