News, stories & updates

Now more than ever before, young people and families across Bristol need the support of charity’s such as Young Bristol.

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Are you deciding on your New Years resolution for 2024? Are you continuing your 2023 health and fitness habits? This year you can make a difference by taking on the Bath Half Marathon and raise money for a local cause! Grab your trainers and get fundraising!

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"I have really enjoyed fundraising because of the work Young Bristol does. On the day, I really liked the vest. It was quite a challenge, but I enjoyed it all-in-all.” Angad, Bath Half Marathon runner 2023

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The 42nd Bath Half Marathon is planned to take place on Sunday 17th March 2024, from 10:00am. This takes place in the heart of the World Heritage City of Bath. We ask that runners taking part in the Bath Half for Young Bristol pledge to raise £250.

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By entering the race, you will receive:

• Chip timing, race number and race day instructions
• Race day tracking app
• On course entertainment
• Unique 2024 finishers medal
• A FREE Young Bristol runners vest

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This week, The Grove @ Bedminster Down hosted their second annual Christmas Fair at Bedminster Down Ex Service Club! Over 150 local residents came through the doors, enjoying all of the stalls and activities we had on offer.

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Our stalls ranged from Tarot Card readings, wax melts and food stalls. Everyone was also able to enjoy our range of activities such as; guess the sweets and bottle tombola! We were lucky enough to even be visited by Santa and his elves, who hosted a Grotto to help raise money for The Grove!

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To finish off the Christmas Fair, the raffle ticket winners were announced, winning some of the amazing prizes, some of which had been kindly donated by some local businesses! Some of these included: Next, Asda and local food restaurants. Thank you to everyone who donated a raffle prize!

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Last week, Ashton Vale Club for Young People joined a number of different youth clubs to take part in the final session of NatWest Thrive with Marcus Rashford!

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Our first group of young people from Ashton Vale Club for Young People have graduated from the NatWest Thrive programme with Marcus Rashford! This amazing programme has helped young people think about their goals, learn new life skills and develop valuable money habits.

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We heard some inspiring words for Luke Vernon, who hosted the NatWest Thrive graduation. He recognised young peoples achievements across the programme, and the group enjoyed virtually interacting across a Zoom call.

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The group at Ashton Vale won a signed book after finding the most things around their club starting with the letter "t". They were able to collect 15 items in order to win the prize!

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To make it a night to remember, our young people had a pizza party to celebrate in style! All graduates received a backpack filled with exclusive NatWest Thrive goodies in recognition of their achievements and dedication to the programme.

Over the last few months, we have been working with University of Bristol Engineering and Bristol Composites Institute, to deliver our co-created programme, Discover Composites!

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The aim of the programme is to spark curiosity in young people from various hard-to-reach communities across Bristol and inspire the next generation of composite engineers. The programme has been directly ran from our Youth Club On Wheels!

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As a result of this programme, the NextCOMP team are working on a "workshop in a box". This will include a range of activities and guidance documents, which can be delivered to young people by non-technical specialists! The team have created the box to be accessible to every environment while still making sure it is interesting.

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We hope the "workshop in a box" can be delivered across our Community Youth Clubs and other youth groups across Bristol.

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"Working with Young Bristol has been inspiring. I have learnt so much and continue to learn. The most important lesson is that there are plenty of budding composite engineers out there, we just need to find the funds and novel ways to get materials and engineering out into the community."

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Richard Trask, Professor

We are delighted to announce that Rosie and Maddison from Sea Mills Boys' and Girls' Club are the winners of our 2023 Christmas Card Competition!

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Last month, we hosted a Christmas Card competition across our Community Youth Club network. Young people from each club were encouraged to create a Christmas card design to be entered into our competition. The designs were then shortlisted by Club Leader's and submitted to our judge.

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Nick from Olas Art chose the winners from the 15 entries that were shortlisted and submitted. He chose a junior and senior winner from the range of amazing designs young people created!

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"I love the colour in these both and they have captured that cheery Christmas spirit. Well done to everyone who took part, and Merry Christmas to you!" Nick, Olas Art

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After the success of Young Bristol’s Golf Day & Dinner in September 2023, we are delighted to announce we will be hosting our Golf Day and Dinner 2024, and we plan to make next years bigger and better than before! If you are a business in the South West with some keen golfers and an ethos for supporting local charities, then this is the day for you! Event specific information is listed below:

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• 4th July 2024
• Bristol & Clifton Golf Club, Beggar Bush Lane, Bristol, BS8 3TH
• 8am –  3pm
• 9am Shotgun tee off
• Bacon rolls, tea and coffee, one course meal
• Raffle and golf winners’ prizes
• £300 per team of 4.

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Last month, Young Bristol were invited to celebrate BBS Plumbing and Heating Supplies' 90th birthday, with an Anniversary Dinner and Dance.

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The evening saw the local business raise money for Young Bristol after, earlier this year, choosing Young Bristol to be their Charity of The Year. We were nominated by their Marketing Manager, Dan McCrum, who is passionate about giving back and supporting Bristol’s local communities.

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“I’ve seen youth services across the country continue to shrink and disappear, I don’t feel the average young person today has the same level of support and opportunity that I did as a child – and for disadvantage children things are often even worse. I see Young Bristol as an organisation who pushes back against this saddening trend.”

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Dan McCrum, Marketing Manager, BBS

Last week, we were delighted to invite the Bristol team from Robert Half to Sea Mills Boys and Girls Club, where their generous volunteers dedicated their day to help improve our facilities for the benefit of young people.

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Divided into two smaller teams, the first group arrived bright and early, tackling a number of different tasks around the club. The first task of the day was to refresh the club’s entryway with a new coat of light green paint.

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The team then shifted their attention into the main room of the club. This required the group to remove a large number of staples from the walls, as well as moving old furniture, in preparation for the next group to paint the room!

Cycling enthusiasts working at the Bristol-based company, Computershare, have raised thousands of pounds for Young Bristol.

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More than 40 of the company’s employees set off on two wheels from the global financial services firm’s Bedminster Down offices to raise money for the charity, which works to offer a choice of opportunities and experiences for young people aged eight to 25.

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The ‘On Yer Bike’ event, which involved challenging routes of 20, 30 or 75 miles around Chew Valley Lake, the Mendip Hills and Cheddar Gorge via Congresbury, culminated in a celebratory BBQ that also provided the opportunity for cyclists to meet the charity’s representatives and learn more about its work.

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The day raised £5,300 for the organisation, which is one of Computershare’s designated local charities, which benefits from donations via the company’s corporate giving programme, Change A Life.

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"We would like to say a huge thank you to Computershare for choosing our charity as a beneficiary from their fundraising event. Computershare’s donation will enable us to continue to provide freely available, community-driven activities for young people during after school hours, which provide a really important opportunity for development and learning.”

Lucy Saunders, Young Bristol

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"We are really pleased that the first On Yer Bike event after the pandemic has helped to raise money for such an important local cause. Young Bristol continues to make a significant difference to the lives of young people across the city, and we’re extremely proud to support its fantastic work.”

‍Lucy Newcombe, Chief People and ESG officer at Computershare.

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Computershare has also raised a further £408.86 for the charity from sales of honey produced from its on-site beehives this year.

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Thank you Computershare for raising vital funds for young people in Bristol!