Children of Lockdown was a writing competition for children and young people, designed to enable young people to express their feelings and experiences of the Spring 2020 lockdown and Covid 19 pandemic.
The stories, poems, diary entries, letters and reports are published on Ardoyne Youth Enterprise / Children of Lockdown:
- Click here for the under 12 stories
- Click here for the 12 to 15 year olds' stories
- Click here for the 16+ stories
Take a look at them, we guarantee that you won't regret it: they will charm you, make you laugh, cry or just nod your head in recognition.
They represent a precious record of children and young people's experience of the pandemic, and we are very proud and privileged to have received them.
Children of Lockdown was run in partnership with local novelist Paul McVeigh, winner of the Polaris Prize for his book The Good Son, about growing up in Ardoyne in the 80s, during the Troubles.
The project was supported by North Belfast Strategic Good Relations Programme through Community Relations Council (AYE) and the Arts Council of Northern Ireland (Paul McVeigh).
You can watch Paul's online readings for Ardoyne Youth Enterprise on our YouTube Channel.​

Lockdown was fun and irritating. It was nice to be with my family all day long. Normally I see them in the morning, dinner, then after that dessert, then maybe a movie (at the weekend) and it goes on again like a routine. My brother and sister were mostly nice to me. We joked and I learned to play cricket with my brother. It has also been different not seeing my friends. Usually I see them at school for 6 hours! In fact, I used to see them more than I saw my family! So, as you can tell, things were very different during lockdown. I missed being able to go swimming or to the park, even when the sun was shining and it was hot.
 
During lockdown it was the month of Ramadan, which I will you more about: Ramadan is a time of fasting. What I mean is you wake up before sunrise (about 2:30am), have your breakfast and drink lots and lots of water (because if you don’t you are likely to feel sick during the day). Then, before the sun comes up, (about 3:00am) you do Salat (prayers) and go back to bed. Fasting means that in the morning, you can’t fling yourself out of bed, pour your breakfast and make a cup of tea or coffee. Not until the sun is setting, anyway.  So, fasting is not good to do if you’re really ravenous. Because I am little, I didn’t have to fast the whole way through, when I had school. That was very lucky! But during lockdown even when I didn’t fast I could stay up with my family when they finally ate. The best bit of this year was that we got a Ramadan Advent calendar chocolate EVERY DAY!
 
Eid is a festival to celebrate the end of Ramadan. We get dressed up in beautiful Indian clothes and go to people’s houses. I would normally see friends and family. We say Eid Mubarak, have a bit of a chat, then eat lots of yummy food (chocolate and sweets and pakoras - that was my favourite part, especially when my grandfather made his delicious sheer khumma, mmm). But this time it was different, very different. You see, this time we were only allowed to go to my grandfather’s house, and I actually mean just in his garden, have a picnic lunch, then have a little chocolate and sheer khumma, and then leave, without giving my grandfather even a hug, which made us all very sad.
 
Then, we were allowed to go back to school. But when we did this happened!
 
Couldn't come to school today,
Or go out and play with friends.
Running a high temperature,
Or a low temperature,
Night and day,
A Covid-19 test, that's what I had
Very bored, staying at home
I would rather be at school having fun
Running around the playground.
Unable to use the equipment
Something I've been looking forward to!

​

​Having autism, my life is a bit different from my brother and sister, 
everyday is exactly the same.
On March 2020, life changed for me and many other kids,
but who was to blame.
 
Covid 19 it came out of the blue
I didnt understand 
Im sure u didn't too
The news was on but nothing going in
I felt like my life was in a spin
I was excited at first, cause school was set to close, and I could sit up late and order domino's.
 
Lock down then happened then everything changed.
I couldn't see my nanny or granda again,
We talked on the phone but it wasn't the same oh covid 19 you're to blame.
 
I felt so scared that someone would die
At this point all I could do was cry why??
Im 10 years old I still do understand, all i know is I need to wash my hands,
I miss my friends and my family too 
all I want is to go back to school.
 
Im just glad im safe and sound, covid 19 is still around wash ur hands and keep safe, try to hold back a second wave. 

