Building communities and big opportunities

Young Bristol are incredibly proud to announce that our young people have been shortlisted in the Bristol Young Heroes Awards 2024!

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The Bristol Young Heroes Awards recognises and celebrates the valuable contribution that Bristol’s young people make to the city. The awards shine a light on those who have overcome difficult circumstances, made a difference to the lives of others, or have achieved something extraordinary this year!

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Amelia, Hartcliffe Club for Young People - Environmental Hero

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Amelia was nominated for the Environmental Hero Award after she helped to drive the importance of looking after local communities at her local Youth Club. She initially joined Hartcliffe Club for Young People in 2022 as a quiet and reserved young person, who had lost her confidence due to the pandemic. The club and staff team that work at her local Youth Club have not only helped her regain confidence, but also experience trips, residentials and the Spacemakers project!

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“During lockdown the stresses and strains triggered a disorder called Trichotillomania for Amelia. Over the space of a year or so, this unfortunately got worse for her causing a huge knock in her confidence. Amelia’s confidence has grown so much and I truly feel that she is back to her happy outgoing self."

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- Jemma, Amelia's Mum

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Dasha, Outdoor Employment Programme, Sports Hero

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Dasha was nominated for the Sports Hero Award after overcoming considerable challenges during 2023 while maintaining a focus on helping others and forwarding her own potential through academic studies and sports, highlighted since joining our Outdoor Employment Programme! Dasha has become a real inspiration to all the other young people attending the Young Bristol Outdoor Employment Programme and North Avon Canoe Club!

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"Since joining the canoe club, Dasha has demonstrated boundless enthusiasm and resilience. It doesn’t to matter whether it’s raining, the wind is howling, or the water is cold and dirty, her desire to learn and a hunger for adventure means she takes on every challenge with exemplary levels of concentration, bravery, and good humour, we all believe she shows great potential.

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- Nigel, North Avon Canoe Club

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Hartcliffe 10, Hartcliffe Club for Young People, Team of Heroes

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Hartcliffe 10 were nominated for the Team of Heroes Award after the group of young volunteers have chosen to give their time 4 evenings a week to support young people at Hartcliffe Club for Young People. The group have supported the delivery of youth work, community and social action projects across the BS13 area over the last 18 months, and have made a huge impact in the short time they have volunteered so far.

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"As Club Leader, their isn’t enough that I can say to praise the commitment and dedication that these young people have demonstrated over the last 18 months. Not only have they made a difference to the lives of other young people in the area, but they have also had a massive impact dispelling the negative stereotypes that surround teenagers."

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- Simon, Club Leader at Hartcliffe Club for Young People

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Kyle, Hartcliffe Club for Young People - Action Hero

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Kyle was nominated for the Action Hero Award after overcoming significant barriers last year. Hartcliffe Club for Young People have seen an amazing and significant transformation in Kyle since joining the club at the start of 2023, initially joining as a young person who was quiet, reserved and struggled to make friends.

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“He thoroughly enjoys his volunteer role and supporting other children at the Club to achieve their goals. Volunteering has really helped Kyle to develop and become a stronger individual, as a family we couldn’t be prouder of how far he has come.”

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- Kyle's Mum

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Looked After Children, BS14 Youth Club- Team of Heroes

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The BS14 Looked After Children team were nominated for the Team of Heroes Award after leading Open Access club sessions, specifically targeted at "Looked After Children", which is the only one of it's kind in the local area. The group have welcomed 70 young people since it's launch, with 797 total contacts with these young people!

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“We would just like to say well done to the club staff for providing a safe space for our young people to go to. They have benefitted going to club because they get to meet other children, burn off some energy and learn new skills. We have found this to be invaluable as we carers can socialise whilst our young people are enjoying themselves, safe in the knowledge that they are being well looked after by staff who have built up good relationships with them.

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- Carer, Looked After Children group

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Missie, The Grove @ Bedminster Down - Super Hero

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Missie was nominated for the Super Hero Award as she has demonstrated remarkable resilience and dedication as a Young Leader. She has grown to be a beacon of inspiration for all and Missie has been able to build strong relationships with both staff and young people since her time at The Grove. Even in the face of personal loss when her beloved Nan passed, Missie has found solace and purpose in her volunteer work at her local youth club.

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“Volunteering at The Grove has helped me in many ways. It’s made me feel connected to my community, it’s helped me conquer troubles of mental health, and volunteering has made me feel less isolated and pushed me out of my comfort zone!”

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- Missie, Young Leader and young person at The Grove @ Bedminster Down

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Young Bristol would like to recognise Ellis and our Outdoor Activities Team, who have also achieved incredible things during 2023. Thank you Bristol Young Heroes for highlighting everything our young people have achieved! We wish all our shortlisted young people and teams the best of luck at the Bristol Young Heroes Awards on Friday 5th July 2024!

Over the weekend, young people from our Outdoor Employment Programme took part in the Super Sliders Bronze and Silver programmes!

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What a great way for our Outdoor Employment Programme to start their weekend! A small group of our trainees travelled to the University of Bath's Training Village, where they took part in the Super Sliders Bronze and Silver programme. The team from Super Sliders had prepared a day full of activities for young people to get involved with and enjoy!

