Young Bristol host annual Night Hike 2024!

Young Bristol are incredibly proud to announce that Kat, Club Leader at BS14 Youth Club, was awarded the 'Outstanding Leader of the Year' award at the NABGC Awards Evening 2024.

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The 'Outstanding Leader of the Year' Award is presented to a leader at a local youth club, who has helped make the club a special and impactful place for young people over the last year. The successful leader would have helped the club to grow and develop, from raising funds, developing programmes as well as ensuring positive differences are made within young people’s lives and the wider community.

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We would like to congratulate Kat from BS14 Stockwood Youth Club, who was awarded the 'Outstanding Leader of the Year'' Award at the NABGC Awards Ceremony 2024!

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Kat was nominated as 'Outstanding Leader of the Year' award as she has acted as a rock and constant positive role model to the 305 young people attending BS14 Stockwood Youth Club over the past year. Her main focus at the club is how she can create a wide and diverse offer for young people, and has done amazingly well in doing so by leading the only Looked After Children provision in Bristol, being involved in Holiday Club activities, ensuring young people receive a hot meal each day and has undertaken a Level 2 and 3 qualification in Youth Work to help develop her skills.

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Andy Kimber, Head of Operations said:

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Kat has been an amazingly positive influence on the Club. She has taken on leading the Club with such energy and professionalism that the sessions have increased in numbers; as well as engaging and developing a diverse offer for young people and their families. Young people have been able to take part in such a range of activities this year, thanks to Kat’s activeness in ensuring young people know about external offers to broaden their horizons.”

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Young Bristol would like to recognise Cheralee, Jesse and Natasha, who were also nominated for the 'Outstanding Leader of the Year' award as well as Eli and Gracie, who were nominated for the 'Young Person of the Year' award.

Community-based youth charity Young Bristol has become the third South West charity to win a place on the region’s Noble Deeds programme.

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Set up in 2021 by Bristol-based SME Noble, the Deeds programme provides digital marketing training & support to not-for-profits, helping them deliver vital services in the area. Increasing in-line with Nobles’ own turnover, this year the support package stands at £25,000. Young Bristol will use this to upskill its marketing team and ensure its services reach the young people who need them the most.

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Supporting children and young adults aged 8-25 during their critical out of school hours in some of the most challenging areas of the city, Young Bristol’s mission is to provide innovative programmes that create a positive and sustainable impact on the lives of young people.

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With eight community youth clubs across Bristol, a mobile youth club on wheels, outdoor activity centres and an employment programme just part of what the charity offers, the support from Noble will help the Young Bristol team prioritise where its digital marketing efforts will make the most impact. As well as helping the team to learn new skills and maximise their knowledge of social media, SEO and other digital promotion techniques for a lasting impact beyond the Deeds programme.

We are delighted to announce that we have officially published our 2023-24 Impact Report!

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This years Impact report demonstrates the positive impact we have had around Bristol during the 2023-24 period. The report reflects how we have provided safe, social spaces for young people to thrive in, despite their increasing needs caused by the cost-of-living crisis and the rising epidemic of knife crime in Bristol.

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"Working with Young Bristol has opened our eyes to how difficult it is for young people in Bristol and across the country, and how badly a lack of funding is impacting youth work and young people's livelihoods"

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BBS, Corporate Partner

Last week, we were delighted to invite the team from Unite Students to Ashton Vale Club for Young People. Across the two days of volunteering, seven incredible employees dedicated their day to help us improve our facilities for the benefit of young people!

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During their two volunteer days, the generous volunteers from Unite Students helped us by trimming the overgrown bushes and hedges surrounding our multi-sports court. This has helped to improved the court's appearance and has created a safer environment for our staff and young people when retrieving lost equipment.

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Once the overgrown hedges were cleared, the team helped us remove waste hidden within the bushes and retrieving equipment that had previously been inaccessible for staff and young people to collect due to the overgrowth.

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Thank you to the team at Unite Students for your continued support towards Young Bristol. We greatly appreciate your ongoing efforts and look forward to working with you on upcoming voluntary and fundraising projects. We would also like to thank John O'Conner for donating all the equipment that was used across both voluntary days!

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If you are interested in volunteering for Young Bristol, click here to learn more about all of our voluntary opportunities!

Last week, we were delighted to support three teams from Unite Students as they took part in their first walking half marathon fundraising event, in aid of Young Bristol.

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We were pleased to see 25 staff members from Unite Students take part in their first walking Half Marathon, raising money for Young Bristol. The teams completed their walk from Bath to Bristol on the Bristol and Bath Railway Path in under 5 hours! In total, the team have raised over £3,800 so far!

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Unite Students has been supporting Young Bristol since 2023. Last year, they helped us by running a survey, which provided evidence for Bristol City Council to help secure funding for additional services at the Hartcliffe Club for Young People.

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This year, Unite Students continue to offer their support in various ways. Their support includes participating in voluntary days, with an upcoming date set at Ashton Vale Club for Young People this week. The team are also working on a photography project, helping us develop our growing image library to help showcase our programmes.