​

Meet Razy Seawater the daughter of a very successful scientist. His name was Professor Ronald Seawater and they were very happy. Until one day he was alerted that COVID-19 (coronavirus) had struck. So he packed up his lab and set to work in the attic of their little house in Belfast.

Now back to Razy, a five year old girl * who’s curly hair stuck out in all directions as if she was just in the middle of an explosion, and what her dad called a “can do attitude” but what her teacher called “wit”.

Although she didn’t like cats or dogs, Razy had a pet hamster that she loved with all her heart. His name was Nibbles. He was light brown and had a little pink nose on his chubby hamster face. He slept in a cage in Razy’s bedroom. Life was good, until...

One evening Razy went up to the attic to get a new jar of hamster food for Nibbles’ dinner. When she got up there, she saw all of her dad’s experiments. “How interesting!” thought Razy as she stumbled her way through rows of jars of all shapes and sizes. Finally she reached a jar that seemed to contain small brown balls. “This must be it, ” she said to herself, and she picked up the jar and marched happily to her room. “Here you go Nibbles.” she said as she fed him one of the balls. She curled up in her cozy bed. “Goodnight Nibbles ” she said and fell asleep.

The next morning Nibbles wasn’t in his cage. Razy ran downstairs and there he was, in the kitchen, but something had changed, something big... Nibbles was now ENORMOUS !!!

Razy was stuck, she had brought the giant hamster to her room and thought it had something to do with the brown balls she found in the attic. So she pulled on her father’s goggles and lab coat ( which trailed behind her and made her trip) and got to work.

First she fed Nibbles a brightly coloured liquid that made him turn invisible (and you don’t wanna know what an invisible hamster can do). Next she tried one that seemed to glow, and it did exactly that, made him glow. After that she tried a jar of what looked like baby powder, but that only seemed to make him hungry. She tried and tried until every jar was empty, but then she knew exactly what she needed to do.

Razy booked two tickets for a plane to the Amazon Jungle, where she was sure no one would find Nibbles. She got him on the plane cleverly disguised as Professor Seawater (and wearing a mask of course!) and off they went.

The Amazon was beautiful and Razy loved it. She wished her father could be there. But he wouldn’t understand- adults never do.

As she gently urged Nibbles into the jungle, she hoped that he would find a home where he would be safe. After all everyone needs somewhere to belong.
​
The End
*nearly six as she often had to correct people. 

This is not a drill
This virus can kill 
These words keep going threw my mind
A year I would rather leave behind.
 
Have to stay inside to save lives
Wash r hands,to stay alive
Shopping all got,doors all closed 
No-one is getting in,a rule we had to impose.
 
At least we are safe being inside 
A rule us kids had to abide
I missed my friends,my nanny to 
But at least I knew they where safe to.
 
We facetimed each other every day
But I missed are hugs in every way.
The rules they change every week
But this poem gave me the platform to speak,
 
I don't know if it will go away,I just pray its not hear to stay, wash ur hands and were u mask, thats all this little girl asks.

​

Once there was a superhero called Smartyfarty who came from Fartaland. Fartaland is a planet that is super stinky. Smartyfarty’s farts were as loud as a T-Rex’s roar! Do you know how loud that is? It’s pretty loud.

Smartyfarty farts his way to planet Earth. Instead of rockets, his farts make him fly to Earth because they are super loud, they push him down to planet Earth.

He’s got very powerful eyes, it’s like they’re microscopes, so he can see Coronavirus everywhere. 

Smartyfarty decides to take all the children from Earth to Fartaland while he goes back around planet Earth zapping Coronavirus. Once he sees Coronavirus with his eyes, he uses a special fart potion and puts it on to people who have it. The wee potion makes them go to the toilet, and then Coronavirus gets weaker and weaker and weaker until it actually goes away. Then they’re better.

When the children are in Fartaland, it is so stinky.

It might sound funny and it might sound weird, but while they are there, they learn to make farts that kill Coronavirus as well. By fart teachers! So basically the teacher farts on the board and she farts on their faces and then they have the special fart powers to make Coronavirus go away. They’re still normal children, the babies too, they’re not superheroes, but they have a special power like Smartyfarty. The smelliest farts are the good ones, they make Coronavirus go away the fastest. You know Coronavirus is bad? Well the farts that are good and smelly will kill it. The bad farts are the not-really-smelly ones, they take your special powers away. 
​
When Smartyfarty takes all the children back to planet Earth, they fart wherever Coronavirus might be. Because there’s so many farts to kill it, it goes away in one year. Then all the children can go back to school. And they’ve got their super duper farts to keep them safe forever! The children don’t get shouted at for farting ever again. 

