One of the themes that seems to crop up is provision for young people, and we often hear there's nothing for young people to do. That's not strictly true..
In the spirit of Buzzfeed, the Community Links Team have pulled together a list of 14 awesome charities (in no particular order) that are based in the borough, who have children and young people's interests at their core.
The Basement Door
A monthly music venue that encourages and supports local talent as
well as established bands from far and wide.
Open to all people who love live music from age 14 upwards, this gives
young people an opportunity to explore their interests in music in various
ways, either on the technical side, or performance related.
Based in Ham
and run by a local mum that wanted to give her children the chance to
experience the joys of play centred, outdoor learning. From building dens, to finding bugs - it's the kind of fun people think of when they start by saying "when I were a lad.."
Fans include Kaitlyn (3),
Cameron (5) and Zac Goldsmith (39).
From a
home-made studio at the bottom of her garden, Margaret Lobo has been providing
music and voice therapy for children and young people with physical,
psychological, learning, behavioural and emotional difficulties since 1991.
A national
charity with a team based in Richmond Borough. They offer 15-17 year olds a
life changing experience that includes weeks away from home, and the
opportunity to make a difference where they live.
Since 2004, Groove Academy has run a community-music school for musicians aged 11 to 16 years. Students come from various musical backgrounds and abilities but the leaders do expect to see good pitch, rhythm and musicality. Students work within a broad spectrum of musical genres and explore cultural, ethnic and historical backgrounds to songs, including the rationales of artists. Pretty neat!
Ok - so StreetInvest aren't directly working with young people locally. But, from a
small office in Twickenham, StreetInvest works across the world with locally
based organisations. They train professional and committed workers, who serve
as trustworthy adults in the lives of street children and by contributing to
the investments the workers and the children need to secure a future.
Tucked away
in the heart of the Castelnau estate in North Barnes, the Youth Centre is a
vibrant local hub for young people from the estate and beyond. Offering something
nearly every day of the week, youngsters aged 11 to 19 have access to youth
clubs, sports, games, homework support, art and crafts as well as leadership skills
and personal development. Infants and Juniors also have a mixed programme
including cooking, arts and crafts, toys, sports, computer and board games. Keen
to promote healthy eating and encourage tasting of new foods, at each session
the whole club sits down and eats a meal together which has been cooked by
members of the group.
Run by local
resident Pam, the Girls Art and Nature Club is a free club for girl’s age 7 -
14yrs, on Saturdays from 11:00 – 12:00 in Kew. As the name suggests, the girls
get a chance to learn about the environment and plants, insects and bees and
all the animals that use the field as their home. Any budding artists can also
enter local art competitions and exhibitions.
A dedicated
Youth Leader leads young people’s groups (Live Wires (school years 2 to 5),
Rock Solid (school years 6 to 8) and Youth Club (school years 9+)) which meet
bimonthly in term time. This also includes their Sunday Group for children of
school age and above, and their Youth Home Group which meets in a home on
Wednesday Evenings.
MTV is a
youth club for children in Hampton aged between 8 and 14. The club is
temporarily meeting in Linden Hall. The club is run by volunteers from St
Mary's Church in Hampton together with the Metropolitan Police and other local
volunteers. It aims to create a positive environment for young people to hang
out together, have fun and develop their skill through sport.
Tucked away
on the western edges of Twickenham, and a bit of a hidden gem. Renovated and
partially rebuilt in 2013, this long standing club is a regional focal point
for amateur boxing and table tennis. It also offers other sports and activities
for young people of all ages.
We
couldn’t complete this list without
mentioning the long running Scouts and Guide groups that speckle a map of Richmond
borough. Whitton alone has three Scout groups, Twickenham has eight. There are
too many to list here, click on the title links above to find your nearest
group.
So who've we not mentioned...? Feel free to drop us a line to tell us about any groups not listed above!
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