A jam-packed summer filled with activities begins

School and (home schooling) is now out for summer, but there are plenty of activities going on across Westminster to keep children and young people occupied.  

Westminster City Council is delivering four weeks of free play provision in many schools for vulnerable families and children of key workers. 

Some primary and secondary schools are also offering catch-up provision, so please do check your school’s website for more information on this.  

Westminster secondary schools will be offering individualised support over the summer for identified students and year groups.  

As well as the activities and catch-up sessions on offer in schools, many youth hubs are hosting a series of summer programmes.  

Avenues Youth Project, Amberley Youth Hub, Fourth Feathers, Churchill Gardens Youth Hub and St Andrew’s Club have a very busy few weeks ahead.  

Activities taking place at the hubs include sport events, sessions with skilled youth workers to help young people in their transition out of lockdown and sessions to offer young people a chance to catch up on their schoolwork.  

The Young Westminster Foundation have also worked with their members to publish their summer programme of events on offer this summer from online basketball to cookery to adventure playgrounds, available here: www.ywfoundation.com.  

Westminster’s City Lions are hosting two virtual takeovers to keep 13 to 16-year-olds entertained during the school holidays.

Over the course of three days, your child will meet and learn from some of Westminster's most exciting creatives through online interactive workshops and Q&A sessions.  

The weekly challenges have also re-started, where a young person can bag themselves a £25 e-voucher of their choice for submitting a winning piece. Visit: citylions.org for more information and to register.  

If that isn’t enough, the tri-borough music hub have set up workshops for children and young people aged between 0-18, plus their families, who live or go to school within Westminster, Kensington and Chelsea and Hammersmith and Fulham.  

More than 70 workshops and courses are available between 28th July and 8th August, from storytelling and music to 0-5s, music tech courses for teens, family singing in Arabic, to Jazz events or even some well-being drumming workshops. To sign up and to find out more, visit: www.triboroughmusichub.org/events.   

Cllr Timothy Barnes, Westminster City Council Cabinet Member for Children’s Services, said: “It’s been a challenging few months for everyone, whether it’s parents and carers tackling home schooling or children unable to go back to school and their usual routine.  
 
“With the summer holidays now underway, I’m very pleased we are able to deliver four weeks of play provision in many schools and staff have worked closely with youth hubs or our partners to ensure there is something for everyone. 
 
“There’s a wide variety on offer. Children and young people can sign up to one of the tri-borough music hub events or even have a hand at taking on one of the City Lions challenges, where great prizes are up for grabs. 
 
“I hope everyone has a lovely break and I encourage families and individuals to use the time to get active. We are looking forward to seeing children and young people in Westminster back into schools, college or further training come September.” 

Westminster City Council recently launched a new platform to find events and activities for children and young people taking place across Westminster. Visit: www.westminster.gov.uk/westminster-youth-connected to find out more.