Youth Service
The Youth Service offers places to go, things to do and people to talk to for young people aged 8 to 21 and is part of the Department of Education and Children in venues across the island.
Junior clubs cater for those in school year 4 to 6, youth clubs are for those in years 7 to 9 and senior projects for those in year 9 and above.
With over 65 different clubs and projects offering over 100 sessions per week there is something for everyone.
In addition to the community based open access clubs and projects, the Youth Services also offers bespoke programmes of support and accredited leaning for a variety of young people. The Service is licenced with a number of awarding bodies, including Open Awards, the Duke of Edinburgh Award Scheme, Learning Outside the Classroom, Royal Yachting Association and British Canoe Union.
The Youth Arts Centre in Kensington Road, Douglas boasts a 120 seat theatre, dance and drama rehearsal space, a visual arts and craft activities workshop and a music recording and rehearsal studio. It offers a wide range of activities based around dance, drama and music. Arts, crafts and backstage skills are also on offer and young people take part in regular shows, concerts and exhibitions.
Adventure Education is catered for at the Ardwhallan outdoor centre, which is based near Injebreck reservoir. It boasts a residential centre with 22 beds, separate classroom facilities and grounds with a range of facilities including a low ropes course, archery, group work problem solving and camping facilities. It offers courses tied in with the curriculum, to school groups and runs out of school clubs and courses in kayaking, sailing and climbing, also include are off island expeditions involving kayaking, climbing and mountain walking.
Soundcheck is an Island wide music based project based at the Youth Arts Centre, Castletown, Peel and Ramsey youth centre’s. Young people can use rehearsal space, recording facilities and a wide range of equipment and they also take part in concerts, gigs and festivals throughout the Island.
Café Laare and Kenyons are café/meeting spaces that is available to a wide variety of youth organizations and charity’s
The Youth Service is also the home to the Duke of Edinburgh’s Award, at any one time there are approximately 800 young people working towards their Bronze, Silver and Gold Awards.
Training, advice and guidance is available for anyone wishing to start a youth group or activity. The latest survey of young people aged 11 to 18 showed that 70% were involved in positive activities in the evenings and at weekends. This is possible because our community is fortunate to have an army of adults willing to dedicate their time to providing exciting opportunities for our young people.
The Youth Service also offers help to young people needing some additional support or time and space to meet with friends who share the same experience. Within the secondary schools there is a Listening Service offering one to one support and there is an LGBT group that runs from Café Laare. In partnership with the charity, Bridge the Gap, there is a project to help young people with long -term health conditions based in Nobles Hospital.
