Keeping the kids cool this summer

4:27pm Wednesday 23rd July 2008

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THE arrival of the summer holidays will have many parents thinking how best to occupy the children. Cotswold District Council may have the answer with the launch of its Summer Off the Streets programme. Charlotte Shepherd looks at the options available.

WITH the credit crunch biting, parents in the Cotswolds will welcome the multitude of free and low cost activities available to keep their children smiling this summer.

For the second year running, Cotswold District Council has launched its ‘Summer Off the Streets’ programme, aimed at alleviating the boredom and keeping children and teenagers off the streets.

The scheme started last summer and saw more than 1,900 youngsters across the Cotswolds get involved in activities ranging from soccer schools to craft events at Corinium museum.

This year the scheme is bigger than ever thanks to a grant of £200,000 from the Big Lottery Fund last December and some 9,000 brochures have been distributed to families across the Cotswolds.

Claire Dowan, CDC's Youth Participation Officer is a driving force behind the initiative which has been tailored to meet local demand through consultation with Youth Parish Councils across the Cotswolds.

"The new activities are the result of Big Lottery funding and a result of what young people have told us they would like," she said.

So what did young people ask for? Opportunities to skate were high on the agenda, as was making music. This has been combined with Scratch'n'Skate, a free skateboard and MC session which takes place at Cirencester Kingshill skate park on August 3 from 1-3pm.

Making sure that youngsters who live away from the major towns had something to do without needing to travel was also a high priority so a mobile skate park will be visiting a host of places including Northleach, Blockley and Bourton-on-the-Water from the end of July until 11 August.

Girls who don’t skate told Claire that they wanted something that was unique to them and this is where the idea of ‘Looking Good, feeling Gr8t’ was born.

This mobile youth bus will visit the Chesterton area of Cirencester every Monday evening until August 4 and will give girls a chance to experiment with hair, beauty and make-up.

Summer off the Streets aims to provide something for everyone and youngsters with disabilities have a few events lined up just for them, including dance.

Gloucestershire Dance will be providing free dance taster sessions at the Cotswold School in Bourton-on-the-Water on August 11-13 from 10am-12noon.

"We work very hard to be inclusive with our activities but children with disabilities told us that they wanted some which were just for them," Claire explained.

The Cotswold School was involved last year, but has expanded its activities this year to include a drama workshop ‘Create a soap opera in a day’ on August 12 and ‘Create an mp3 in a day’ on August 11.

Pupil Alex Elmer, 15, is a member of the North Cotswolds Youth Parish Council which carried out a poll and questionnaire at the school to find out exactly what her peers wanted.

"Summer holidays can be such a long time and you can get bored if you are not away on holiday," Alex explained. "There is not much in the area to do. These events will give people something to do and it won’t cost them anything."

* For a full brochure and details on the events above and others including Corinium Museum activities at local libraries call Claire Dowan on 01285 623568.