The beginning
“My cousin, Kim, who also has a heart
condition, was attending the Weekend Stunner too so I met her at
the train station. Once we’d said goodbye to our parents, we headed
off with everyone and got on a train to Chingford.
“We kicked off that night with a quiz run by Bob –
and my team won! We got a prize too . . . A carton of apple juice .
. . each! After the quiz we headed to the chill out area where
there were sofas, cushions, blankets, magazines, healthy snacks and
drinks, an iPod dock and a dressing table with nail varnish, makeup
and face masks (and the boys made good use out of this too!) There
was also a quiet room with cushions and blankets.
The second day
“The following day, we were all up by 8
o’clock enjoying breakfast. We then started the much anticipated
theatre workshop. We started with some fun drama games and then we
got to use some silly props like hats, sunglasses, capes and
walking sticks. We got into groups and were given a scenario to
create a freeze frame. We gradually built the freeze frame up by
adding actions, sounds, and dialogue. We ended the theatre workshop
by playing more games. Then it was time for lunch.
“After lunch it was time for 2 out of 3 of the physical
activities that we’d all chosen when we’d applied for the Weekend
Stunner. I personally chose the revolving climbing wall, low ropes
and pedal go karts. Low ropes were surprisingly difficult! It was
also pretty funny how bad everyone’s balance was. The next activity
I went to was the revolving climbing wall. As I’m so tall, the wall
had to go faster to keep up with my height which made it harder – I
was glad it was so low off the ground though, so that we could jump
off at any time. The wall could also be turned right to a 180 so
you’re practically climbing it upside down. It was a lot of
fun.
“That night’s activity was an Alice in
Wonderland murder mystery dinner. I haven’t laughed that much in
ages! It was such a good time and everyone got involved. We then
had some more chill out time. The chill out zone was one of my
favourite parts of the weekend. It was just such a great place to
chat to everyone and get to know each other, staff included. It was
also cool for cardiac nurses to be around so we could ask them any
questions in private or just talk about general heart stuff with
them.
The performance
“It was another late night and early morning
and we kicked off the day with another theatre workshop. We started
to bounce some ideas around and began to devise the final
performance. One of the highlights for me was making a puppet out
of 2 pieces of paper and being taught how to bring it to life – it
was pretty incredible. I also really enjoyed working with masks. I
won’t reveal too much as the video of the performance will be on
yheart for you all to see later… I will say it was a lot of fun
though.
That afternoon we all did our 3rd activity;
mine was pedal go karts. The ground wasn’t very even and it was wet
and a little muddy but this just made it funnier. There were some
close calls of people falling off but no one did – although Adam
did lose some chocolate in a puddle!
“After dinner, there was the option of a movie
night with plenty of popcorn. Most people watched the film but a
handful of us stayed in the chill out area listening to music and
having a good time.
“We woke up on Monday morning with a mixture
of emotion; some were nervous for the performance, others were
excited and we were all sad about going home but at the same time
some of us were looking forward to our own beds and seeing our
families again. We had one very quick and final rehearsal before
the audience and our family members began to arrive. The
performance was amazing, even if I do say so myself!
“I met some of the most beautiful,
funny, kind hearted people and have genuinely made some life-long
friends. All of us are looking forward to the next Weekend Stunner
in 2014 and I hope I’m fortunate enough to be able to attend it
again and see lots of new and old faces <3”