Our youth clubs have been growing this term, with an average of 29 young people attending each of the older groups every week. Alongside the ever-popular cheese toasties, young people have also been enjoying free food from Lidl’s waste produce donations on Fridays, which has been very well received at the Friday after school drop-in. It has also been lovely to see more young people, especially girls, learning to skateboard at The Warehouse youth club this term, with their confidence growing week by week.
This week, two young people returned to the warehouse youth club after not attending for some time. They shared that they had been in town waiting for their parents to collect them and chose to come to the youth club “because we knew it was warm and safe here.” This was incredibly encouraging to hear, showing how strongly young people associate the space with feeling welcome and secure.
Another young person summed up her experience by saying she comes to youth club because “it’s full of activities, it’s fun and stress-relieving.” She added, “you can do a bit, then you can do something else, and the staff are very nice.”
We are grateful for our ongoing partnerships with Riverside Church, Burton Skate Project, and The Community Church, which allow these open-access youth clubs to be long-term projects that young people can trust. Supported by teams of staff and highly committed volunteers, we are able to offer relational youth work that adapts to young people’s needs each week, meaning there is never a dull moment.
Find out more about our community youth projects here