The Youth Booth

The Youth Booth turns FOUR today - 28th February 2022!

It has been a rollercoaster for us all over the recent years but we're extremely proud of what we have achieved within Dacorum since beginning!

We started with two youth clubs and since then, we've run life skills workshops, litter picking initiatives, we've opened our very own community hub and coffee shop in Adeyfield Queen Square, we've given away over 20,000 food parcels... AND we're still only just getting started!

The Youth Booth is all about providing safe spaces for the community to come together and thrive whilst making new friends and gaining valuable support. 

The Youth Booth is currently running five different projects, which you’ll see are broken down below: 

• A Free Grab and Go Breakfast Service For All Children

This free service is run from our Community Hub and Coffee Shop, based within the HP2 postcode area of Hemel Hempstead. According to the local food bank, this is the highest area of need within the borough. 

Running Monday to Friday during term time, we offer a range of free, healthy breakfast items to all school aged children with no questions asked or barriers to access. 

On average we see 50 young people each morning of which the majority are 11-16 years old.  

The idea for this service is not only to feed those that may not have food options at home, but also to help those that do not prioritise breakfast and also to offer our presence as a supportive service for young people to open up to, depend on and talk to if needed. 

• Basic Cookery On A Budget Course For 14+

The Youth Booth Cookery courses are designed to teach 14-19 year olds to cook a wide range of healthy food on a budget. Each course is 8 weeks long and teaches 16-24 meals focussing on different types of cooking methods, utilising the same ingredients to make a variety of meals. 

The idea of this is to help young people learn valuable life skills and be more prepared for independent living.

We are very grateful to Adeyfield Academy who are kindly allowing us to use their kitchen facilities free of charge.

Our pilot course ran in November 2020 and we enrolled 12 young people. We aim to run four courses through 2022 teaching 80 students.

• Free Multi-Sports For 11+

Every Wednesday we run a free multi-sports class for young people 11+ at our Grovehill youth centre. We’ve employed a qualified sports coach to run these sessions with the aim of focussing on overall mental health and wellbeing as well as physical fitness. 

We are currently seeing around 30 young people per week at this session. 

• Free Multi-Sports 4+

Every Thursday we run a free multi-sports class for young people 4+ at our Adeyfield location. We’ve employed another qualified sports coach to run these sessions with the aim of focussing on overall mental health and wellbeing as well as physical fitness. We have a high number of children with additional needs attending this session. 

On average, 30 children attend this session each week. 

• Food Support Service

Every day we collect excess food from a local supermarket and distribute it to local families in need. On occasions where we have surplus, we deliver to other local charities such as the local homeless shelter and the emergency services.

 As to be expected, our charity comes at a cost. Right now, with everything we're doing, our expected cost for the next year is in the region of £75,000. 

This is where we need your help and regardless of your personal situation, there is always something you can do to help, wether it be donating, sharing the link to this Crowdfunder, following us on social media and sharing our posts!

www.facebook.com/theyouthboothuk

www.instagram.com/theyouthboothuk

It is only down to the support of our local community so far that we've been able to achieve what we have so far and we need your help to continue!