Hundreds inspired by sporting Youth Nights

Young people in Plymouth celebrated the success of their sporting ‘Youth Nights’ by showing off their skills to local councillors and other city chiefs last week at an event at the Plymouth Life Centre.

Each Friday evening hundreds of young people gather at the Plymouth Life Centre for the specially designed ‘Youth Nights’ run by Everyone Active and Plymouth City Council’s Youth Service and Sports Development Unit.

The extremely popular evenings regularly see in excess of 250 young people gather to take part in various sporting activities, designed to help them stay fit, try new things and socialise with other young people, perhaps outside of their usual school groups.

To celebrate the overwhelming success of the initiative, the Young People Steering group hosted a presentation evening for local councillors and other senior managers working with children and young people in the city. They talked through what happened at the Youth Nights and why they felt they were important for young people in the city.

The celebration event guest list included: Councillor Nicky Williams, Cabinet Member for Children and Young People, Councillor Peter Smith, Deputy Leader of the Council, Carole Burgoyne, the Council’s Director for People and John Miller, Head of Youth Services for the Council.

Councillor Williams was extremely impressed by the young people and their passion for sport. She said: “It’s a fact that young people involved in a sporting activity or hobby are far more likely to be productive, happy and healthy members of society so it’s fantastic to see young people getting fired up about sport. At a time when obesity is a serious problem amongst today’s youth, it was incredibly heartening to see a group of young people enthusiastic about staying fit and healthy and determined to make the most of the fantastic facilities on offer at the Plymouth Life Centre.”

Regular activities provided during Friday Youth Nights include swimming, diving, table tennis, badminton, football and gym access. Monthly one-off activities are also provided and include trampolining, basketball and roller disco.

David Greenwood, contracts manager for Everyone Active in Plymouth is delighted at how well received the sessions at the Plymouth Life Centre have been. “This centre is not just about providing activities for the people of Plymouth, it is also about being a community hub where local people feel that they can be supported in their goals. The Youth Nights that we run are a fantastic demonstration of how the Plymouth Life Centre can be at the heart of the Plymouth community.”

The role of the young people’s steering group, which was formed last August and goes by the name of the Plymouth Life Centre Council, is to gather the views and opinions of other young people who access the sessions and feedback to Everyone Active and Council staff so they can be shaped and tailored to best meet young people’s needs and wants. The Group is facilitated and supported by the Council’s Youth Service.

Youth Night sessions cost £3.00p and are held every Friday evening from 7pm to 9pm.