Last week dozens of local families flocked to Portland Street Field for a free family fun day.
The well-attended event was organised by the Youth Community Partnership, a Community Interest Company based at Meols Cop Youth Centre. Funding for the event was provided from Kew Ward funds released by local Councillors Janis Blackburne, Sean Halsall and Jen Corcoran.
A similar event in 2019 had been really well received, but could not be planned in 2020 due to various uncertainties. When the opportunity arose to repeat it this year, everyone jumped at the chance.
Youth workers Patricia Wilson, Patrice Hey and Danny Wilson devised the fun day and delivered it with help from several young volunteers. Even the Councillors got stuck in helping with the games and getting to know residents.
The range of activities included medallion making, slime creating, glitter tattoos, bubble blowing, hook-a-duck, tin can games and even learning to safely build a campfire which the children then toasted marshmallows on (under supervision of course!) There were prizes for all the challenge activities and plenty of space for families to move around. Councillor Blackburne remarked “The activities were really enjoyed by the children. YCP just know how to involve children in the outdoors.”
Tesco in Kew provided some free refreshments and the weather was glorious. Children from babes in arms to teenagers made the most of the outdoors and the feedback was overwhelmingly positive.
Councillor Corcoran was joined by four of her five children and said “It is so great to be able to share the work of this amazing social enterprise. My youngest is only 7 weeks old so she was only able to appreciate the atmosphere, but my three year old has been in her element and I suspect her older sister enjoyed the chance to regress even though she is 20! We have hired their community centre for birthday parties in the past and will always look to support the YCP.”
One attendee commented “I came to the Kew Family Fun Day with my two little boys. What a fantastic initiative, and so nice to see local families mixing and having fun in the sunshine.
Councillor Halsall has nothing but praise for this local resource. “It is so positive to see so many families engage. The work the YCP do is absolutely incredible; they’ve managed to continue providing youth services in spite of the lack of financial support from the government. I hope everyone who attended had a good day. Thank you to the YCP team working in partnership with Kew Councillors delivering fantastic days like this and so much more.”
Find out more about the Youth Community Partnership here: http://www.the-ycp.co.uk/
OTS News on Social Media