​

Pandemic? Explain it to me
Im 8 years old 
I dont know what it means
 
All of a sudden these words come to me
Covid 19 I just wanna be free.
 
Your not allowed out! And no one allowed in,wash ur hands being yelled at me.
Leave me alone I dont really care,covid 19 is all just a blur
 
School has been closed i dont really care time to kick of my shoes,relax and not care,
Play my games im loving this life dont leave the house,I dont care thats life.
 
All these rules just go over my head,I'm in my room lying on my bed.
My computer on,controller in my hand
  im loving this life, lockdowns not so bad.
 
I dont know what the fuss is about I don't know whats going on lockdown 2020 didn't last for long schools reopened time to get back why was everyone so stressed I had the best crack.

​

Once upon a time there was a girl that loved playing outside but she got carried away with it. First she played outside at the weekend. On Saturdays she played tennis and basketball. On Sundays she played football and baseball. But then she started playing on the week days and not going to school.
One day a little troll came and said, “if I beat you in a game of football will you give me your football?”
“Yes! Bring it you little troll!”
Multiply trolls.
“That’s cheating!”
“No, it is not. Pass, Troll Number 7, cross into the box Troll Number 4 and let him header it in.”
“Ok Boss! What a header by Troll Number 4!”
“My ball,” said the girl and she shot from the half way line, but Troll Number 2 stopped it from going in. “Awwww, that was so close.”
She shot again, and what a goal! Then the troll passed to the wrong person and another goal! Time was up and in a flash the troll left. So, the girl never played outside again.

​

There once was a wood.  Now, this wood had magical powers, whenever somebody chopped down a tree, it sought revenge.  In the heart of the forest, where no one went, was fairy land.  In the south of fairy land lived Kuya, a kind fairy who wore a pretty pink dress, with light pink tights and golden shoes, with blue rubies on them.  This fairy had brown skin but if you had brown skin in fairy land you would be treated worse than if you had peach skin.  The brown skin fairies had to eat on grass mats and the only food they ate was slimy sloppy okra in a very little bowl. The peach skinned fairies ate at sparkly tables and lived in grand palaces.  This was because fairy land was ruled by the rough wicked witch.  She had defeated the fairy king and queen and hypnotised their soldiers.  Kuya rounded up all the other fairies who had brown skin and made some steel armour and metal weapons and told them that they could defeat the horrible witch. They fought the terrible witch for hours but they lost and twenty fairies who were scared fluttered around biting their nails and then ran out to the meadows. They begged the trees for help and the trees replied “ Of course we will help because we know how much it hurts when the witch is fighting you, it hurts as much as when we get chopped down.”  The ground shuddered and shuddered as the trees pulled their roots out of the ground and drained their sap into buckets.  The brown fairies hauled the buckets to a peach fairy’s palace.  In the peach fairies’ neighbourhood there was no water, because the trees had sucked all the water out of the ground.  The peach fairies were so thirsty that they guzzled down the sap.  Suddenly their eyes were as swirly as tangled octopus’s tentacles.  The brown fairies wailed “The witch is trying to defeat us” eight times and the white fairies said shamefully “We’re so sorry” eight times. “We heard your cries and we want to help.” The peach fairies wanted to dress just like Kuya and went to battle wearing pretty pink dresses, with light pink tights and golden shoes, with blue rubies on them.  The brown and peach fairies flapped their wings so fast that it made a thunderous storm of wings which made the witch faint. The fairies threw the wicked witch into a thorny rose bush and buried her under all the dead trees.  Kuya was made queen of all the fairies, she burned all the grass mats and the slimy, sloppy okra was made into a healthy drink. 
​
​

​Once upon a time there was a brave, good scientist. He was very clever. He made a potion to destroy the Coronavirus. An evil, fearless dwarf befriended him. The evil dwarf created a spell to freeze the potion so it could not be used. Just in time a powerful, loving fairy appeared. The kind fairy used her magic powers to unfreeze the potion and rescued the clever, caring scientist. Together, the courageous duo sprinkled the extraordinary potion to kill the Coronavirus and cured everyone! They all lived happily ever after!

