Leeds Youth Group |
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The Youth Group's long awaited event had finally arrived and on the 19th of July the park opened it's gates to a whole load of fun! It had been the event that we had been discussing for months, would it be a drama production or would it be a sports day? In the end, everyone had agreed on the sports day. Signs were made, posters designed and flyers posted in the village. To be honest, the day started off slowly. Three o'clock kick off, we had told people. But as time slowly went past, more and more people seemed to be showing an interest. The Youth Group were so happy because they didn't want to be the only participants in the events! The point of the event was to bring all the various ages within the community together.
We split ourselves into teams, the blue, yellow, red and green and each team made up their own team name. The Bullets (yellow), We Are Not Three (blue), The Dream Team (Green) and The Colchester Zoo Rebels (Red). All the groups were done evenly with varying age groups. There was an egg ‘n' spoon race, an obstacle course you had to complete with a beanbag on your head (very tricky, I may add), a beanbag throw where getting beanbags into different coloured hoops gave you different amount of points, a three legged race (you had to be very tactical) and a hockey-doge-around-the-posts-then-score-in-the-goal race. All the races took five minutes each.
The BBQ which followed was a huge success and the food: 3 Michelin stars! Tea and scones were also enjoyed. After the BBQ the teams were announced. In fourth place……… We Are Not Three!! In third place……… The Bullets!!! In second place…….. The Colchester Zoo Rebels!!!! So taking first place was The Dream Team, the result obviously living up to the name. So well done to The Dream Team. They all received a medal. Next was a huge rounder's match (just for fun) where many great rounder's were scored. After this some more medals were given out. Then the big tug 'o' war match and, I don't think we did find a clear winner because we were just messing about with it and having fun! So, on behalf of the Youth Group I'd just like to say thank you to Antonia Graham and Lesley Finlay for supporting us. Also to the Scouts for the loan of the BBQ, Jon Graham, Mark Harrison and Simon Finlay for cooking the burgers etc, Jason for the loan of the sound system and to Dan Woolvern for working it and being a great DJ. The days verdict: Success. Toby Graham |
Leeds Youth Group - Sports Sunday
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On Sunday, June 13th we ran a stall at the Leeds school fair called Speed ball (equipment kindly donated for the day by Aitken Sports). We had good fun recording the speeds of goal kicks and awarded prizes to the fastest in four age groups. Funds raised will be donated to the upkeep of the pavilion on Leeds Playing Fields, where we will be hosting our Sunday Sports event with music and BBQ on July 19th. Hope to see you there!
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Designs to brighten up the Pavilion
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"Chips 'n' Chat" Meeting - 20th March
Our other main priority was the playing field. We agreed that it was the centre of youth gatherings but unfortunately, due to lack of facilities this is becoming increasingly a place to drink and smoke. Obviously we do not want to encourage this behaviour and want the field to be a safe place where everyone can come and have fun. As a result, we discussed the idea of a multi user games area. Or even as a start we could renovate the tennis courts and add a hard back goal with a built in basketball ring.
We feel that regretfully, young people in the village are perceived as unfriendly and irresponsible. One of the main points of the meeting was to bring the youth together and work on ways in which we can change this negative perception. It was agreed that we would work on improving our presence in the village by having a youth page on the website and in the Parish mag. In doing this, we hope we can show a greater youth interaction in Leeds. At the moment we are organising a village football match -
Adults vs Youth, with a barbeque to follow. Date is 19th July 3pm
to 7pm on the playing field.
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Our
main discussion point was based on the lack of activities available in
the village. Everyone agreed that a youth club would be an
extremely welcomed development. We could hold a club every week
for the young to meet and socialise with each other. Some ideas that
were brought forward included investing in a pool table, or using the
table tennis tables that are already stored at the hall. The suggestion
of rotating different disciplines every week was also met with a lot of
enthusiasm. People agreed that they would be happy to pay a small sum
every week for a professional to come in and teach dance, sport etc...
A
fundamental problem for our youth in the village is the lack of public
transport. Although there is a basic bus service, there are no
buses after 5.30 or on Sundays. This limits young people's
opportunities to take advantage of the activities available in
Maidstone. As a result we would like to see the introduction of a
late night and Sunday service.