Staxton & Willerby are small villages joined together. When a group of parents contacted me here at North Yorkshire Youth to set up a voluntary youth club they were blown away by the support they received.
As a small community they wanted to raise awareness of the club for new young people and adults or students wanting to volunteer. The volunteers at the club decided to hold a community/family picnic on the school field. I helped them advertise and shared their poster which was well received by the village.
Over 30 people turned up from 5 weeks old to 85 years old! Many of these were families who had not met before and the event was a huge success in terms of raising awareness of the club, but also bringing the community together. Everyone brought their own refreshments and the club supplied games, rounders and football.
The volunteers posted the photos on the local Facebook page and people were thankful – there is a buzz about bringing all ages of the community together and the next project is going to be a Christmas Party in the village Hall!
Claire Garton
Youth & Community Development Worker, Ryedale
If you are interested in starting a youth club in your area, please contact Panda Gledhill on [email protected]