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The programme started off with some "off-track" activities, where the group talked to Tabitha Stoecker and Patrick Atkin from Britain's Olympic Bobsleigh team! During this workshop, the group learnt about different bobsleigh equipment and were taught about a range of bobsleigh techniques!

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The workshop continued onto some "on-track" activities, where the group put their learning into practice by using the bobsleigh equipment on the track. Young people all had the opportunity to push themselves down the track and improve their bobsleigh technique!

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It was great to see our group of trainees try out new sports and push themselves out of their comfort zone! A huge thank you to Super Sliders for inviting us along to their most recent programme! We look forward to taking part in the next one soon!

This Easter half term, we saw two weeks of Open Access and Holiday Clubs delivered across our Community Youth Clubs and Outdoor Activity Centre. We worked with new and existing young people, providing them with enriching opportunities and a hot, healthy meal!

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Young Bristol's Easter Holiday Clubs, for young people aged 8-19, were located in 6 locations across the city, where our Community Youth Club staff and Outdoor Activities team ran extended evening sessions for young people! Our team were able to provide young people with a number of exciting activities, a free prepared meal and a safe space to have fun! Our programmes were free for all to attend, with a focus on those in receipt of free school meals!

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This Easter, Young Bristol saw:

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• 482+ contacts with young people
• 29+ open access and holiday club sessions delivered
• 50+ Free School Meals young people engaged with

We are delighted to announce that Peyton from Hartcliffe Club for Young People and Orla from The Grove @ Bedminster Down are the winners of our 2024 Creative Writing competition!

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Last month, we hosted a Creative Writing competition across our Community Youth Club network. Young people from each club were encouraged to write a short poem or story to be entered into our competition. The creative pieces were shortlisted by Club Leader's and submitted to our judges

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We received 8 shortlisted entries from across our club network, our judges chose a senior and junior winner from the range of amazing creative writing skills that were showcased in the competition!

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The winner from our junior age group is Orla from The Grove @ Bedminster Down and the winner of our senior age group is Peyton from Hartcliffe Club for Young People! The pair were awarded with a framed and printed copy of their written piece and a £15 Amazon gift card each. Congratulations both!

This week, we finished off the Easter Holiday period by hosting an Interclub Arts workshop for young people across our Community Youth Club network to enjoy!

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Hartcliffe Club for Young People kindly hosted our Interclub Arts day, where we saw over 50 young people attend from across our Youth Club network, as well as a few young people who joined us from the Robins Foundation! The day offered a variety of workshops for all young people and staff members to enjoy! We saw young people from Ashton Vale Club for Young People, BS14 Stockwood Youth Club, Hartcliffe Club for Young People and The Grove @ Bedminster Down!

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One of the workshops on offer was a graffiti workshop! Young people sketched their name onto a canvas, and then used spray paint and stencils to colour in their names! The group were then offered to create their own pieces using stencils and different spary paints. We saw some amazing artwork created, which young people all took home to hang on their walls! Thank you to Steven from Graffarty for running this workshop!

During the Easter Half term, Young Bristol were delighted to receive a generous donation of Easter eggs from the local construction recruitment company, Leggwork!

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Young Bristol were amazed when we received a donation of over 180 Easter eggs from corporate partner, Leggwork. The local recruitment company donated this large sum of Easter eggs to be handed out to all young people across our Community Youth Club network attending our Holiday Clubs, who may not have received an Easter egg this year.

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It was amazing to see the excitement from young people when our team distributed eggs across our youth clubs! Thank you to Leggwork for your kind donation, we hope to continue working together in the future!

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If you would like to help us support young people in Bristol, click here to find out more!

Last week, we were delighted to invite the team from SUEZ to The Grove @ Bedminster Down, where their generous volunteers dedicated their day to help improve our facilities for the benefit of young people.

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After a long winter, with some severe weather conditions, The Grove needed a makeover, making sure our youth club was ready for young people use and enjoy throughout the Easter Holiday and during our open access evening sessions!

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11  incredible staff members from SUEZ joined us at The Grove, where created a more visually appealing and safe environment around the club. During the day, the team got involved with litter picking, clearing out our sports cupboard, weeding, mowing the grass and clearing at the back of the club!

We are incredibly proud to announce that Young Bristol have been awarded "Charity of the Year" award at the Bristol Life awards!

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On Wednesday 27th March 2024, our team attended the Bristol Life Awards and it was great to be recognised for our hard work and dedication to young people across Bristol!

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In the last year, Young Bristol has seen an incredible amount of change and success! 2023 was a year of investment, development and growth at Young Bristol, where we have had an expansion in delivery for young people, an increase in partnerships with new youth organisations and businesses both locally and nationally, the securing of long-term funding for our vast programme of services, the introduction of innovative programmes that have transformed communities across the city, as well as significant investment in our people and our buildings.

Last week, we were delighted to invite the team from Core3 to Hartcliffe Club for Young People, where their generous volunteers dedicated their day to help improve our facilities for the benefit of young people.

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After a long winter, with some severe weather conditions, Hartcliffe Club or Young people needed some attention, making sure our youth club was ready for young people use and enjoy throughout the Easter Holiday!

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4 of Core3's incredible staff members joined us at Hartcliffe Club for Young People, where, with the help of our Club Leader, created a more visually appealing and safe environment around the club. During the day, the team litter picked around the club, cut down overgrown branches that were growing up the fence as well as raked and cleared the back garden, preparing the area for new additions coming soon!