On Tuesday 6 December Young people from the Horizon Young People’s Development Group, together with their families and supporters of the Youth Zone, came together to celebrate the momentous USA exchange trip which took place earlier this year.
The event took place at Abbys Bistro in Grimsby and attendees were treated to a meal before hearing from a number of speakers. Throughout the night a collection of videos and photos from the exchange trip were shown on screen and young people shared their stories and memories from the trip.
Attendees included young people and their families as well as the Mayor of Grimsby, Police and Crime Commissioner for Humberside Police, Jonathan Evison, the President of Hull and Humber Chamber of Commerce, Mike Whitehead and supporters Ørsted, myenergi and Novartis. Horizon trustees Cllr Philip Jackson, Dr Majdi Osman, Debbie Cook and Adam Ottley also came along to show their support.
The exchange trip
The exchange trip came about following conversations with the youth group 3rd Eye, based in New Bedford, Massachusetts. 3rd Eye carry out similar work with young people in their home town, which has a number of resemblances to Grimsby. The exchange trip sparked interest from the American Embassy and the National Lottery Heritage Fund who provided most of the funding, with young people also raising some of the funds themselves. For many, this was their first time on a plane and provided the chance to experience a once in a lifetime opportunity, to see more of the world, learn more about each other’s cultures and engage in activities they had never tried before.
In July 2022, the youth group 3rd eye based in New Bedford, Massachusetts, brought a group of young people over to London to commence with the first ‘leg’ of the exchange trip. They were greeted by Horizon’s Young People’s Development Group and had an exciting few days in London visiting the Houses of Parliament, going to the theatre to see Grease and visiting Buckingham Palace. They then headed to Grimsby to continue the activities such as gliding, visiting the beach and having afternoon tea. Of course they couldn’t come to Grimsby without visiting Blundell Park, where they got to try on the Mighty Mariner’s head.
Then in August 2022 the group from Grimsby headed to Boston for the USA leg of the trip. It was a jam-packed two weeks in America where the group did lots of different activities including visiting the Massachusetts State House, marching for women’s rights, visiting the New Bedford whaling museum, swimming in the sea and attending an AHA night (arts, history and architecture) where they got to see a number of performances.
“We had a fantastic time and there are so many memories that we will never forget” – Erin, member of the Young People’s Development Group.
