Ringwood and Fordingbridge Lions Club (CIO)

PRIDE IN THE COMMUNITY

The Ringwood & Fordingbridge Lions Club (CIO) registered with the Charity Commission for England and Wales, Register No. 1202116,

Belgium was my second trip with the lions and I can say that it did live up to the first. Even though this is was my second trip the camp and the host family stay was very different from my first camp so from this I got new experiences. This trip was so amazing and fun to be a part of. The Host family I stayed with were very kind to me and the other person staying with them. I was truly able to connect to the family and really feel accepted. They took me to fantastic places like into a cave with the longest boat ride in or kayaking down a beautiful river. They are a great family and if I am ever in Belgium again I am defiantly going to meet them. This did make it hard to leave them for camp, however, I knew that the camp would be better or just as good as the family stay, and the camp did not disappoint. At the camp, I met with over 32 different amazing people. each great and interesting to get to know. We all got along instantly and were very friendly. Out of the 32 people there, 27 different nationality's so I was able to learn other cultures as well as Belgium's. In the camp, we mostly had the main place where we would go back to and sleep and that really felt like a home to me and we would go and visit different cities and places. Additionally, we did go to Luxembourg to see a festival so we did see another country. The outcome of all the camp members going to these areas was that we all connected like a family. spending those 14 days with each other every second of the day brought us really close. This was not just the camp members the leaders we had were basically one of us. They were roughly the same age as us and were fun to be with. They fitted in and they could have been one of us. This did help as it made us respect their word even more. This is a rundown of how amazing this camp was and well I did not even scratch the surface and well I don't want to ruin it for anyone else. Just the only downside and the downside for every camp in the program is don't go to a country during the World Cup where England or your country is against the country you are going to. Everyone would be rooting for the country you are in.

I would like to say thank you again to both the Ringwood and Fordingbridge Lions club and the lions/Leos we met in Belgium