Youth Services: an exciting summer and planning for the future

Residentials (multi-day trips) are one of the most important things we offer through our Youth Services, as these experiences give local young people a chance to get outside of North Kensington, try new activities, learn new skills, broaden their horizons and challenge themselves to a new way of thinking. 

After a recent residential, one of the participant’s guardians shared her appreciation of her grandson being able to take part in the trip: “It was the first time in 10 years I had managed to get some time to myself”, she told our Senior Youth Worker.

The family has been dealing with various issues, including mental ill-health, bereavement and domestic violence, and as a result the young man who attends our Youth Club struggles with positive behaviour. Caring for him can be emotionally intense, so his grandmother was grateful for the time apart, giving them both a chance to reset.

Recent Highlights

• We spent three weeks of summer on residential trips for 36 children. These trips were hosted by Turville School Trust, which aims to support underprivileged children whose families can't afford to take them on holiday. Activities included swimming, tennis, rugby, football, bike riding, horse riding, trampolining, boating, rowing and Zorbing, as well as forest walks, treasure hunts, a visit to a dairy farm and a visit to an exotic animals safari.
• A spent one week on a residential to PGL activity centre. Fourteen young people aged 13+ participated in different activities including group work, problem-solving and mental and physical challenges.
• Our Man Cave mental health and wellbeing initiative has been hugely successful over the past six months, with more schools appreciating the group and one-to-one sessions delivered by our experienced team. In the New Year we will be engaging students from even more schools.

Looking Ahead

With recent cost-saving exercises at RBKC, Youth Services across the borough have seen a drastic cut in funding. RPT is not immune to this impact, meaning we will need to reduce our Youth Club for 13-19 year olds from three nights a week to two.

We’re committed to offering the best possible support we can for our local young people, so we will continue to look for funding to support our Youth Club while continuing to develop complementary programmes that offer targeted outcomes, including Amplify and Man Cave.