News, stories & updates

We are delighted to announce the appointment of four new Trustees to the Young Bristol Board.

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These appointments come at an exciting – as well as challenging time for the charity, supporting Young Bristol's developing work with children and young people across Bristol. We continue to build on the importance that Young Bristol's Board has a broad representation of skills, background and experiences; as well as a shared passion for our mission.

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Meet the Trustees

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Victoria Matthews, Trustee, Victoria joined the Board of Young Bristol in 2021, she currently oversees the management of the Bristol & West of England Initiative at Business West, bringing together city and community leaders. Victoria works with stakeholders across the city, representing employers and key sectors across the economy, to ensure our region is the best place to live, learn and work. Victoria helps shape and influence our city and also sits on the Bristol Women’s Commission. Victoria previously studied politics at Cardiff University and is passionate about ensuring equality and diversity is at the heart of decisions and making sure our city’s young people have a voice. Out of work you can find Victoria walking her dog, baking or cycling. (Image ID: 13337)

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Charles Wyld, Trustee, Charles joined the Board of Young Bristol in 2021, having previously been involved through Bristol Youth and Community Action. He has served as Trustee/Governor for a number of organisations in Bristol and elsewhere, and was Chair of St George’s Bristol for 6 years. Following a career in Law, Charles now acts as Consultant/Adviser/Trustee to a range of businesses, families and charities; helping with governance and strategic planning. He was High Sheriff of the City of Bristol in 2019. As a father of three sons, he knows the value of activities in the outdoors! (Image ID: 13318)

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Marcus Graham, Trustee, Marcus Graham is the head of Transaction Services at Smith & Williamson’s Bristol office. Marcus had various positions in not-for-profit organisations in London before relocating to Bristol with his young family in 2016. He is committed to Bristol and to contributing his skills to support the provision and development of opportunities for young people in the city. (Image ID: 13323)

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Mark Hammond, Trustee, Mark spent four decades working in social and private sector housing and support, focusing particularly on meeting the needs of young people leaving local authority care. He has chaired and served on the governing bodies of a range of community-based charities and voluntary organisations. Growing up in coastal Kent, Mark spent much of his spare time at the local youth club and outdoor pursuits centre. He learned there about the importance of safe, supportive environments that enable young people to be challenged and develop through new activities. Mark moved to Bristol in 2019 to help care for his new granddaughter. (Image ID: 13320)

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A special recognition

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Young Bristol would also like to share our biggest thanks to Trustee Robin Geller, who this year retired from Young Bristol's Board. We would like to thank Robin for dedicating her time, effort, support, and guidance, in particular surrounding her work on Governance, throughout her time as Trustee of Young Bristol. We are thrilled however to be welcoming Robin into her new supporting position of Vice President. (Image ID: 8277)

Young Bristol have today been honoured with The Queen’s Award for Voluntary Service, the highest award a voluntary group can receive in the UK.

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Young Bristol is an outstanding provider of community-based youth services that positively and sustainably impact the lives of young people aged 8 – 24 years.

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Founded in 1928, Young Bristol has evolved into one of Bristol’s leading youth charities, providing 9 Community Youth Clubs and a Youth Club on Wheels, Outdoor Activities, as well as Sports, Creative, Employment and Educational programmes in communities across the city.

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Volunteers are at the centre of our work; working with young people during their critical non-school hours to offer a choice of opportunities, experiences, education, training and accredited learning.

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Lee Williams, CEO of Young Bristol commented, “On behalf of everyone connected with Young Bristol, including the many volunteers who support our work in so many ways, we are deeply honoured to receive this prestigious Award. 

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"Our army of volunteers make a profound and lasting impact on the lives of the children and young people we work with, supporting, inspiring and empowering them to succeed.”

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We are delighted to announce that two new Trustees have been appointed to the Young Bristol Board.

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These appointments build on the importance that Young Bristol has a broad representation of skills, backgrounds and experiences on our Board, to help steer the charity as we develop and diversify our services.