​Tommy TRex from around the corner was out for his daily lockdown walk, wearing his new gloves from Santa.  Today he decided to try a new path home, it took him down a very dark road.  He had only been walking a good twenty minutes when suddenly a shiny God appeared and stopped him. 
“Tell me the greatest story in the world or I will take you back to my realm!” It said.
Tommy was in shock, he fell on his butt. He thought for a second then ‘POP’ the story came to him and he began to tell the best story he could think of;
 
“It was a dark and stormy night ‘krraack, krraaack.’  Not like every normal storm in Northern Ireland, this was a banana storm.  Instead of water it rained actual bananas. 
But something really cool happened to one special banana.  It looked like every other banana until….. Two big black eyes grew, then a mouth, two muscly arms and two super strong legs.  Brian the Banana man was born.
At the top of Scrabo mountain was a dark, dark tower where the biggest TRex you have ever seen lived.  The castle used to belong to Commander Lloydus but  he died of old age in the 90’s or thats what they want you to believe.   The big boss in the castle is now Count Dracula TRex ‘Mwah ha haaa’ everyone knows him as Jeff.  
Jeff is actually always hungry and his most favourite things to eat are the little Velociraptors that live in the next village.  The thing is, when he eats them they make him poop bananas. Like actual bananas!
Brian had to climb to the top of the big mountain to see Jeff.  When he reached the door he pressed the door bell.  It made the scariest sound.  DO, DO, DO, DOOOOOOO!
Brian was shaking with fear when the door slowly opened, ‘eeeeeeeeek.’
Suddenly Jeffs head appeared and his tiny arms reached out and grabbed Brian before he could run and the door slammed closed behind them.
Brian looked at Jeff.  Jeff’s massive belly made a weird noise and ‘pooooop’, out fell a banana.  Brian the Best bananaman was shocked.  He looked from Jeff, to the banana on the floor, to his own banana hands…”
 
The shiny God laughed soo loud and with a ‘snap’ of his fingers he was gone.  Tommy walked on down the dark road until he got home, like it was any normal day…. Or was it?

Erin’s House, April 2020
The sounds of laughter echoed from the walls, making Erin giggle even more.
She had been sat there for hours, listening to the wild and wacky tales of mischief. Her grandad, Sean, always told the best stories about his childhood, and even if they were not real (usually they weren’t), he still told them so believably you couldn’t help but adapt to it.
“You mean they never caught you?” Erin asked, leaning in eagerly. Grandpa Sean gave an animated look as to pretend he was deep in thought, before leisurely shaking his head.
He had stayed with them throughout self-isolation, and Erin had not minded that one bit. Everyone spoke of how they had hated quarantine, and how they could not wait for this to be over, but Erin disagreed, and decided to make the best of what would inevitably be the worst.
“That’s really cool you know; I wish I could have lived in the place that you did.” Erin grinned, thinking of all those tales of the ‘olden days’, but Grandpa Sean shook his head disapprovingly, letting out a long, woeful sigh.
“Oh no,” He replied, his tone gone from playful to eerily serious, making Erin sit up straight against the wall and listen. He gave her a stern look, and went deep into thought, “Believe me, you’re more than lucky to have the life that you do, because unfortunately, not everyone does.”
 
Aidan’s House, April 2020
Aidan leant back against the hard, stone wall. For the first time, everything had gone quiet in the house, and that gave him time to think, for the better or the worse.
He sat alone in his room, but the eerie tension from seconds before still haunted him. It was not his fault, but the longer they stayed in lockdown, the longer he was stuck in his small house, the more he longed for a way out.
Everything had went horribly, his family had lost their jobs, they had little to nothing left, the fighting he had to listen to and endure had never seemed to cease, and just then, to make matters worse, the shocking and terrible news came that his grandfather, who had been ill with the virus for weeks, had died.
He sat in silence as a tear streamed down his face, and he pulled his knees up to his face woefully. Without looking, he reached over to his bedside table and grabbed the phone that sat on it, scrolling through until he found the contact, ‘Erin’.
One Call.
Two Calls.
Three Calls.
Just as he was about to call for the fourth time, he realised it was pointless, he was not going to get an answer. Erin, his best friend, lived next door, so it felt strange to have to call her instead. He knew she lived with her grandfather at the moment, and things must be just as hard for her, but even a call, a text, just to hear a friends voice again would have been nice, but there was nothing, even if she was only on the other side of the wall.
 
