Welcome to The Hunslet Club April News Letter! This is our new way to document everything we do and achieve. This will be published on the 4th of each month, and have a summary of our Hunslet Club highlights. The following post will be wrapping up everything that has happened in April!
On the 4th of April, we started the month with another brilliant Half-Term Activity Camp. This half-term’s camp was a huge success, as around 500 children attended over the course of 9 days. Each time we host one of these, we gain new activity campers, and continue to see our regulars returning with big smiles on their faces. Every child who attends, whether it’s their first time or their 10th time, achieves two things with each visit. First, no matter what background or ability, every attendee will make a new friend. Second, they will also have the option to try something new, as every day is unique adventure!
In partnership with Healthy Holidays Leeds, and support from Fareshare, this programme doesn’t only promote making new friends and taking up new hobbies, but it also keeps young people healthy and active in their time away from school. We promote healthy eating and an active lifestyle, through fun activity sessions such as cooking, baking, boxing and football. If an attendee is to take up a new hobby, they also have the option to continue this at the club on an evening, or attend one of our free youth clubs.
Our next activity camp is only 3 days long, from the 30th of May to the 1st of June. So, if you want to get your little ones involved in the next one, do book in advance to avoid disappointment!
This young team only started at the club in September 2021, which is amazing considering how far they have come in just 8 months. Starting as a small division 4 team, they progressed rapidly into division 1 by late December last year. Since then, they have worked hard as a team and as individuals, using their spare and extracurricular time to dedicate themselves to a new hobby.
On Sunday the 10th of April, they reached the cup final, which took place at West Riding against the West End Terriers. After putting in the upmost of effort through the duration of the game this new team won the cup with a brilliant 6-3 final score. Coach, Miller, had this to say:
The boys have come a long way since we first started in September, we started in division 4 and was moved up to Division 1 by Christmas! To do so well since then and only lose one game all season the boys deserved to win this cup tournament. Hopefully this trophy will be the first of many over the next few years.
They are not only a strong squad, but a group of friends with a brilliant support system at the club. Their chemistry as players has been gained through, dedication, practice and consistent support from their coaches.
Our Under 14’s Football team have definitely been putting in the work this season, and it has paid off massively. On the Sunday 10th of April, they won the league in their final game of the season against Chapeltown. Their motivation was like never before, as they wanted to work as hard as possible to make this season the most memorable yet for our coach, who sadly passed away in November last year, Imran.
Imran, was a great role model and incredibly important member of The Hunslet Club. He made a great and positive impact on the lives of the young people he coached. evident in how they have responded to matches and training this season; with the upmost of effort. They went through this season with one main motive, stating:
‘We want to win this for Imran’
Their current coach, Matt, took the team on at the end of last year to ensure they could reach their full potential and make their supporters proud after a difficult start to the season. He stated:
“I’d like to thank them for accepting me into the group and thanks to the parents for their support throughout”
The lads were able to pull together and achieve their goals despite hardships of the season. They showed great strength putting in the extra effort to ensure they were always playing to the best of their ability.
The Hunslet Club Easter party 2022 was a brilliant community event! Hundreds of children, families, friends, parents and carers came together for a very exciting Easter Sunday celebration. Over 140 young people participated in our Easter egg hunt trail, while others took part in our bonnet parade, entered the raffle, played on the bouncy castle, danced, sang, got their face painted and won some brilliant prizes!
During this time, everyone eagerly awaited an appearance from Easter bunny, who was sure to say hello to all of the boys and girls. Hugs, pictures, hand shakes, dances and high-fives were exchanged to finish off a fantastic Easter party!
As always, this event wouldn’t have been possible without support from youth volunteers, Hunslet Club staff, donations from Greencore, our local Tesco and funding from The National lottery Community Fund.
On the 25th of April, some of our local PCSOs ran a bike registration and security event, as part of our senior youth club. Although this event was directed at young people who attend our youth club, it was also opened up to the wider community. Therefore, everyone had the opportunity to stay as safe as possible when riding their bikes and keeping them secure.