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Carolyn Jenkins, Trustee

Carolyn has many years’ experience across a broad range of commercial disciplines and industry sectors. She currently divides her time between working on commercialisation projects at the University of Bristol, holding roles as Director/Observer on the boards of various University spin out companies, and other freelance and charitable activities. Carolyn joined Young Bristol as a Trustee in December 2019, and is committed to Bristol and supporting the development of young people in the city.

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Jenny Singleton, Trustee

Jenny works at a local secondary school as a Deputy Head with responsibility for School Development. She has recently moved back to Bristol having worked in and around London as a Maths teacher and pastoral leader for over twenty years. Jenny is delighted to be back in the city where she grew up and is committed to supporting the work and aims of Young Bristol. She enjoys running, particularly in the Bristol 10K and is currently completing her Doctorate in Education at UWE. Jenny is also a governor at Claremont Special School.

At Young Bristol we believe that every young person has the right to discover what they're capable of; supporting them to be confident, healthy, responsible, resilient and successful.

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We are pleased to share this short-video 'Our Values', featuring young people from our Community Youth Clubs, outdoor activities and educational programmes, sharing the impact of our work in their own words.

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With special thanks to Ashton Vale Club for Young People, Avon Youth Club, Sea Mills Boys' and Girls Club, Hartcliffe Club for Young People, and City of Bristol College, for featuring in the video. We would also like to thank PaoloR Freelance Web Designer and Videographer for producing the short-video.

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Watch here: https://youtu.be/-rjum4fTFPg

The Grove will be re-opening on Tuesday 12th November, for young people aged 8 - 14!

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The Youth Club based in Bedminster Down is re-opening its doors, offering opportunities for young people locally to socialise and take part in youth-centered activities, such as creative and sports sessions.

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The Grove will open on Tuesday 12th November, 6:30 - 8:30pm at 27A Cheddar Grove, BS13 7EN. Entry is FREE for the first session, 50p per session thereafter. Tuck available.

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For more information please contact Young Bristol on 0117 929 2513 or email info@youngbristol.com.

We have officially launched our new mobile ‘Youth Club on Wheels’ this month with an event on May 8th at The Station in central Bristol to celebrate. For years Young Bristol has been bridging the gap in providing safe, social spaces for young people to turn to. Keeping them away from crime and anti-social behaviour by providing positive out of school activities and programmes. We run eight clubs in Bristol and have many more in our wider clubs network however many children live in areas with no youth clubs or provision. Our new youth bus will enable us to get to those hard-to-reach areas in the city and rural areas.

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On the night we had lots of fun playing in and outside of the bus with some of our youth club members and invited guests. BBC Points West were in attendance filming LIVE for the evening news and we were joined by the Bristol Post too. Their article can be ready HERE. We were also delighted to joined by Paul Andrew from Heart FM West Country who had some of the YB team on the Breakfast show with Ed, Troy and Paulina that morning.

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Held almost a year to the day since the initial appeal launch, we were joined by our supporters and funders to celebrate the success of the appeal and the new service we will be offering. Alongside the activities we had inspiring speeches by our chair Jamie Cameron, as well as our President, Jonathan Webb, our Patron Peaches Golding OBE and Bristol Cllr Anna Keen.

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We are incredibly grateful to each individual and to the charitable trusts that have kindly donated to the appeal. Without your help we would not be able to provide this service.

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The Youth Club on Wheels will be heading over to Shirehampton in the coming weeks to begin work in the local community. If you would like to find out more please email us in info@youngbristol.com or call 0117 929 2513.

Since the Youth Bus for Young Bristol #YB4YB Appeal came to a close in 2018, we have been working hard behind the scenes to make our dream of a Mobile Youth Provision for Bristol and the surrounding areas a reality.

