Welcome to The Hunslet Club June Newsletter 2023! This little newsletter is our way of spreading recent news and mentioning exciting new developments for July 2023. Here you can catch up on everything we did and achieved in June 2023. Our newsletter comes out at the start of each month, and you can read our previous newsletter here.
We started June on a Thursday, which meant we had the two last days of our half-term activity camp. Thanks to the lovely weather, we had different outdoor sessions to keep our campers entertained. Throughout the week, we saw them make friends, learn new skills, and try various activities. We had a week full of activities, including sports, space hopper races, baking, dancing, playing, gaming in our games room, different hairstyles in our hair and beauty salon, competitive games of giant Connect Four, hula hoop competitions, football, dodgeball and more.
We always start our month on a positive note on our Facebook account with our Superstar Young Members Certificates. These certificates are handed out in different evening activity sessions, including our youth club, in the first week of the month.
These certificates are a way to highlight the hard work, commitment and determination demonstrated in our sessions throughout the month. We want young people to feel proud of themselves, and the effort they showcase, and this is a great way to recognise those skills.
Our summer activity camp tickets are now available on our website, along with details about all our upcoming events! We cannot wait to kick off our summer activity camp – as it is six weeks of fun, friends, and food.
We also have our Rugby and Football activity camps this Summer, which give young people in the community a chance to try something new.
Since April 2023, The Hunslet Club has been offering free girls-only football sessions to empower a new generation of girls to participate in football. These free sessions take place every Tuesday, and after weeks of training, commitment and teamwork, a team was formed.
Then, on Saturday 10th June 2023, all the hard work, team building, and dedication paid off, as the Hunslet Girls won their first match together as a team against Morley Glen.
We are incredibly proud of this win and equally as proud of the girls who stepped out of their comfort zone and did something new.
Our free girl’s sessions are still happening every Tuesday at The Hunslet Club.
Tuesdays:
Check out the South Leeds Life Article here.
June was a successful month for gardening in our youth club. Our youth clubbers planted seeds, made plant pots, helped organise our brand-new greenhouse, started digging a pond and, of course, helped feed the chickens.
We love seeing our young people enjoying the sun, getting closer to nature, and learning more about the environment, with a hands-on and practical approach to learning.
Our youth clubs are being given the chance to express their creativity, by taking over our TikTok account during Monday and Tuesday youth club.
All content will be approved, of course, however, this is a great way to gain insight into what our youth clubbers truly like about coming to youth club. We have already seen some creative ideas, and how enthusiastic young people are about creating something new.
Three young people from The Hunslet Club Arts section are now fully qualified junior coaches, thanks to the support from Hunslet Club Arts and our fantastic coaches.
Meetings for our youth ambassador programme continued in June, and after restructuring, sessions are still going strong. On Wednesday, 28th June 2023, we had plenty of creative ideas and suggestions thrown our way. It is amazing how creative young people can be when given a platform to voice their opinions.
With a new structure in place for these meetings, we can’t wait to see what activities unfold from the suggestions made.
When the warm weather arrives, so do our youth club barbecues! In June, we hosted two barbecues, one for our junior youth club, and another for our senior youth club. It was fantastic to see so many young people coming together, enjoying free food, and basking in the sun, while playing games, hanging out with friends, and making memories.
Our youth club is all about providing a safe space for young people, to keep them off the streets, however, we will always work hard to provide them with food, as we understand that plenty of young people struggle to have access to an abundance of food outside of The Hunslet Club.
We have exciting news behind the scenes at The Hunslet Club as we are putting together an outstanding team for our vocational development programme kicking off in September 2023. With courses such as childcare, hair and beauty, joinery and more on the agenda, we can’t wait to welcome new students in September, as they experience a new way to learn.
We have seen how much our senior youth clubbers love playing football on our outdoor 4G pitches, therefore, after listening to suggestions from our youth club, we have decided to introduce Wednesday, five-a-side football tournaments. The introduction of these tournaments will hopefully encourage those that may not want to be in a football team to take part in a fun and free tournament, safely at The Hunslet Club. We have seen how many young people stay after participating in our football evening sessions and believe this will be a great way to keep young people off the streets while promoting a free and fun way to stay active and make friends.
One thing we love about our youth clubs is that they give young people access to opportunities that they would not have had without our help. In June, some members of our youth club ventured to Jump Inc Leeds for a fun-filled evening of laughter, bouncing and games. It was incredible to see so many young people having fun, forgetting the struggles of the outside world and just being kids.
On the surface, this looks like a fun day out, and while it is, it also encouraged young people to socialise, work on their communication skills and make friends. Not every young person gets to go on weekend trips, family vacations or luxury holidays, trips like this give them something to look forward to, something new to experience and a chance to make positive memories.
Funds raised from our youth club bake sale, which we hosted in May were put towards the Jump Inc Trip. The Hunslet Youth Club are continuing their fundraising efforts in July with a fundraising car wash on Saturday, 8th July, from 9:30 AM until 12:00 PM.
We are shining the volunteer spotlight on Matt Surtees this month, who is the volunteer coach for the Year 9 Football team at The Hunslet Club. Matt thrives on the field, and you can see the respect he receives from the young people he trains. He understands that each football session needs to be tailored to each player, as ‘not all players are the same level, so you need to stay patient and make it enjoyable’.
Check out our volunteer spotlight page to find out more about Matt.
If you want more information about our volunteer opportunities, visit our Volunteer Facebook page, check out our Volunteer with us page, or contact our volunteer coordinator at alex.erdinc@hunsletclub.org.uk.
As mentioned in previous Hunslet Club Newsletters, we have had some fantastic guest speakers. Our guest speakers come into our youth clubs to give presentations and practical sessions to our young people. Contact our team today if you/your business would like to talk to our young people about a specific topic.
