Tag: Children

After a challenging eighteen months dealing with lockdowns and ever changing rules, children and young people’s groups in Histon and Impington have developed innovative ways of running their activities. Val Robson looks at the great opportunities available.

It wasn’t just schools that embraced new ways of working during the pandemic – the wonderful leaders of youth and children’s activities stepped up to the challenge and found ways of keeping spirits up and young people connected. Now the ‘in person’ experience is back, they’re looking forward to a new term with plenty of opportunities for more children and young people to join in – and adult volunteers to support them.

Woodcraft Folk have two local groups, Elfins aged 6-9 and Pioneers aged 10-12, who meet weekly in term time for fun and friendship, outdoor activities, crafts and to explore thought-provoking themes. They are part of a national organisation committed to cooperation, care for the environment, promotion of international understanding and world peace, and the rights of children. Managed on a shoestring with sustainability at heart, they are champions of recycling – and therefore have minimal need for fundraising.  

Lockdown kept them physically apart, but since the summer they’ve been gathering outside, with some new families joining them. They are now pleased to be meeting on a regular basis again and there a few spaces left for children to join them. They meet on Tuesdays: Elfins in the refurbished Salvation Army Church Hall from 5.45pm to 7.15pm and Pioneers in the Methodist Church Hall, 6pm to 7.30pm. Several sessions are run jointly each term, often with singing and games, campfire cooking or crafts.

There are also camping and residential trips with the wider community of groups in the local area, sometimes to one of Woodcraft Folk’s centres. Some camps are for specific age groups but some are all ages up to 21.

In 2022, Woodcraft Folk are hosting a large international camp with affiliated groups worldwide, called ‘Common Ground’. Preparations are in motion to host a delegation of children from Peru and raising money to get them here.

For information on Elfins, email chipmunks@cambridge-woodcraft.org.uk and for Pioneers histon.ps@cambridge-woodcraft.org.uk. 

The Connections Bus Project, having provided youth services for over 25 years in Cambridgeshire, had tough challenges to overcome during the lockdowns. They usually meet in a bus but it soon became clear that social distancing wasn’t going to happen in a two-metre wide space! Instead, local Youth Workers ran weekly ‘detached’ sessions, meeting around 40 young people each week outside Impington Village College and at the Recreation Ground to maintain contact and offer support and guidance. The youth workers were able to be a listening ear to many young people who had concerns about a range of topics during the uncertain times of the pandemic.

The restrictions prompted action on an idea they had been planning for a while – to purchase a youth van equipped with outdoor activities, games and a hot chocolate maker! They have been able to use this to reconnect face-to-face with young people in all the villages where they run groups.

Now that in-person meetings are back again, Histon Youth Zone meets at the Community Room, Histon & Impington Recreation Ground on Mondays, 3.45-5.15pm. It provides a safe place for young people in years 7-9 to meet and take part in activities such as cooking, games, sports, crafts, team activities. It’s also an opportunity to make new friends and chat with the friendly youth workers. All are welcome and there’s no need to book as it is a drop-in group.

More information on all the projects that the Connections Bus Project run, including Babysitting and Emergency First Aid Courses, can be found on their website or Facebook page. You can also email Andrea Cowley on andrea@connectionsbusproject.org.uk.

READ ALSO: Virtually the best camping trip ever for Histon Scouts and Guides

The Scout Group was delighted to be recognised for, and win an HI Doughnut Award for, their achievements with young people over the lockdown period.

They are now meeting weekly during term time. See their website for full details. There is a waiting list though, so they are keen to recruit more volunteers to expand their efforts. They are actively looking to open a new Beaver section for 6-8 year olds. If you’d like to get involved or help in way at all, email Richard Martin richard@histon-scouts.org.uk 

Girlguiding Histon District runs a number of units in Histon, Girton and Oakington for Rainbows, Brownies and Guides for girls aged 5-14. They have wide programme of events and activities, some of which lead to badges and awards. There are many opportunities to try new things and have adventures. As well as weekly meetings there are days out, camps, holidays and sleepovers. They enjoy being involved with community events such as Histon Feast and Open Gardens, and Brownies from Histon helped organise the first Eco Fun Fest in November 2019.

During the lockdowns they have met via Zoom and then, when permitted, had outdoor meetings in smaller groups.  The programme was adapted to provide activities which could be run safely, and activity packs were often delivered for the girls to do at home with their families.

In-person meetings are now back, with many events planned for the coming year, including camps and holidays for Guides and Brownies. The spring term Brownie and Rainbow Disco is expected to be a highlight as always! Plans have been revived for a District Activity Day at the Girlguiding Activity Centre at Hautbois, Norfolk, as sadly last year’s event had to be cancelled.

New girls are welcome and volunteers are being actively recruited – with hopes to open a second Rainbows unit soon. To register your daughter on the waiting list, or volunteer as an adult, visit the website. For local queries contact histondc@gmail.com 

Histon Cricket Club Colts has many groups for girls and boys aged 5-16 including Under 15, U13, U11 and U9. The very popular and oversubscribed All Stars for 5-8 year olds and Dynamos for 8-10 year olds runs in May. A girls section was launched in 2021 with girls only groups for All Stars, Dynamos and U11.  

Their outdoor cricket sessions, which run from April to July, was able to go ahead as usual with cricket being an outdoor and naturally socially distanced sport. Thanks to a grant from the England and Wales Cricket Board, these have included free sessions for girls.

From September to March sessions for 5-10 year olds are held in Impington Village College Sports Hall on Sunday mornings while the 9-16 year olds train at Fenners Indoor Cricket School. For further information email HistonCC@gmail.com or visit the website or Facebook page.

Shine and Little Stars, two new groups for under- fives, were introduced by St Andrew’s Histon in April this year. Both groups provide a place of welcome, hospitality and sanctuary, giving parents and carers a chance to meet up and get support from one another and from the Shine and Little Stars team. There are drinks, cakes, singing, stories and other activities as well as plenty of time to chat and get to know others.

While the groups are meeting in person now, during their start-up phase in lockdown they ran using an online video each week and delivered craft bags to participating families in the village and beyond.

Both groups run at the Saint Andrew’s Centre. Little Stars, for babies and ‘new movers’ and their parents and carers, is on Tuesdays at 10am. Shine, for under-fives and their parents and carers, is on Fridays at 11am. If extra funds can be secured for staffing, an extra Shine session will open in the future.

EDGE Café and EDGE Sunday offer opportunities for young people in school years 7-13 to get together – and in lockdown they quickly got to grips with meeting online, using Zoom breakout rooms for discussions, the whiteboard feature for games like Pictionary, webcams to play spot the difference and the mute button for silent karaoke!

Now back in-person, EDGE Café is a drop in event again, held at the Saint Andrew’s Café at 3.30pm on Thursdays, where all are welcome to come with friends or to meet new people. It is a space to chat and play games together. They have a range of games on the café tables to choose from and the young people are able to buy a drink and cake, with the café serving until 4.30pm and closing at 5pm. For more information email Claire Cronin at clare@standrewhiston.org or visit the website. 

EDGE Sunday runs at 10.45am on Sundays in the Saint Andrew’s Centre. The young people spend time learning from the Bible together. There is usually a game or icebreaker to begin and they then look at a Bible passage on a particular theme and consider a question in discussion groups. These discussion groups are a key part of the EDGE Sunday sessions, creating space to think about how it relates to our lives today and providing opportunities to ask honest questions. EDGE Sunday is currently a bookable session and young people interested in spending some time thinking about the Christian faith and how the teaching from the Bible is relevant today can email Claire Cronin at clare@standrewhiston.org.