Erin’s House, June 2020
They sat in the living room, watching the reporter with his top-notch suit and tie and blunt announcements like it was the best thing since sliced bread.
Prior to lockdown, the news had never interested Erin, but when the world did go into a lockdown, it became the most enticing part of the day.
“Do you think the cinemas will reopen? What about the airports?” Erin
pointed-out, waving her hands around excitedly at the thought. The past few months had been frightening on the outside, but inside her house it had been great. Every board game on the shelf had been used, not to mention every film, ranging from sci-fi superheroes to overdone rom-coms.
Then, the doorbell rang. Erin jumped out of her seat and ran to the door, nearly toppling over the nearest piece of furniture. When she opened the door, she laughed at the sight, watching Aidan, her best friend, stand there drenched in rain, even if he did only live next door.
 
Erin and Aidan’s Street, June 2020
“Hey.” Aidan scoffed.
“Hi” Erin replied.
“How was your lockdown?” Erin asked.
Aidan glanced towards the floor, the dreaded memories of everything that had happened throughout lockdown flooding back. Shaking the bad thoughts away, he pulled on a fake smile, nodding, “Fine.”
“Just…Fine?” Erin queried.
“Yeah, just…fine.”
​

Hello there, I’m in lockdown what about you? Ha-ha everyone is. Lockdown has been good for the most part, but I really wish that it wasn’t under these circumstances. I have enjoyed being with my family and relaxing. I have not been short of any work and I have been kept on my toes although if it wasn’t for my mum, I don’t think I would have been able to work as well. I am very proud of myself to be able to complete all my tasks on time and to the best of my ability. But it hasn’t been without its challenges………

When I started in year 8 in September, I did not think I would be finishing at home on a computer. Although it is lovely being home, I do wish to be back with my friends. I have loads of work to complete and it just doesn’t stop. I wake up every morning dreading how many emails there is going to be, but I do understand it is to keep me busy. I miss not being able to see my sister as she lives in her own house, but I know if I want to talk to her, she is just a phone call away. I am so lucky that we have modern technology that we can face time friends and family who we can’t see.

I have really enjoyed baking in lockdown. I have made cakes, cookies and muffins and I also learnt to make eggs. I have also cleaned and organised my room about 100 times but now it is super clean. I have also loved being with my family and being outside in the sun. We also bought a projector and we have been watching films and doing quizzes outside and it is really cool.

