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Unfortunately the club is now closed.

The club opened for the last time on Tuesday 12th February 2013.
Due to low numbers of young people attending, the adult volunteers have reluctantly decided to close the club. This was a hard decision for all concerned who have nurtured the club since 2008. The organisation behind the Youth Club ("YouthCare Highams Park") has now been wound up and its remaining funds have been distributed to other youth organisations in the area.

The rest of this web page has been left as a historical record.

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The club meets every Tuesday evening (7:30 - 9:15pm)
during school term time.

Venue: The Memorial Hall at Winchester Road Methodist Church.

New members are welcome.
If you're in school year 8 to year 12 just come along and join in.

Bring your friends and bring your ideas too. Make it your club!

50p per person per evening is charged which is used to buy equipment and help fund events for the youth club.

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Introduction

The club opened for the first time on Tuesday 9th September 2008. See the Poster/Leaflet announcing the opening here: Youth Club Poster/Leaflet

If you'd like more information (either as a potential member, parent, or as a possible volunteer helper) please email us via the "Contact us" button at the top or bottom of this page.

Volunteers wanted: We would like to expand our base of volunteers to create a pool on which the club can draw as necessary. If you are able to help, either regularly or occasionally, then please contact us. It would be much appreciated.

The club and its activities

The programme and activities of the club can be expected to evolve over time (with input from the members) but examples of the type of activities are:

• Wii games
• Sports (Football, Badminton, Soft tennis, Table tennis)
• Music (playing & performance, DJ decks etc)
• Arts & Craft (design & drawing, Card making, Mod rock, Photography, Portrait)
• Singing instruction, composing & song writing, Karaoke
• Dance (Modern – Self expression )
• Drama (Play writing – Basic skills)
• Personal safety (for all or separate groups)
• Social programme (Film programme, Agree/Disagree, Trips, Cosy corner)
• Information centre
• Youth committee

The club meets weekly during school term time but may well organise one-off activities during school holidays.

Regular weekly meetings of the club started Tuesday 9th September 2008 (7:30 - 9:30pm) in the Memorial Hall at Winchester Road Methodist Church. Members will be encouraged to participate in deciding the future direction of the club so it becomes truly "their" club. The initial limit will be 40 young people (aged per school year 8 to year 12) to give an adequate ratio to adult organisers. In due course it is hoped that additional events will spin off outside of the Tuesday evenings.

If you'd like more information (either as a potential member, parent, or as a possible volunteer helper) please email us via the "Contact us" button at the top or bottom of this page.

Details of other local organisations offering activities for young people, can be found by following these links:
      Football for Young People
      Fencing for young people and adults

How the club was formed

The Highams Park Forum had been concerned that young people in the area do not have access to a meeting place with interesting activities and so contacted Waltham Forest Youth Services to discuss ways forward. Youth Services conducted a survey and confirmed that young people put "A safe place to meet" at the top of their list of concerns.

Simultaneously Winchester Road Methodist Church became aware of a similar need after a review of the church’s life and mission.

The Forum, Youth Services, and the Methodist Church then started to work together to try to start a Youth Club in Highams Park for people between the ages of 13 and 17:

• The church offered the Memorial Hall at Winchester Road as a venue on Tuesday evenings with a club open from 7.30 until 9.30. Despite the proposed venue, the club will not be "faith based" and will be open to all within the age range.

• Youth Services offered expert help and advice in finding suitable staff and volunteers. Unfortunately no funding is available from LBWF.

• The Forum undertook to try to raise the necessary funding from the three Community Councils which cover Highams Park. A budget to cover the setup of the club and its first year’s running costs was calculated and a proposal was submitted to each of the three Community Councils, requesting one third of the cost from each.

• The Forum approached the local Safer Neighbourhoods policing teams and they fully support the proposal and have stated that they are very confident that they will be able to ensure that no problems will occur in and around the club (especially at finishing time).

The Methodist Church is an active member of an organisation called "Churches together in Highams Park". This organisation includes All Saints Anglican Church, Highams Park Baptist Church, Highams Park URC and St Theresa and St Avila Roman Catholic Church. This organisation gave its full support to the proposed club and agreed to the formation of a new organisation called YouthCare Highams Park. This will oversee the youth club, manage the worker and any other future youth work in Highams Park. It will report to Churches Together in Highams Park and the Highams Park Forum. CRB checks will be administered by Waltham Forest Youth Services where necessary.

It is expected that the member churches of Churches together in Highams Park will support YouthCare Highams Park with regular financial contributions after the initial setup. In addition it is expected that further funding will be applied for to fund specific projects once these have been articulated by the young people.

The Founding Meeting of YouthCare Highams Park took place as planned on 12DEC07. This body will oversee the setup and running of the club. A full committee was elected and this is now progressing the numerous tasks necessary to start the club.

The funding, proposals were submitted to the three Community Councils which cover Highams Park (viz. "Walthamstow West", "South Chingford & Highams Park", and "North Chingford"). All three voted in favour. After some delays caused by administrative changes in LBWF Finance Department, all monies have now been received into our bank account.

The committee were frustrated by the number of practical tasks necessary for starting the club. None of these were particularly problematic but their sheer number contributed to a rather protracted start up. Rather like peeling back the layers of an onion, completing one set of tasks simply revealed another set underneath. Various administrative processes needed to be completed before the club could open and included: Creation of constitution, bank account, overcoming delayed transfer of funds, creation of Young Persons Protection Policy, setting up insurance, creating Job Description for paid Youth Worker, contract of employment, advertising for paid youth worker and volunteers, interviews and appointments, CRB checks, Payroll and Tax, investigate registering as a charity, etc.

A job advert was placed in local newspapers and the Internet to recruit the paid youth worker. The response to this was good, and following interviews, a excellent and enthusiastic candidate was appointed.

The club opened successfully on Tuesday 9th September 2008.