Life at PYCP has been busy as ever!! We had a packed 5 week summer programme for children and young people aged 5-18. We chose a different theme each week; “discovery week”, “residential week”, “art attack”, “move it week” and “fun week”. This included building based activities such as mask making, drumming, zumba, circus skills and an “It’s a Knockout” competition. We also had a range of trips, to places such as Almond Valley, the cinema at Ocean Terminal and “World of Soccer”, as well as residentials to the Innerwick Centre at Dunbar and Loch Tay. We also worked with a range of other agencies such as Pilton Equalities Project, where we helped with gardening and we provided a series of events as part of the Play Practitioners Forum, where children from other agencies came to participate in arts and crafts and basketball. We also had several teams in the over 12’s area wide treasure hunt, “The Quest”.
Our open access programme continues to engage high numbers of young people, with 22 different clubs and groups a week. We have had some exciting new developments in our term time programme, with a new project called “Positive Pathways” that aims to support young people into volunteering opportunities, particularly within PYCP. We also have a new group work programme funded by the Cattanach Trust, where pupils from Forthview Primary School are referred for additional support. We have also built upon our sexual health and relationship programme of support and are now offering tailored sessions to local agencies. This initiative began with a very successful project with young mums at Stepping Stones.
As well as raising funds for specific projects, we continue to organise one off sponsored and community events. In July, Mark Hunter who is one of our Youth and Children’s Workers, along with his Friends Dave Girvan and Mark Roper, completed a gruelling 142 mile sponsored cycle from Aberdeen to Edinburgh. A total of £1200.00 was raised, with all proceeds going to activities for service users of PYCP. We also raised £200.00 collecting before and after the match at a Hibs game in September. We held a Christmas Fair, on Friday 9th December and raised over £250 , we had a craft stall, a home baking stall, a raffle and a café. We held a competition for children and young people at PYCP to design a Christmas card – well done to Zac, Nicky and Courtney with their winning entries! A big thanks to Forth One Cash for Kids Appeal for donation of gifts which made some children and young people in Pilton very happy!
We have had “self defence” sessions in both Parents Group and Girls Group in the last few weeks, where a qualified instructor came to teach us about keeping safe.