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"This marks the second year of our partnership with Young Bristol and after helping last year by running a survey for Hartcliffe Club for Young People, we have really enjoyed having a more hands on approach by hosting fundraising events, the walk being the first to take place. The response we had to the half marathon walk was fantastic, and it was especially great that everyone walking knew the funds were going straight to Young Bristol before we set off. "

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Emma Powell, Insight Analyst at Unite Students

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A huge thank you to the Insight & Analytics, Procurement, and Transformation teams from Unite Students for your continued support this year! If you would like to donate to Unite Student's fundraiser, click here!

During our Holiday Clubs, we were delighted to offer young people the opportunity to learn and practice photography skills during selected sessions throughout the summer!

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Our Marketing team, along with our volunteer photographer Nicolo, visited a number of Community Youth Clubs, the Youth Club on Wheels, and external trips. Young people interested in photography were given creative freedom with our cameras, helping us to expand our image library. These images will be used in our marketing across social media, our eNewsletter, and on our website!

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We are pleased to see that several young people are now considering pursuing photography as part of their studies or as a hobby, thanks to their experience with our cameras over the summer. Our staff are incredibly proud to see such high-quality images produced through the effort of these young people. Some examples are showcased in the image gallery below!

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The photographs taken by young people will be printed and displayed in our Community Youth Clubs!

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If you would like to find out more about our upcoming programmes and activities, click here!

Last month, Young Bristol were pleased to be joined by Nicolo, who volunteered with us throughout the Summer to help us update our image library.

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Nicolo came to Young Bristol through Professionals UK, who support international students to find high quality Internships and volunteering opportunities in the UK. With a passion for photography and an interest in supporting young people, volunteering at Young Bristol was a perfect fit for Nicolo, helping us to update our image library throughout our Summer delivery.

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After our initial conversations, Nicolo agreed to join us for four weeks, where he would visit our programmes across the Summer to capture bright and bold photographs to showcase Young Bristol's inspiring and engaging brand.

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During the four weeks Nicolo volunteered with us, he visited our Community Youth Clubs, Outdoor Activities Centre, and our Youth Club on Wheels, and he joined groups on external trips. We saw Nicolo engage really well with our young people, showing versatility and being personable to everyone he met! Young people even had the opportunity to learn how to take photographs on his camera!

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"I wanted to thank you so much for the experience. It has taught me a lot. I think Young Bristol does an amazing job and in every club I went into, I felt at home. Each club gave a warm and familiar atmosphere and was full of energy. Certainly thanks to the sweetness of the little ones, but also to those who work with you, who you can see put their heart into everything. For a photographer like me, it was a great pleasure to work with you."

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We would like to extend a huge thank you to Nicolo for your support over the Summer, Young Bristol really enjoyed working with you!

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If you would like to volunteer for Young Bristol, click here to find out more information.

This summer, Young Bristol saw 21 days of Holiday Clubs delivered across 5 of our community venues and outdoor activity centre, working with new and existing young people, providing them with exciting and enriching new opportunities, access to healthy food and the opportunity to build new friendships.

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Young Bristol’s Holiday Clubs are located in numerous areas across Bristol. During the school holidays our Community Youth Clubs and Outdoor Activities Team ran engaging sessions during both the day time and evenings. These session provided young people with free activities, prepared meals and a safe space to have fun! Our programmes had a focus on supporting those who receive free school meals.

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"I feel like I belong at this club, the adults are welcoming and I find it easy to make friends with the other kids"

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This summer Young Bristol saw:

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• 2,383 contacts with young people
• 29+ Holiday Clubs sessions delivered.
• 14 communities supported across Bristol with our Community Youth Club and Youth Club on Wheels.

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A breakdown of where these contacts have come from:

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• 1,220 contacts with Young Bristol's Holiday Club's
• 571 contacts from external providers hiring our space
• 416 contacts with our continued Open access evening provision.
• 176 contacts with young people on our Youth Club on Wheels

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Young Bristol would like to thank our staff team, partner organisations and funders for helping to make this summer one to remember. We would also like to thank the Your Holiday Hub Bristol Programme, supported by Bristol City Council and The Department for Education, for supporting 5 of our Holiday Clubs at our city-wide Community Youth Club venues. We would also like to say a huge thank you to Fareshare for providing young people with some amazing food to enjoy across the Summer!

Last week was the fifth and final week of Young Bristol's Summer Holiday Provision. We saw delivery from 4 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.

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The fifth week of our Summer Holiday Provision saw:

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• 196 contacts with young people across our Holiday Clubs and Open Access provision
• 13 sessions across the city
• 10 communities supported through our Community Youth Clubs and Youth Club on Wheels.

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Key highlights of the week:

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This week, Young Bristol hosted an Interclub Watersports Day at Poole's Wharf Outdoor Activity Centre, bringing together young people from Ashton Vale Club for Young People, Sea Mills Boys and Girls Club and The Grove @ Bedminster Down. Young people learnt basic paddling skills and competed in confidence building games on kayaks and canoes. Congratulations to Sea Mills Boys and Girls Club for winning our first Watersports Day!

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We invited a group of young people from Ashton Vale Club for Young People to Za Za Bazaar in Bristol's City Centre. Young people experienced eating foods from a number of different countries and cultures as well as building new and existing friendships!

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Young people from BS14 Youth Club went on a trip to Great Avon Woods. During the trip, young people explored the grounds, learnt about aging of trees and looked for local wildlife around the woods.

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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.

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Find out more about our holiday programmes here.