Kids got a great day out at the seaside when Sister Christine Frost did her ‘neighbours’ thing and took 40 youngsters down to the South Coast.

She organised the outing for 40 youngsters and their families from Poplar’s Robin Hood Gardens to give them a break from the estate next to the busy Blackwall Tunnel and a chance to play on the beach.

“People who have their own gardens don’t understand the children need to get away from blocks of flats where they can’t play,” said Sister Christine.

“There isn’t the money to go around when you’ve got a lot of children. But they need to play. We overlook their needs.”

Saturday’s trip was just one of the endless projects Sister Christine does through the Neighbours In Poplar community group she has been running for the past 40 years.

The youngsters were among 2,000 disadvantaged London kids taking part in this year’s Variety Club of Great Britain’s day trip to the Sussex resort of Littlehampton, where they couldn’t wait to play on the sandy beach and have free rides on the seafront’s Harbour Fun Park.

“Most live in very small council flats,” added Sister Christine. “They couldn’t believe the amount of country they were seeing, the space, the freedom of it—and the open sea.”

Many of the youngsters, seeing the sea for the first time, went paddling straight away, then made a beeline for the rides and funfair.