December 5, 2024

McDonald’s Teams Up with Young Bristol to Create a Safe Haven for Local Young People

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In an inspiring partnership with local youth charity, Young Bristol, Laura Wilder, Franchisee of the Bristol Fishponds McDonald’s, has transformed her restaurant into a safe and welcoming space for young people. This partnership comes as a result of McDonald’s Makin’ it initiative, run in collaboration with BBC Children in Need - to better support young people and unlock genuine opportunity.

Surrounded by several schools, Laura noticed an increasing number of young people gathering at her restaurant after school. Over time, she began to know the regulars by name, fostering relationships that have led to a much greater impact than anticipated. Laura’s presence as a mentor and positive role model grew as she took on a key role of providing reassurance, advice, and support to these young people.

In a bid to extend the positive impact beyond just the students who were visiting her restaurant, Laura formed a partnership with Young Bristol, the city’s leading provider of community-based youth services. The charity is well known for its extensive community youth club network across some of Bristol’s most challenging neighbourhoods and run a variety of initiatives including outdoor activities, holiday clubs and an outdoor employment programme which helps young people develop life skills.

Recognising the potential of combining their strengths, Laura personally funded six youth work sessions, which saw Young Bristol’s innovative Youth Club on Wheels parked outside her McDonald’s for a 3-hour window each week. This mobile youth service created a fun, interactive space for the youth, with various activities designed to engage, inspire, and positively influence their lives.

Over the course of the project, 24 young people from the local Fishponds community took part, solidifying the initiative’s success. This partnership between Young Bristol and McDonald’s has had a profound effect on the local community, all through crucial funding from BBC Children in Need. Not only has Laura’s restaurant become a gathering spot where young people feel safe, but it has also fostered anew, mutual respect between the McDonald’s team and young people in the area. Fishponds McDonald’s and Young Bristol look forward to continuing their partnership, with a new aim to provide employment opportunities for young people.

Local McDonald’s Franchisee, Laura Wilder, who owns and operates McDonald’s Fishponds, says:

“My team at McDonald’s Fishponds and I, together with Young Bristol, are deeply committed to creating lasting change in our community. We see the bright potential in every young person, and it inspires us to create a safe and welcoming space where they can connect, learn, and truly thrive. Together, we've already begun to see the positive impact of our partnership, and we’re excited to build on this foundation. Our goal is to open even more doors for growth and empowerment, ensuring that the youth of Bristol have the opportunities they deserve to shine.”

Shea Stew, Young Bristol Youth Club On Wheels Lead adds:

“Going into the project we did not know what to expect, but I was utterly amazed at the response from the young people and the community. It quickly became clear that there was a genuine need in Fishponds for something for young people. We really enjoyed working with McDonalds, and would love to see a bigger partnership in the future, as we know youth, community, and burgers, is a great combination.”

Since the start of the partnership with BBC Children in Need, McDonald’s has supported more than 185 youth projects employing more than 320 youth workers and improving outcomes for over 42,500 young people .McDonald’s customers can donate to BBC Children in Need by rounding up orders at the kiosk and via the McDonald’s App.

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September 1, 2025

What's on: September 2025!

Are you looking to take part in exciting activities this month? Young Bristol have a range of activities, events and opportunities for young people and the wider community! Find out below what's on in your local area this month!

Film Competition

Create a short film, no longer than 5 minutes long, following the theme of ‘when I grow up’. Maximum of 4 young people per entry. Prizes include a private screening of your film in October at The Sheds, a tour of The Sheds media facilities, £15 Amazon gift voucher and your film to be shared on Young Bristol's social media.

When: Monday 1st September-Saturday 27th September

For: Ages 8-19

How to enter: email your video to jbt@youngbristol.com via WeTransfer or Drop Box

Outdoor Employment Programme Introduction Evening

Our Outdoor Employment Programme are recruiting for new trainees! This session will be a classroom based information evening to explain more about the Outdoor Employment Programme and working in the outdoors industry. There will be an opportunity to sign up to the programme during the evening.

When: Thursday 4th September

Where: Pooles Wharf Outdoor Activity Centre

For: Ages 16-25

Also this month...

Community Youth Clubs - For 8 – 19 year olds and are located in many areas across Bristol, open up to 5 nights per week. Each Club offers a safe and inclusive environment, staffed by caring, trained adults. Click here to find out more.

Outdoor Employment Programme - Our free programme for young people aged 16-25 helps to develop new skills and gain nationally recognised qualifications in a variety of outdoor activities. Click here to find out more.

Youth Club on Wheels - Our mobile youth service works with young people aged 8-19 in hard-to-reach areas of the city and rural areas where there is currently no youth provision. Click here to find out more.

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August 29, 2025

Young Bristol host Interclub Watersports Day 2025!

This week, Young Bristol hosted an Interclub Watersports Day at Poole's Wharf Activity Centre, bringing together young people from three different communities across the city!

On Thursday 28th August, Young Bristol hosted an Interclub Watersports Day at our Pooles Wharf Activity Centre! We saw three teams from across our Community Youth Club network, taking part in different games and activities to earn points towards the Young Bristol Shield! The day brought together young people from Ashton Vale Club for Young People, Hartcliffe Club for Young People and Sea Mills' Boys' and Girls' Club.