Although being at home is great, I do miss family, friends and knowing everything is safe. Lockdown has come with its fears and worries. I’m only 12 and I don’t know the ins and outs of it all but I do understand that life is going to be changed forever now and we don’t know how school, work or university will be, but we all have to carry on supporting each other and following all the rules to keep ourselves and others safe.
Now if wasn’t for our amazing frontline workers we would all find it very hard to cope, we are very lucky to have nurses, doctors, shop workers, lorry drivers who are all keeping us safe and looked after and then all those amazing people supporting our key workers. Although this is a very sad time for many families, there are also the positive stories to come out of this. My uncle became very ill with covid-19, but thanks to amazing NHS workers in the Royal Alexandra hospital in Paisley he is now recovering well at home and we are all very relieved. This will only make us closer and we should always remember to not take even the simplest of things for granted.
​
STAY SAFE AND STAY WELL!
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​Wow. Where to start? This virus has taken over the world. It hasn't been easy for anyone. Not being able to see friends and family hasn't been easy for anyone. It's been very boring being stuck inside for 6 months. I remember hearing the news about going into lockdown and thinking, "This virus really isn't a joke." I see other people across the world wearing face masks and never for one second thought that it would affect, not just me, but my friends, family and community. The NHS has done their best to keep this virus under control. It is always a plus when you have people like the doctors and nurses doing the amazing work they do. As a football fan, seeing empty stadiums on TV has been weird to say the least. Seeing places were people socialise shut has felt weird. Thankfully, Belfast is back to a little bit of normality, with pubs, restaurants and other places opening. Covid-19 still doesn't feel real and I don't know if it ever will, just because of how overwhelming it has been. I mean, who would've thought 12 months ago that we would be stuck inside due to a deadly virus? Well, here we are! 
​
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​The time was five forty-five, the plan commences. The tired man pulled himself from his slumber, a feat that left him physically and mentally strained. What used to be his bedroom window, the walls lined with his bedroom desk and a heavy-set industrial fan, that does not fail to make its presence known every day, the thing hummed louder than a jet engine. If it was not for his only source of oxygen, he would have thrown it out a long time ago. His standard wake-up routine plastered on the wall with bold brightly coloured letters and the even bolder restrictions set in place by our government, even the most colourful of posters can’t cover up the grimmest of jail cells, and this prompted his planned escape. He got up from his bed and looked at rule two on the poster the cleanness protocol, the second most important rule right after rule one. Don’t go outside.
After a quick grooming session, a quick lick all over. He dressed himself in all dark clothing appropriate for this dangerous excursion. He would be a shadow against the darkness, unseen and unheard. Well, that was the plan at the very least. He made his way downstairs and fiddled with the electric box, he was only allowed a set amount of power and like lighting the house came alive with a golden glow. The kitchen beckoned and his stomach growled in response, he be dammed if he was not leaving this house without his toasted cinnamon bagel slathered in chocolatey Nutella and with a big mug of tea with cartoonish depiction of Wallace and Gromit. It took about five minutes to prepare the meal and have a quick sit-down to enjoy. He took bigger and quicker gulps and slurps of his breakfast, than he normally does. Enjoying every bit as he watched the early morning news, it was uninteresting as it always been for the longest time ever very few things surprised him now. The only thing that prevented him from turning it off was the deafening silence that followed. It gave the illusion of company. Scanning the room, he saw only the stacks of books, CDs, magazine and other treasures that only brought comfort but to anyone’s else this would be a hoarder’s paradise or dump if they are being especially rude. But it was his house so who cares, and who does he know who would care anyway? A moment had overwhelmed him, thoughts casting back dragging him to times he would walk around free, to go places, meet people and do whatever he wanted when he wanted! As his melancholy turned to adrenaline, he thrusted up from his old armchair and carried himself towards the cupboard under stairs. Ready for anything.
 
The musty smell seemed to attack his nostrils with full force, small clouds of dust dangling under the dim light, and a growing damp spot in the corner could be seen to be winning the battle over the white paint already losing its colour and so with control over the ceiling. It was your standard cupboard adorned with an assortment of cleaning products, old paints, tools, and a collection of raggedy cleaning rags that were either store bought or repurposed articles of under clothing. His attention turned to the little footlocker on the ground, its back against the wall. The latches clicked open with a satisfying “click” and its contents lay bare for him to see. The man grabbed the rather small bag that seemed to cut into his shoulders finely, and he felt the metallic weight shift side to side as he adjusted the Nike sports bag to fit evenly. As he did so his eyes stared through the doorways as tv broadcasting a depiction of violence, civil unrest, sickness, and death. His eye averted from the screen and stared at the box once again, aloud screech emerging dragging the wooden floor as he kicked it along, plywood stood leaning against the wall covering a rather blatant hole in the wall big enough for a small man to squeeze through but he was no small man. He plopped down on all fours and began his slow turtle march into dirty darkness. If the man ever had claustrophobia now was the time for it to show. A worm would have better luck wiggling through this 6-foot hole than him. As all seemed hopeless one final push was like a ball flying from a cannon and he was free.  He found himself in a damp musty shed, cobwebs danced on the wall like they were doing the Russian tango. Hinges of the door looked rusted and on the verge of falling off as the nails looked like they were about to pop off like miniature rockets.  A jungle of bushes and overgrown plants reaching high into the sky but fell short by a foot against the garden wall. One running star jump somersault back flip he went flying over the wall and descended into the outside world.  
 