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We can now reveal the design of the bus which is on schedule to be delivered next month in February. The designs include a space to complete homework, an area to learn about preparing healthy meals, a safe place to talk to our youth workers and to relax and socialise with friends. There will also be a detachable awning to create a separate outdoor space. From the mobile youth provision, Young Bristol will provide social, creative, multimedia, sports and indoor and outdoor projects and activities for young people to take part in.

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We have worked with young people from our Community Youth Clubs to name the mobile provision and have settled on two options either, the Mobile Youth Club or Youth Club on Wheels. The chosen name will be incorporated into the final design.

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From discussions with local BCC councillors such as Councillor Helen Godwin (Cabinet Member for Children’s Services), and data pulled from our youth clubs, we have identified three strategic areas within the Bristol City Council boundaries in which we are focusing our efforts. These include but are not limited to Shirehampton & Avonmouth, Henbury and Oldbury Court/Hillfields.

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Following discussions with Bath and North East Somerset Council, we will also be working across certain areas of BANES, such as Keynsham and areas within Chew Valley.

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As the appeal now stands, we have raised the stretch target of £120,000, which not only enabled us to purchase and design the bus but will also contribute to its running and staff costs.

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We would like to express our enormous gratitude to five of our key donors, The Nisbet Trust, The Nani Huyu Trust, The St Johns Foundation, The Society of Merchant Venturers, The Fairfield Charitable Trust and The Leonard Laity Stoate Foundation. These donations will be recognised with a message and presentation of the organisation’s logos on the bus.

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We can't wait to get on the road and to continue to provide safe, social spaces for young people to turn to in areas with little to no pre-existing youth provision.

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YB4YB Bus Design

We're delighted to welcome Mr Jonathan Webb MB ChB FRCS (Orth) as the new President of Young Bristol. He's currently working between the Bristol Nuffield Chesterfield Hospital and the Fortius Clinic in London as a consultant orthopaedic surgeon, specializing in all types of knee surgery.

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Jonathan also keeps himself busy with his varied charitable interests. These include the Society of Merchant Venturers, the Society of St Stephens' Ringers, and the University of Bristol campaign for resource.

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While he was training to be a surgeon, Jonathan played rugby in the amateur days. He won 33 caps for England, playing for Bristol University, Bristol, and Bath. During this period, England won 2 grand slams and reached the final of the 1991 Rugby World Cup. Jonathan was awarded the Rothmans Player of the year award in 1992. In 2011, Jonathan joined the RFU Council. Now, he represents World Rugby and sits on the Board of the RFU. Besides, he also chairs the Medical Advisory Committee and the Concussion Risk Management Group.

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The team at Young Bristol is pleased to have Jonathan join us at such an exciting time. We're looking forward to his involvement in our 90th year and beyond!

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Image by Sophie Whitby - https://www.flickr.com/photos/149585074@N04/31090285040/

We are delighted to welcome Mr Jonathan Webb MB ChB FRCS (Orth) as the new President of Young Bristol. Currently working between the Bristol Nuffield Chesterfield Hospital and the Fortius Clinic in London as a consultant orthopaedic surgeon, he specialises in all types of knee surgery.

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Jonathan is also kept busy with his varied charitable interests which include the Society of Merchant Venturers, the Society of St Stephens' Ringers, and the University of Bristol campaign for resource.

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Whilst training to be a surgeon Jonathan played rugby in the amateur days, winning 33 caps for England, playing for Bristol University, Bristol and Bath. During this time England won 2 grand slams and reached the final of the 1991 Rugby World Cup. In 1992 Jonathan was awarded the Rothmans Player of the Year award. In 2011 Jonathan joined the RFU Council, he is now the World Rugby representative and sits on the Board of the RFU. He also chairs the Medical Advisory Committee and the Concussion Risk Management Group.

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The team at Young Bristol are pleased to have Jonathan join us at such an exciting time and we look forward to his involvement in our 90th year and beyond!

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Image by Sophie Whitby - https://www.flickr.com/photos/149585074@N04/31090285040/