Young people started the morning with canoeing, learning basic paddling techniques on land, before getting into kayaks and paddling through Bristol's iconic Harbourside. The group took part in confidence building games and races to encourage them to practice their paddling techniques.

During the second half of the session, young people were able to use their paddling skills in paddleboarding time trials, where young people worked together to race on stand-up paddleboards. Each team then built their own raft that would hopefully see their team paddle to victory!

Congratulations to Sea Mills' Boys' and Girls' Club on winning this years Interclub Watersports Day! Well done to all the young people that took part in our Watersports Day, showing great teamwork across the day!

To find out more about our programmes, including our Community Youth Clubs or Outdoor Activities, click here!

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August 26, 2025

Young Bristol's Summer Holiday Provision 2025 - Week 4

Last week was the fourth week of Young Bristol's Summer Holiday Provision. We saw delivery from six of Young Bristol’s Community Youth Clubs, Youth Club on Wheels and Outdoor Activity Centre, working with new and existing young people, providing them with exciting and enriching opportunities, access to a free hot meal and the opportunity to build new friendships.

​​

The fourth week of our Summer Holiday Provision saw:

  • 242+ contacts with young people across our Holiday Clubs and Open Access provision
  • 17+ sessions across the city
  • 9 communities supported through our Community Youth Clubs and Youth Club on Wheels.

Key highlights of the week:

Hartcliffe Club for Young People hosted an amazing paint run as part of their final session of the summer, where young people celebrated and reflected on their amazing summer of exciting trips, new experiences and lots of laughter.

BS14 Youth Club visited Stockwood Pump Track, hosted by Access Sport. During their visit, young people learnt about their local pump track and enjoyed food and other activities in the park!

Ashton Vale Club for Young People played a number of team sports and party games, helping our young people build their confidence and make new friends. The games included musical chairs, dodgeball and football.

Young Bristol would like to thank our staff team, partner organisations, and funders for helping make last week part of the summer of a lifetime. We would also like to thank the Your Holiday Hub Bristol Programme, supported by Bristol City Council and The Department for Education, for supporting our Holiday Clubs at our city-wide Community Youth Club venues.

Find out more about our holiday programmes here.

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August 20, 2025

Young Bristol's Summer Holiday Provision 2025 - Week 3

Last week was the third week of Young Bristol's Summer Holiday Provision. We saw delivery from six of Young Bristol’s Community Youth Clubs, Youth Club on Wheels and Outdoor Activity Centre, working with new and existing young people, providing them with exciting and enriching opportunities, access to a free hot meal and the opportunity to build new friendships.

​​

The third week of our Summer Holiday Provision saw:

  • 333+ contacts with young people across our Holiday Clubs and Open Access provision
  • 19 sessions across the city
  • 9 communities supported through our Community Youth Clubs and Youth Club on Wheels.

Key highlights of the week:

Young Bristol hosted our annual Interclub Summer tournament at St Brendan's RFC, inviting 60+ young people from across the city, both from our Community Youth Club network and other local organisations, to compete for our junior and senior trophy.

Ashton Vale Club for Young People offered the opportunity to learn new skills through a variety of sports such as badminton and tennis, as well as encouraging team work through playing more familiar sports such as football and basketball.

Youth Club on Wheels Oatlands Avenue visited Lush Greens, a flourishing community market garden, based in our young peoples local community! During the session, our young people learnt about the vegetables that the Lush Greens team grow in their gardens, and how these benefit their local community.

Young Bristol would like to thank our staff team, partner organisations, and funders for helping make last week part of the summer of a lifetime. We would also like to thank the Your Holiday Hub Bristol Programme, supported by Bristol City Council and The Department for Education, for supporting our Holiday Clubs at our city-wide Community Youth Club venues.

Find out more about our holiday programmes here.

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August 18, 2025

Fundraising at the Tough Mudder South West 2025!

On Saturday 16th August, we were pleased to see Louis, Young Bristol's Fundraising Coordinator, as well as Ersin and Gavin from Ergo Chair sign up to the South West Tough Mudder to raise money for Young Bristol!

The Tough Mudder South West is a challenging obstacle course that takes place at Badminton Estate, where participants naviagte a variety of obstacles, including icy water, thick mud, rope climbs, fire, and electricity shocks.

It has been amazing to see Louis as well as Ersin and Gavin from Ergo Chair prepare for this exciting challenge, all while fundraising for our young people.

Thank you to all three of our participants for taking part in the South West Tough Mudder - we appreciate your ongoing support! If you would like to support our participants continued fundraising, click on of the links below

If you are interested in taking part in a third party fundraising event for Young Bristol, click here and learn how you can help fundraise for us!

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Stories
August 15, 2025

Young Bristol's Interclub Summer Football 2025!

This summer holiday Young Bristol have offered a wide range of activities for all young people to take part in. From sporting to creative activities, we’ve had something for everyone!

