Co-op Warm Spaces Funding Boost has provided £1,600 of match funding
The Bridge Youth Centre
Bridgnorth, Shropshire, United Kingdom
Aim
Our fundraising target for 2023 is to keep The Bridge open and crucially, open access to all young people who need us.
Who are we?
The Bridge Youth Centre is a locally run youth provision established in 1994. The Bridge, or 'Bridgnorth Dry Bar Trust' as we're officially known, has several weekly sessions tailored to the needs of young people. Our facilities include the latest gaming consoles, IPADS, an impressive air hockey table with digital scoring and a brand new Pool Table. In addition to many other excellent resources, our team of staff and volunteers are also on hand to facilitate group games, card games and take attendees on trips and to events.
You can find us behind the Bridgnorth Vet's on Whitburn Street, which is opposite Sainsbury's.
Community impact
The Bridge Youth Centre exists to create opportunities for young people. Helping them succeed as they grow.
The core elements of our programme are:
- Sessions
- Young Volunteer training
- Mentor Support
- HAF (Holiday Activity & Food)
All our staff and volunteers love working in The Bridge environment to support young people. Everything we do sits within a core curriculum, which helps to guide how we respond to the young people who attend our activities.
- Sessions Our sessions follow a curriculum programme, which covers topics such as Alcohol, Drugs, Diversity, Sexuality and Belief.
- Young Volunteer Training We actively promote a culture of serving within The Bridge. We teach the young volunteers how to communicate well, listen and how to run activities.
- Mentor Support Mentor Support is provided in the community and through schools. Each member of the team is trained to offer support alongside our designated mentor specialist.
- HAF (Holiday Activity & Food) The Bridge has a rich history of creating activity in the community. With the help of Shropshire Council, we're now able to target support to families.
Why are we crowdfunding?
The Bridge (Dry Bar Trust) has existed for nearly 30 years. As a local charity, it falls to us to do all we can to reach our community aims. Unfortunately, that also means we have to fund raise for everything we do. Sometimes we can take part in funded projects, but those are not often able to be used for core funding. Especially in relation to the building we lease.
This year we're crowdfunding to help increase the support for the centre, and importantly to be able to fund the upkeep of the building.
How we’ll spend the money raised
We will use all money raised to keep The Bridge open. Funds will be committed to the upkeep of the building, and keeping our sessions free and open access to all young people.
This project successfully funded on 7th March 2023