He darted across the streets; his back crouched avoiding the streetlights. He scurried like a mouse through the alleys, behind closed gates and up and over the last fence. He came face to face with a strong oak tree. Its leaves were a vibrant green and branches stretch long over the even higher wall at the end of the garden. Like many times before he began to climb up and up, he felt the wet bark in his fingertips and his nose filled with an earthy smell and finally he perched himself on a rather big branch he was overcome with a sense of proudness. He swung his bag in front of his chest and retrieved his camera his gaze focused on the bedroom window, the blinds open revealing a woman with an initial look of surprise on her face but slowly faded as she saw her friend taking pictures of the park beyond the wall, beyond quarantine.

​

​My name’s Liam and we are over 3 / 4 the way through what everyone is calling a crazy year. I understand why people are saying 2020 is a crazy year. But something I once thought was impossible has happened to me this year.
Well from about 2015 till only a year or two ago I often struggled with my life. There were many issues around drugs that had a severe knock-on effect on my mental health. I'm not really going to talk about it all right now. I might one day. The reason I'm saying it in this short story is because my life completely changed. I had one day walked nervously into ST Gemma's basically in an attempt to rebuild positive friendships with old friends. I met 2 Youth workers that day Gerard and Cara. I'll explain later how these 2 helped developed me into what people are now describing as a role mode & an inspiration. I can't stress enough that how for years it felt like people where only calling me all the bad names. I was just a young person... helping a young person who is willing can be the start of what is going to be an absolutely outstanding adult, who could better the community they live or there's a million other positive things they can achieve. 
On that day I went to St Gemma's (YeHa’s office at the time) I was just glad to be out of the house trying to better my life with a new challenge which was to rebuild these friendships. I didn’t even know the youth club was there.
For years before this day I often ran with the wrong crowd, trying to prove myself to negative people with things that were noting but negative. My Mind always felt trapped and scrambled.  After this day It was a beginning to proving myself to me, my friends, my family & my new youth workers. Because it felt they all seen something in me no one else in the world did. People also often say you don’t need prove yourself to no one. This didn’t feel like that, this felt like I had a purpose I had people I looked up to and I would like to show them, I have changed, bettered myself & am looking to go far in life.
That day Gerard came up with an idea for me to join them on the residential. What felt like a scary step TO ME but I needed to take to this opportunity or I thought I'd not forgive myself. So, I went I pushed myself. This is what cemented the friendships with some of my current friends I have today. On the residential I was so buzzing with being around people and talking to one another without things like drugs being around. & Having proper conversations with everyone there. I was so buzzing That I said to Gerard does he think I could volunteer in the club sometime. He said yes off course he actually believed in me and I have to say this give me a great sense of belief in my own ability's.
I had a lot of issues and for the next period me and him & at different times Cara would chisel away at some of the negative in my life. Him and Cara, came up with things for me to do
Mountain walks was one of them me and Gerard my 1 to 1 mentor/ Youth worker would walk cave hill every Friday. I absolutely loved this, it sparked an interest I never really had. Throughout Covid 19 lock down I walked the Mournes in new castle so many times even camped there. Also Walked the cave hill countless times to see sun rises and sun sets. I even done all this with my best friend buddy aka my pup.
Another thing was education him and Cara got me on OCNs (A type of qualification) and they even delivered them. which made me feel like I was working towards something which was being a youth worker, I disliked education my whole life (I even left school at 14 with the drug difficulty's) I had no interest. but something about this was different I enjoyed it I loved the subjects; I had a new passion it seemed which was youth work. Relating this again to Covid 19 lockdown I started actually doing courses online to better myself, I done several courses on mental health particularly in young people a subject that I loved. I got certificates for each one of these.
I am now currently Believe it or not on the board of a youth led Mental health organization where we go into youth clubs and promote positive mental health and spread awareness of the subject, always developing my skills. Pushing the bar higher again.
Gerard and Cara loved fitness they would always talk of it so positively. Hearing them speak of it made me feel like I want to attempt a marathon if I could at the time. Me and Gerard went to flex fitness a local gym, I had no confidence to go to the gym but I gave it a try. As I hope each one of you find out its always good to try new things. I lost over 4 stone in weight after being very over weight, after then getting full confidence with a personal trainer. Lock down came along I thought this would hinder my motivation in the gym but no it seemed to me to make it stronger. Gerard got in contact with Stephen who is linked with YeHa who loaned me dumbbells. My family got me some things to so throughout lockdown I trained, I walked mountains a lot with my pup & got enjoyment out of education!!!
Said that to me 3 years ago id of laughed. Don’t get me wrong I played games relaxed and actually enjoyed the time doing everything I done. I used it to better myself in any way I could. This is why I Said I understand this is a crazy year but for me. It ended up one of the best years all my work and effort with YeHa, with myself, with family and building friendships payed of.  Youth work not only works but worked for me. 
I am now in the process of becoming a qualified youth worker I have hours of paid work with YeHa, I am doing a personal training course online witch I am loving and am going to link in with youth work. I am fitter healthier and happier. I now enjoy education. I'm on the board of a Mental health organization at 19, Amongst a lot of other things I have to be thankful for 2020 was outstanding. For me personally. I am proud of myself and am so delighted to say that. 

