GLL Sports Hall

BEST’s programmes also help to increase confidence and emotional resilience which support young people to progress to a positive future.

Haydon Wick Council and BEST – ‘Be A Better You’ hosted two sessions this February half term. This time, they got even more exciting!

The Council saw record number of attendees, with over 40 children benefitting from the event.  Activities included non-contact boxing, team games and football skills taster sessions for young people aged between five and twelve years. The boxing is always very popular and all attendees absolutely love giving it a go. The football skills workshop is a new addition to the BEST portfolio and is becoming a firm favourite with young people.

‘Best – Be A Better You’ is a charity who aim to provide children and young people with one-to- one mentoring programmes and positive enrichment activities. Haydon Wick Council has partnered with BEST for over two years, and each session always very popular during the school holidays.

One parent had this to say “My children really enjoy these sessions, and they really help me out as a single parent”

One of the young people who attended said “I really hope we get to come to this in the summer like last year, we love it!”

The second session was new to both Haydon Wick Council and BEST, as it was aimed exclusively at 13-16 year olds.  The young people were given the opportunity to try a new discipline, such as boxing and circuit training. It can be very difficult for young people, especially teenagers, to express themselves in a positive way. The activities proved to be great for stress management and self-control. BEST’s programmes also help to increase confidence and emotional resilience which support young people to progress to a positive future.

Those who attended thoroughly enjoyed the activities at this session, which included tyre flipping, boxing and a Parish Council & Police Team versus Young People Team Tug of War. For teenagers in the Parish to be able to recognise supportive and friendly adults in the community is really important as it helps to break down the communication barriers.

Craig Hiscock, Operations Manager at BEST said; “We really enjoy working with Haydon Wick Parish Council. There are great facilities and we always manage to reach lots of young people from this parish This half term we wanted to do some targeted work with 13-16 year olds in the form of a boxing boot camp style session. We talked about the recent tragic event in the parish and asked the young people what type of help and services they feel would benefit the young people of Haydon Wick in the future.”

Councillor R Ross, Chair of Community Development Committee said “We are delighted to have been able to work alongside BEST in delivering these two programmes, both of which have provided a wonderful opportunity for local children of all ages to have some fun, socialise and experience a new activity. What has really stood out for me is the fantastic efforts and team spirit showed by the children taking part, and more importantly they looked like they were having great fun!”