This week, we hosted an Interclub Football Tournament at St Brendan's Rugby Football Club, welcoming over 60 young people from across our club network to take part. The day brought together young people from Ashton Vale Club for Young People, Hartcliffe Club for Young People, Sea Mills Boys and Girls Club and The Grove @Bedminster Down, as well as a number of external teams from Robins Foundation and Hartcliffe and Withywood Community Partnership.

The Interclub tournament started with teams playing 4-5 minute matches in a round-robin format, with supporters cheering on their teams from the sidelines.

After some intense matches, it was announced that Robins Foundations and Hartcliffe and Withywood Community Partnership would play against each other for the junior trophy and Robins Foundations would play against Hartcliffe Club for Young People for the senior trophy!

We are proud to announce that Robins Foundation won both our junior and senior trophies. Well done to all the young people who took part. It was fantastic to see them interacting and making new friends, as well as engaging other young people from across the city!

We would like to thank St Brendan's Rugby Football Club for facilitating our football tournament. To find out more about our Community Youth Clubs, click here!

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August 11, 2025

Young Bristol's Summer Holiday Provision 2025 - Week 2

Last week was the second week of Young Bristol's Summer Holiday Provision. We saw delivery from six of Young Bristol’s Community Youth Clubs, Youth Club on Wheels and Outdoor Activity Centre, working with new and existing young people, providing them with exciting and enriching opportunities, access to a free hot meal and the opportunity to build new friendships.

​​

The second week of our Summer Holiday Provision saw:

  • 355+ contacts with young people across our Holiday Clubs and Open Access provision
  • 24 sessions across the city
  • 9 communities supported through our Community Youth Clubs and Youth Club on Wheels.

Key highlights of the week:

BS14 Youth Club had the opportunity to create their own portion of nachos, with each young person choosing from a variety of healthy toppings and enjoying their personalised meals.

Avon Youth Club hosted a wide range of creative activities throughout their second week of summer including using air-dry clay to create mirrors, diamond painting as well as a trip to Blaise Court, where they worked with local residents to create their own masterpieces!

Hartcliffe Club for Young People took their young people on a number of amazing trips, teaching young people about nature and the environment. These included visits to Bristol Zoo Project, a Grow Wilder workshop with Sustainable Energy and Avon Wildlife Trust, as well as trips to local parks across the city!

Young Bristol would like to thank our staff team, partner organisations, and funders for helping make last week part of the summer of a lifetime. We would also like to thank the Your Holiday Hub Bristol Programme, supported by Bristol City Council and The Department for Education, for supporting our Holiday Clubs at our city-wide Community Youth Club venues.

Find out more about our holiday programmes here.

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Programmes
August 6, 2025

Young Bristol's Summer Holiday Provision 2025 - Week 1

Last week was the first week of Young Bristol's Summer Holiday Provision. We saw delivery from six of Young Bristol’s Community Youth Clubs, Youth Club on Wheels and Outdoor Activity Centre, working with new and existing young people, providing them with exciting and enriching opportunities, access to a free hot meal and the opportunity to build new friendships.

​​

The first week of our Summer Holiday Provision saw:

  • 346 contacts with young people across our Holiday Clubs and Open Access provision
  • 25+ sessions across the city
  • 9 communities supported through our Community Youth Clubs and Youth Club on Wheels.

Key highlights of the week:

Avon Youth Club hosted a wide range of workshops and trips during their first week of summer delivery, including an archery day, BMX workshops, a visit from SS Great Britain as well as a trip to Blaise Court, the clubs local residential home, where the group took part in intergenerational activities..

Hartcliffe club for Young People ran a number of playscheme sessions throughout the week, offering a number of sports and creative activities for young people to enjoy. This included football, dreamcatcher decorating and plant pot making!

Our Youth Club on Wheels has resumed delivery in Brislington, Henbury, Hengrove and Horfield for young people aged 8-19. Our team offer a wide range of activities for young people to enjoy throughout the year including sports, arts, cooking and discussion based activities. To find out more about your local Youth Club on Wheels session, click here!

Young Bristol would like to thank our staff team, partner organisations, and funders for helping make last week part of the summer of a lifetime. We would also like to thank the Your Holiday Hub Bristol Programme, supported by Bristol City Council and The Department for Education, for supporting our Holiday Clubs at our city-wide Community Youth Club venues.

Find out more about our holiday programmes here.

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August 4, 2025

Rebus Medical Volunteer at Ashton Vale Club for Young People!

Last week, we were delighted to welcome the team from Rebus Medical to Ashton Vale Club for Young People, where 16 of their dedicated team members helped us to improve our facilities for young people!

During their voluntary day, the team from Rebus Medical joined us outside in the sunshine to get stuck in with some outdoors tasks! The volunteers spent the day trimming back hedges and clearing weeds from around the multi-sports court. The team also helped us with painting around the club, where they painted the walls in the clubs entranceway, helping the Ashton Vale Club for Young People to look more bright and welcoming!

Thank you to everyone at Rebus Medical for helping us to create a safe, positive place where our young people can thrive! We appreciate your support!

There are many ways you can work with Young Bristol and support what we do. As a charity, we are committed to building long-term, mutually beneficial relationships with corporate organisations in Bristol and surrounding areas. Find out how you can support us today! Click here for more information.

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