Following the success of our Ireland Regional Gathering to Tayto Park last year, we wanted to choose another venue which would have lots of activities to offer for our members and their families. Jungle NI offered a multi activity package with the opportunity to challenge a Rodeo Bull, bounce on bungee trampolines, pedal on the pedalos, race up climbing walls and have a go at archery! The team at Jungle NI were fantastic and didn’t rush us through any of the activities and we even met and petted some Llamas along the way. Siblings, young and old, members, Mums and Dads all got involved- with some getting quite competitive.
Several of our young members were quite shy about their CMN, however meeting other children who have the same skin condition has boosted their confidence and self-esteem! One parent said, “This was my daughters first event. It was nice for her to finally meet other kids with CMN. She hasn’t stopped chatting about this since we left today. It was really improved her understanding and lifted her confidence.”
Meeting families enabled me to share our support literature with them, especially as the children reach new milestones in attending primary school. The families were able to share life experiences with each other, and how they dealt and coped with different life scenarios whilst parenting a child with CMN. One child member asked me, “what is this charity for anyway?” which opened up a great opportunity to chat about why we do what we do and to include their sibling in the conversation too, explaining how invaluable siblings are to a child growing up with a visible difference!
Thanks to everyone who came along and we cannot wait to see you again at our next event!
