Giftmaking Workshops for Teens (with an Italian Feast!)

Our Holiday Activity and Food Programme is back for the Holiday Season. We are delivering activities in Crediton and Okehampton: Giftmaking and a Festive Feast!

The Crediton spaces filled before we could announce the new scheme, so we are now also inviting donations so that we might provide activity and food parcels to anyone who registers for the programme waiting list in Crediton. Financial donations can be made through the Crediton Eventbrite Booking page. If a business can contribute 50+ of an item that an 11-16 year old would like, or that might support our parcels, please be in touch. Likewise, sponsorship support of the parcels for participants and other young people would be welcome. Register for the waiting list (which will help us plan Easter activities) and make donations via the eventbrite page at https://bit.ly/FestiveFunCrediton

The Okehampton event on Saturday 17 December from 10:30 -2:30 remains open for bookings at https://bit.ly/FestiveOkehampton22

The Youth Centres in Crediton and Okehampton are working with Significant Seams and Turning Tides to organise and deliver these events. Devon County Council is sponsoring free spaces for anyone entitled to free school meals.

The quick filling of spaces is a worrying sign of the local impact of the national cost of living crisis. A December 2020 national report about ‘measuring and mitigating child hunger’ by the Social Market Foundation found that mid-Devon youth have the 7th highest food insecurity in the country despite not appearing on the indices of highest need. The study indicates 23% of mid Devon young people have food insecurity. North Devon placed 9th. The pandemic response provided particular insight into areas where employment, cost of living and other social and economic factors have high impact – and where social and community support infrastructure may be relatively weak. More widely recognised areas of poverty in Devon did not make the list of 20 local authorities with the highest food insecurity nationally.

In addition to this programme, the new Crediton Youth Centre in Old Landscore School is running regular low cost social events for young people 10 and over. Anyone interested to join should check their website at https://www.crediton.gov.uk/Youth-Work for the latest information.