Over the course of the evening, the officers provided a range of workshops and registered a lot of bikes, which otherwise wouldn’t have been protected, to the bike register. The workshops also gave us a look into how we can be more responsible bike owners with road safety in mind.
As the evening drew to a close the PCSO’s registered the last few bikes before packing up and thanking our youth workers for their partnership in making this event accessible to young people in and around Leeds.
The Hunslet Senior Youth Club came up on it’s one year anniversary in mid April. This began as a small youth group where around 10 young people would meet on average per night in April 2021.
After two months, numbers increased massively, as word got around about all of the free resources, activities and facilities we have on offer. Now, this club is an extremely important youth hub and safe place where teens and young adults are able to access any support they need. As well as serving as a space where they can socialise and call their own. Today, hundreds of young people come together after school every Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday and Friday to take part in a wide range of activities, workshops, hobbies, interventions and more.
In the last year, we conducted 331 youth interventions to support young people who maybe struggling with mental health, problems in school, at home, or seeking support as they move into the workplace. All young people who attend are also welcome to use our gym, football courts and sports hall. Moreover, each week we supply 14+ workshops. In this last year we have had over 7,000 attendees and during that time we provided those attendees over 7,500 free meals. This wouldn’t be possible without the support of our community and local businesses. We want to thank everyone who contributes and donates to this programme and we hope that we can continue to receive this support, in order to keep improving and expanding, to ultimately help more young people in Leeds.
On May 17th, we will be celebrating with a social mixer celebration and open night. All young people are welcome to attend this event, as long as they are in year 7 or above. At the event, we will have a live DJ set, food, drinks, games and activities. Everything is completely free, and it’s the perfect way to get involved for anyone considering a first time visit.
A huge thank you to the National Lottery Community Fund for funding this opportunity.
Our majorettes group did everyone proud on the 24th of April, when they hosted a competition against several other UK majorette teams. The weather was perfect and hundreds came out to watch a wide range of performances, from teams and abilities of all ages. Not only that, but they raised money for the club to make more opportunities like this available in future.
Each team put on a brilliant show. Moreover, both of our Dinkies and Juniors teams achieved second place, while our senior team achieved the Best Leader Award. Coach and majorettes leader, Charlotte, explained that the day was fantastic and ‘All teams danced brilliant’.
A big well done to all involved in this section, as they continue to thrive and put on great family friendly events and shows. It’s a brilliant section to join with such tight knit majorette family who welcome newcomers with open arms. To find out more about our majorettes, visit: https://www.hunsletclub.org.uk/our-activities/hunslet-club-solitaires-majorettes/
On the 25th of April, our students are graduated from the Monday Evening Project with a level 1 BTEC qualification in one of our vocational courses including; construction, mechanics, hair and beauty or catering. The most amazing thing about this programme is that every student who attends is here in their free time, by their own accord. In the last year, they have attended lessons voluntarily, every Monday evening, to gain an extra qualification outside of their home and school commitments.
They have illustrated their willingness to go the extra mile when opportunities are made available, no matter how hard they need to work to get there! Our tutors are over the moon with how their students have taken to the course work over the year. We want to say a huge congratulations to every one of these inspirational young people who we have had the pleasure of working with this year. You made everyone proud!
On the 26th of April, we officially reached 3,000 registered members since September 1st 2021!
That means there are 3,000 young people in and around Leeds, engaged in a wide range of sports and performing arts, educational courses, 1 on 1 intervention sessions, youth clubs, volunteering, activity camps, community events, work experience and much more.
The continued support from everyone involved, including staff, volunteers, members, local businesses and organisations means we can progress, expand and ensure young people will always have access to significant opportunities despite financial or environmental circumstances. We can’t wait to see what the future holds!
Our patrons: Hunslet A C & F Club Trust, Denton Charitable Trust, Sir George Martin Trust, Rhodar Ltd, Vickers Oils , Wade’s Charity, Linley and Simpson, Paul Sparos and Digitronix Ltd along with support from The National Lottery Community Fund.
View all supporters and patrons here: https://www.hunsletclub.org.uk/support-us/sponsors-page/
The Hunslet Club April News letter.
