April's Air Stirs

Spring is a season of change and so to start this month's update we begin by addressing a tremendous change here at the Ballymena South Community Cluster in a fond farewell to our Community Development Officer, Hannah. Hannah will be greatly missed in the office, but we here at the BSCC wish her well and good luck as she moves on to other endeavours.

In other news, Easter has slowed down things around Ballymena South, with many groups taking the chance for short breaks after the flurry of Annual General Meetings that happens at this time of the year. In Ballee, the Ballee Community Association held both their AGM and an Easter celebration for their 60+ Luncheon Club, complete with live music, a buffet, and an Easter raffle to raise funds for the club. The Luncheon Club is now looking forward to their Coronation celebration dinner on the 10th of May.

Over in Ballykeel 2, Chirpy the Easter Chick arrived to hand out treats to the kids of Ballykeel Building Blocks as Ballykeel 2 & District Community Association got ready for their own AGM and all the paperwork it involves. Whereas over in Ballykeel 1, it was the Easter Bunny hopping about to hand out eggs to the kids and for Ballykeel Together Development Association Easter gifts came in the form of a donation of sensory toys from the Prince's Trust and Rutledge Recruitment for their Bright Stars Special Needs Youth Club! Of course, it isn't all fun in Ballykeel as their Community Centre will soon be out of order for renovations, but there's still excitement in the air too as plans are already in place to take advantage of the changes once they are completed!

In Harryville, excitement surrounds the coming of spring with the official handover of the Harryville Community Garden to the Harryville Men's Shed. The open day was a resounding success and combined with the lovely Easter coin boxes and Coronation coins they were selling, an invite to visit the St Patrick's Barracks site and the normal early spring projects it's meant a busy but rewarding month for the group. Thanks to the Carson Project, kids in Harryville have also been contributing to the garden, with a lovely mural of drawings being put together by the group, they also set a lively drumming session for the area's kids and are now hosting a women's even surrounding the Good Friday Agreement. Elsewhere in Harryville, the Harryville Residents Association are moving forwards as ever, with their Stepping Out Together walking group going strong after a short Easter break and an incredibly successful AGM under their belts, not to mention the always wonderful venture of their Big Clean Saturdays proving fruitful once more.

That's all from the Ballymena South Community Cluster this month, though it's a little late with all the changes we've been going through. Still, the team here hope you have a wonderful springtime and, as always, keep an eye on our Facebook page for updates. For more information about our Cluster Community activities or if you have any questions, please contact us on 02825 631 350 or email hello@ballymenasouth.com.

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