In October 2019, staff from Positive Futures took 41 young people away on a residential to Playaway in Yorkshire. The weekend was a chance for some of their Young Leaders to develop their skills and confidence in youth work, whilst also giving some Positive Futures participants the chance to experience something a bit different.
41 young people set-off on Friday for the coach journey, and in spite some unexpected delays en-route, they remained in high spirits throughout the journey by playing games and even making use of the on-board coach microphone to perform a couple of solo performances! Upon arrival, once settled in their rooms, the young people sat down to eat before taking part in an activity which was coordinated by the 13 Young Leaders. Come the next morning and the participants were given a choice of activities to take part in which included badminton, a dance session or football. These activities were ran by the Positive Futures Youth Workers, or led by a Youth Leader.
Saturday afternoon was spent with everyone taking part in mini-Olympics, organised and delivered by the group of Young Leaders. Each team was assigned a Young Leader as captain, and the session was ran under the supervision of Sessional Staff. The young people then split off into smaller groups and chose to play basketball/football, spend time looking at the animals or take a walk down the hills into the wet, muddy fields, to name just a few activities available.
On the Saturday evening, the group came back together to do some cooking, baking and they also had fun at a Pyjama party! On the Sunday morning (after adjusting to the clocks going back) the young people were given the chance to tend to the on-site animals, and even hold/stroke the rabbits and Guinea pigs. Then, after helping to tidy up, the group returned home to Liverpool. The weekend was a huge success, with Young Leaders returning having developed their youth work skills and feeling more confident, and the participants having had the opportunity to try different and exciting activities with different people. Watch a short video of some of the activities here.
Clare Corran, CEO of Positive Futures said;
“Our Youth Development Workers do an incredible job of planning and coordinating residentials throughout the year, which are always a huge success. But this one was different as our group of Young Leaders also got to help with the planning and running of the event, ultimately developing their skill-set and confidence of working with young people. “Such activities are just one example of our offer, which now also includes targeted one-to-one support and most recently, a new service offer Positive Homes. This new venture will allow us to further extend our wrap around services for young people, by offering them a safe and enriching place to stay if they are unable to stay at home for whatever reason. Year on year we are seeing the demand for our services grow, and with successes like this recent residential it is easy to see why. Our young people feel safe, invested in and comfortable in their own skin. What more could we ask for?”
To view the full services on offer at Positive Futures, visit www.positivefutures.org.uk.
