Claudy teens create a Christmas wonderland to unite community

YOUNG people from Claudy have banded together to create a very special cross-community Christmas project for children in the village.

Teenage students from St Patrick’s and St Bridget’s College in the Co Londonderry village have been working hard for weeks to turn Claudy Youth Club into an Elves’ Christmas Workshop.

There, local primary school children from both sides of the community can meet Mrs Claus, find out where they stand on the naughty and nice list and post their letters to Santa.

Not only will the teenagers’ endeavours delight local children, but they will also help them achieve good grades in their GCSEs. Today and tomorrow parents from across the district will converge on the totally teenage-conceived and led, truly winter wonderland.

St Patrick’s and St Bridget’s College teacher Paddy McCourt says that it is the first time a Christmas event has been held inthevillageandheandhisstudents hope that it will bring both sides of the community together.

“The students have been working very hard to put this all together,” he said. “It is really stunning and beautiful. There’s a real warmth to the place and invokes wonderful childhood nostalgia.

Mr McCourt added: “It is a fantastic way to bring all sections of the community together under one roof to have conversations again, to meet up with old friends, for kids to play, to believe in Santa again and to get their letters written and to have fun for a few hours.

“This project is about supporting the learning needs of both the youth club and the school. Organising and rolling out this project contributes to the students’ Prince’s Trust community project, and will lead to some of our students getting a double B grade at GCSE.”