Young people in Oxford were able to take part in sport, art, science and youth clubs during the summer holidays thanks to £130,000 of grants from Oxford City Council.
Organisations were able to apply for grants of up to £20,000 to deliver holiday activities for young people aged eight to 19 in Barton, Blackbird Leys, Cowley, Cutteslowe, East Oxford, Littlemore, Northway, Rose Hill or Wood Farm.
The funding was given to:
- Blackbird Leys Adventure Playground, in Blackbird Leys, to provide activities in an adventure playground
- Leys CDI (Community Development Initiative), in Blackbird Leys, to provide music production, arts awards, a young woman’s group and fashion design
- Dovecote After School Club, in Greater Leys, to provide a play scheme
- Thrive Young People’s Project, in Barton, to provide sports, arts and crafts, music making and cooking
- Rose Hill Primary School, in Rose Hill, to provide film making, science projects, sports and arts and crafts
- Science Oxford, in Rose Hill and East Oxford, to provide creative computing, spy school, culinary creations
- The Oxford Academy, in Littlemore, to provide a race car project
- Global Smile Soccer, in Littlemore, to provide multi-sports
- Pegasus Theatre, in East Oxford, to provide dance, drama, circus, poetry and street dance
- Word Fountain, in Cowley, to provide educational activities, trips, swimming and play
- Oxford Wellbeing Project, across the city, to provide football, cricket and badminton
- Inspired Young People’s Project, in Wood Farm, Bullingdon and Cutteslowe, to provide sports, arts and crafts, issue based group work and trips
Overall, 1,980 young people took part in the summer holiday activities.
The holiday activities fund aims to give organisations access to funding, allowing them to deliver holiday schemes that give young people something positive to do – and to provide opportunities for parents and guardians to work.
Oxford City Council’s Youth Ambition team, supported by volunteers from the community, also delivered two holiday clubs for young people, in East Oxford Community Centre and Northway Community Centre.
The programmes, which ran from 25 July to 19 August, delivered youth clubs, multi-sports sessions and community projects. Activities on offer included dance, bongo drumming, quidditch, rugby and cricket, along with swimming, ice skating and go karting trips.
The young people were also able to take part in an art project, working with Tesco Community Champions, to create masks, flags and foods to celebrate the opening day of the Olympics. The artwork was then showcased at the Cowley Road Tesco store.
East Oxford Youth Club was attended by 81 young people, while the Northway youth club was attended by 65.
The aim of the City Council youth projects is to engage young people in positive activities and, by doing so, help them to broaden their perception of their own capabilities, stimulate ambition and stimulate positive involvement in the community.
Councillor Pat Kennedy, Executive Board Member for Young People, Schools and Skills, said: “It is fantastic that young people in Oxford are able to enjoy such a range of holiday activities. There is plenty of choice for those who wish to cook, play a range of sports, or be creative with arts and crafts or computing. For the more adventurous, spy school and quidditch were also on offer so I am pleased that the City Council makes these grants so that young people are able to have fun and make friends in the holiday schemes.”
For more information about the City Council’s Youth Ambition team, visit www.oxford.gov.uk/youthambition.
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