Yipiyap goes to Blackpool - Niamh's thoughts

Receiving an email regarding the Regional Directors’ Training stating that on one of the days we have a 07:00 start where we must bring ‘outdoor clothing and trainers, but also posh shoes’ is bound to baffle anyone! An image of wearing tracksuit bottoms, huge skiing jackets and heels sprung to mind!

Fast forward to 06:00 on the morning in question. Sitting up in bed, tired eyes, bed hair and lines from the crumpled bed sheets printed on my face, I wondered what on earth the day had in store! Having decided it was highly likely that we were trekking up a mountain to a fancy restaurant (this is where the posh shoes came in!), I headed to meet the rest of the team with a knowing look in my eyes only to see our COO (who knew what the surprise was!) wearing white trainers! Well, I guess we weren’t going hiking then!

After clambering onto the bus and stuffing my face with a veggie-sausage sandwich, I fell asleep only to wake up to the sight of what looked like the Eiffel Tower right in front of me! Rubbing my tired eyes, I hopped off the bus and followed the team into the Blackpool Tower where we eventually found ourselves in the very grand Ballroom. The sheer beauty of the room was breathtaking! Everyone started humming the Strictly theme tune and then I spotted one of the Regional Directors putting on her shiny silver heels! At 09:00 we were welcomed by our very enthusiastic teacher for the next hour. “Are you ready to do some dancing?” he exclaimed and from the Cha-cha-cha to the Tango; we did it all!

At the end of our hour we were told that the day wasn’t over yet and next we knew we were sat on a roller coaster screaming at the top of our lungs at Blackpool Pleasure Beach! As a bit of a roller coaster wimp, I thought we had already been on The Big One only to be told, as I joined another queue, that actually we’d only just arrived at The Big One! I have to say, my once buried fear of heights was starting to creep up on me again!

The whole day was such an incredible yet surreal experience; from ballroom dancing lessons in the UK’s most iconic ballrooms to uncontrollable laughter to disguise my fear on the tallest roller coaster in the UK! Yipiyap really did outdo themselves on our trip to Blackpool that day!