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Our Children of Lockdown short story competition explained, with Paul McVeigh and young participant Kaila swapping thoughts and ideas about writing. 
​Deadline is Sunday 27 Sept, send stories to [email protected]
You can hear Paul's readings for AYE here: Paul McVeigh - The Good Son - Ardoyne Youth Enterprise

​North Belfast writer Paul McVeigh and Ardoyne Youth Enterprise are running a ‘Children of Lockdown’ story competition for children and young people who live in Belfast and surrounding areas.
The competition will be judged by Paul McVeigh, and the winning stories will be published on Ardoyne Youth Enterprise social media and website. Paul is the author of The Good Son, a novel about growing up in the 1980s in North Belfast.
Paul McVeigh said: “I can’t wait to read your stories. Lockdown Belfast style. I wonder what stories about it you can come up with. Could you have imagined this happening? What can you imagine now? What other ways do you think the world could change? What do you think the future holds for these children of lockdown?”

​WHO CAN ENTER, WHAT YOU HAVE TO DO
There are 3 categories:

• aged up to 11 – write a story or poem about life in Coronavirus-Land, or on any theme that inspires you. Maximum 500 words.
• 12 to 15 year old – write a short story inspired by your experience as a young person in Covid-19 times, or imagining a post-Covid-19 world – or on any theme that inspires you. Maximum 750 words.
• 16 to 24 year old – write a Covid-19 inspired short story – or a story on any theme that inspires you. Maximum 1,000 words.

DEADLINE
All stories to be submitted to: [email protected] by Sunday 27 September, 5pm. Entrants must include their name, an email address, phone number, postal address and age. Under 18s need parental consent to publish their story.

PRIZES
Each category will have an overall winner who will receive:

• a special reading by Paul McVeigh for their school, youth group or a group of their choice (for the over 16s, Paul can offer a personal one hour mentoring session if they prefer);
• a £40 book token from No Alibis bookshop for themselves, donated by Paul;
• a family ticket to Belfast zoo for the under 12 winner;  voucher for 2 under 16 + 1 adult visit to Titanic Museum for 12 to 15 winner; a copy of ‘the Good Son’ and cinema (or drive-in cinema) tickets for the over 16 winner.

There will be additional prizes for second and third place in each category, donated by Ardoyne Youth Enterprise, Ardbone Festival, Bright Ideas North Belfast, New Lodge Arts and more. 
Catherine Couvert, Communications Officer at Ardoyne Youth Enterprise, said: “This year, children and young people have been living in a strange world, as weird as some of the stories they read in children’s books and young adult fiction, whether fairy tale, sci-fi, adventure, utopia or horror story. We think this is the perfect time for them to be inspired to write a story of their own.”
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PAUL McVEIGH
Paul McVeigh has recently recorded  a series of short online readings from his novel for Ardoyne Youth Enterprise. You can find them here: YouTube/Ardoyne Youth Enterprise/Paul McVeigh – The Good Son.
More about Paul McVeigh and The Good Son here: paulmcveighwriter.com.
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​ARDOYNE YOUTH ENTERPRISE
Ardoyne Youth Enterprise is a youth and community development organisation based in Ardoyne, North Belfast.
More about Ardoyne Youth Enterprise here: www.ardoyne.org.