...As Summer Grows

Today we start off in Ballykeel where Ballykeel 2 and District Community Association kicked off the Jubilee celebrations with the unveiling of a commemorative stone celebrating 100 years of Northern Ireland! They followed it up with a very successful Jubilee Fun Day where they even ran out of supplies towards the end there were so many attending! Everyone involved had a wonderful time and it was heartwarming seeing all the happy faces. And to celebrate Men's Health Week, they organised a fun day out fishing at the Kilgad Fishery which went very well indeed. Ballykeel 1 Moving Forward Community Group also had a great turn out for their Jubilee Fun day! The event was a rousing success full of laughter with live music provided by the the Ballykeel Loyal Sons of Ulster. Ballykeel 1 has also completed their work on the beautiful Barra Drive Community Garden and it's turned out stunning. The Ballykeel Together Development Association brought in the police department for a lovely visit with their Bright Star's Youth Club.

In Harryville, Carson Project held a fun celebration for 6-13 year olds to celebrate the Queen's Birthday. With face painting, plenty of good food and a few rousing rounds of pin the tail on the corgi there was plenty of excitement to go around. The Carson Project went on a trip to pay their respects to some amazing women who have been lost from history and then on to The Sollus Centre (Bready). They also had quite the time with their Woman's Group, with an event to watch and then discuss a short play. The Harryville Resident's Association had a fantastic turnout for both their Senior Citizen's Tea Party and their following Community Fun Day! Everyone at the Tea Party was entertained by the Sir George White Memorial Flute Band and the Fun Day was full of bouncy castles, balloon animals and even some real animals from a mobile farm! Finally in Harryville, the Scullery O'Tullagh alloments held an altogether more relaxing celebration with tree planting in the wildflower garden, the opening of a community orchard and filling hanging baskets with the Braidwater Senior's Group.

In Ballee, the 60+ Luncheon Club arrived to their normal weekly lunch over to be met with decorations galore! Live music, a chocolate fountain and a buffet lunch were on the table and a good time was had by all! The Ballee Childcare Centre is going strong and are currently on the lookout for donated items, so please have a look at their Facebook page if you have anything spare. In the Ballee Community Centre, we here at the Ballymena South Community Cluster are also hard at work planning for a networking and promotional event in October, so keep an eye out for more details!

June has certainly been a whirlwind of activity, but here's to a long, lovely summer hopefully full of friends, family and relaxation. For more information about our Cluster Community activities or if you have any questions, please contact Hannah on 02825 631 350.