Part of Beyond Youth’s vision is to seek life in all its fulness for children and young people in South East Northumberland. We believe it’s central to the church’s mission to create regular safe spaces for children and young people to have fun, try new things and make friends, and we believe these spaces should be open and accessible to anyone. We have two such spaces at the moment, with a third that we hope to launch soon.
Lynemouth Club – Established January 2024
In December 2023 we hosted a consultation event in Lynemouth. We invited local young people to have their say about what they would like in the area, which resulted in the creation of Lynemouth Youth club.
The club is a weekly open access club for young people to come and be themselves in a safe and welcoming space. There are opportunities to play games, get involved in sport, help out in the kitchen, get creative, or spend some time with friends. We aim for the young people to have control over the activities and foods we offer, as well as seeking their input on how the club runs. About 20-25 young people come each week and it’s been great to see new young people join just after their 8th birthday, having been looking forward to being old enough.
Some of the young people requested a church visit as a trip, and others requested a silent disco as an activity, so this October we’re taking them (and others from the other groups) to a silent disco hosted in a church!
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Newbiggin Club – Established May 2024
While on Detached in Newbiggin, many young people voiced their desire for a youth club in Newbiggin. We undertook a consultation process following which we committed to launching a youth club for those in year 8+ in May 2024.
The club is an open access club for young people to come along, have fun, make friends, eat good, play games, make things, try new things and more. We want young people to shape the space so we take their suggestions seriously and have been generously funded with a pot of money to pay for added value activities (trips, visitors, etc) all of which we hope to plan with the young people who attend.
The Newbiggin Youth club has grown this term. In September we introduced a younger session for those in year 4-7 and more young people have joined the year 8+ session. After a slow start we’ve now got a regular group coming along for baking, art, games and more. We’re excited to try out some woodwork soon, and to celebrate all things bonfire night and Christmas related.
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BeReal – Coming Soon
Between all of our regular and irregular events, including schools work and detached, there is a group of young people aged 12+ who are particularly well connected to Beyond Youth. Some of them worship in the local churches, some volunteer, some attend multiple other groups. In September we met with them to discuss the possibility of a regular (monthly) group just for them where they can Be Real (with themselves, each other and God). We’ll meet together to play games, cook together, eat together and discuss life and faith together.