Originally published at: https://hornseacommunitynews.uk/community/hornsea-youth-club/
A lot has happened recently and Town Councillors are working hard to turn a problem into an opportunity. At the last Town Council meeting of the year quite a bit of the business was taken up by Youth Club related topics.
The Mayor hosted a short reception for Youth Club members, parents, and representatives of their financial sponsors. This event was the culmination of a project devised and executed by Youth Club members who were upset when, earlier this year, they became aware that adults were criticising young people for leaving litter in the new skate park that was provided by this Town Council. The children decided to be positive and organised an anti-litter poster competition. The winners were presented with prizes and a certificate by Mayor Cllr Himsworth. Work is in hand to have these posters weatherproofed and put onto a sign at the skate park entrance. These signs are expensive and a generous donation from the Hornsea Ex-servicemen’s Club has enabled the work to go ahead.
Competition winners were: Senior:Josh Tomlinson-Miller, Junior:Evie Hill-Holmes, Junior runner-up:Violet Collis.
The Mayor was helped with his presentation by: Ex-Servicemen’s Club representative Johnny Tether and Senior Youth Leader Amanda Miller (see photo)
A more fundamental issue was debated later in the Council meeting and revolved around the location of Youth Club sessions. When the Youth Club was conceived, arising from work to provide the new skate park, the Vicar at St Nicholas Church welcomed the new organisation and offered them use of the Parish Hall top floor. This has worked well and we were linked to the Church by having the title of Hornsea Youth Club at St. Nick’s. Since that time the Club has gone from strength to strength and there can be 60 children attending each week, many coming from the surrounding villages. Often we could take more but numbers are limited by safety considerations. Sadly this arrangement has been terminated because the Parochial Church Council has written to us as follows: “…your usage of the hall will have to be terminated by 31st March 2019”.
There was some emotional debate on this subject at the Council meeting with one of the Councillors, who is also a volunteer at the Youth Club, explaining the wide range of experiences and skills that the children learn in lessons disguised as sessions for having fun. This is probably one of the best ways of imparting ideas because the young people are absorbing knowledge whilst they think that they are ‘playing’. Children respond so well when guided by gifted adults.
The Town Council’s response was unanimous in that the Youth Club must continue because it is an excellent vehicle for giving our children a social conscience and diverting them from the temptation to engage in anti-social behaviour. Councillors agreed to set up a working party to explore all possibilities for obtaining a permanent home for the Hornsea Youth Club.