This week’s behind the scenes from Alex and Farewell Sam ☹

Football has come up a lot in sessions this week; more particularly, Liverpool FC. With one of our Gappies being a huge fan of the team, it’s a subject he speaks passionately about, even when there may be difficulties elsewhere in life. I’ve never been one to follow the Premier League closely but I’ve always had a soft spot for Liverpool, so the morning after a positive Liverpool result (as they all seem to be at the moment) the main content of the sessions is put on hold for a quick chat about how this could be their year.

This occurred in our session all about Self-Confidence on Tuesday, the morning after Liverpool beat Southampton, having left some of their best players on the bench. After ten minutes of football chat, I thought we should probably start discussing the session we had planned, so I smoothly segued the talk into the self-confidence of Jurgen Klopp, the Liverpool manager. We opened a discussion about how self-confidence is not being brash and arrogant, like Mourinho, but instead a calm and composed figure, like Klopp, who doesn’t take all the credit but praises those around him too. For example, he’d shown great confidence in his team by giving a chance to those who wouldn’t usually get a game. We also discussed how self-confidence is about facing up to challenges and seeing them as opportunities. In true fashion, the example our Gappie used was going into school the day after Liverpool ruined their chances of winning the league in 2014 after Gerrard slipped over. Braving the ribbing he got at school was a daunting task but he went in regardless. Here, we struck the perfect balance between finding a topic the Gappies are passionate about and using it to teach a wider lesson.

Thursday featured a chat with Ffion from the Marine Conservation Society, giving us a rundown of why our help is needed and how things will go when we do our BeachClean with them on Monday. The work done by the Marine Conservation Society helps to show the government why more needs to be done to rid the oceans and beaches of plastic, and on Monday we’ll be getting stuck in on Llandudno North Shore.
Our last session this week, and mentor Sam’s last session ever, was another game of Codenames. I mentioned this in my first WeDiscover blog and this week it returned because it always brings the laughs. Frustratingly, my team lost twice. Somehow, they did not think of the word ‘Squirrel’ when I gave the clue ‘Rabbit’, choosing to go for ‘Lab’ instead. This might mean nothing to those that have never played it but if you ask me, the squirrel is the rabbit of the tree and I will never let this go.

It was a wonderful way to say goodbye to Sam, in true WeMindTheGap fashion, full of laughter. Sam has been with WeDiscover since the beginning and has had a large role in shaping the programme and the Discovery Village in particular. He has a calming presence with eternal patience and will be sorely missed. He’s off for new adventures, working at festivals over the Summer before heading to South America to communicate his joyful energy in Spanish and a little bit Portuguese. Thanks Sam and good luck!