Thank you for making my summer amazing Ali, age 10

Hello,

It has been a busy time for us over the past few months, particularly over the summer where our teams delivered an exciting and far reaching programme to support over 350 young people.  We have also focused on addressing the rise in youth unemployment in the area and have launched and developed a number of initiatives to support young people in gaining new skills and qualifications.

This weekend we will begin to offer activities and support to Afghan refugee children temporarily housed in local hotels.  We are currently raising funds to support this important programme – please scroll down for more information, or click here to donate.

Below is an update, including feedback from some of the young people who took part in our summer programme, and more information about our appeal:

Providing a creative and exciting summer programme 
Following the challenges of the pandemic, which were acutely felt by many of our young people, we felt it was essential to offer an exciting summer full of opportunities to learn new skills, be outside and have trips away.

Thanks to your generous support, we raised over £100,000, delivered 6 residentials, provided over 70-day trips, cooked 3,500 meals, and engaged more than 350 children, from 6 clubs, over 5 weeks with a team of more than 30 delivery staff.

Some highlights of our summer programme included raft building and sailing, cultural trips to the national maritime museum in Greenwich, an inter-club football competition and track-days on bikes and karts.

Watch some highlights from our summer programme

“Here I can just be myself, without the pressure from the streets, without having to represent anything. I think this trip will help to squash any tension, 1000%” Steve, age 16

“Being at the Harrow Club gave my daughter independence to explore and make friends without me. It’s very valuable as it gives us parents time out and also gave my daughter the opportunity to do activities that I can’t afford to pay for.  My daughter loved every minute.” Anna, local parent.

“This was the best day of my summer holiday.” Dean, age 10

Addressing the skills and employment gap for young people
In response to rising unemployment in Kensington and Chelsea we are offering opportunities to our young people to develop skills and paths into work.  To do this we have:

  • Opened our new music studio and media suite where our young people explore music production with specialist coaches
  • Employed 5 local young people through the government’s Kickstart scheme training to be future youth and community workers
  • Placed 18 young people, since June, in roles within the club or with external companies that support us
  • Started a new Digital Skills Programme where young people learn from tech industry leaders and develop new skills ready for a digital career

Please donate to our appeal to support Afghan refugee children living locally

Over 120 Afghan refugee children have been temporarily housed in local hotels. These children have undoubtedly been through very challenging and stressful experiences and the Harrow Club is committed to support them.

We are raising funds to offer a programme of activities over the weekends, such as, sports, dance, drama, arts, crafts and music to keep the young people busy and having fun.

We want to provide them with a safe space and a warm welcome and ask you to support us.

We couldn’t do any of this without your support. Thank you.

Harrow Club Trustees, Management Team and all Staff and Volunteers