We Know How To Have A Good Holiday!

Hello and welcome back! We've been away for a couple of weeks but we now have lots of exciting things to update you on.

Today Lizzie, our Education Development worker, told me about what she and the rest of the team have been up to with our younger service users...

"We feel recreational & positive activities are so important at A Way Out. Many people will have childhood memories that they will cherish: picnics, paddling in the sea, playing sports on the beach, going to see annual pantomime, going on a bike ride, the list goes on. Often young people we work with for various reason may not have that opportunity to create those memories."

That's where A Way Out comes in!

"Our holiday activities aim to:

Provide young people with positive experiences

Raise Aspirations

Give young people simple enjoyment, joy & fun

Improve community cohesions & integration

Give young people a sense of acceptance and belonging

Reduce isolation & loneliness

Prevent boredom during the holiday that may lead to risk taking behaviour

Build relationships that may lead to further support for the young person.

So these are some of the things we've been doing:

We’ve had over a 100 Easter eggs donated from A Way Out staff, family & friends, churches and local business. We’ve given out 106 so far and will continue to distribute them the rest of the week."

We started with an Easter bonnet competition in one of our school groups:

"Then we had an afternoon on Port Clarence distributing Easter Eggs and playing games on the field. We met lots of new young people and were able to invite them to our Saltburn beach trip happening later on in the week."

"Tuesday, outreach workers, Mark and Matty took some lads to Preston Park for a BBQ and a game of Crazy golf. Much to his delight, Mark won!"

"Wednesday, we had a very wet & muddy trip up to Roseberry Topping,  a very quick picnic at the top as a storm was on its way and then made our way back down. 12 out the 13 young people had never been up before so it was certainly a new experience for them and they felt quite proud when they made it to the top! Especially the young people that were scared of heights!"

"And today we are having a girls treat to bowling and pizza hut and tomorrow we are ending the holiday with a beach trip to Saltburn providing the weather is okay... There might have to be a contingency plan of the cinema if not!"

Love from A Way Out x