At YMCA Essex we recognise the impact of Coronavirus on young people’s mental health. We aim to do everything we can to reduce loneliness and promote inclusivity. We have created a few ways for young people to stay together, whilst staying home.
1. Monday Motivation – Every week we will provide new activities to complete at home, from treasure hunts to obstacle courses, arts and crafts to sensory based games. You can find out Monday Motivation here.
2. Wellbeing Wednesday’s – Every Wednesday we will connect with you via Instagram. You can join us by searching for @ymcaessex and we will share different things based around wellbeing and mindfulness.
3. Virtual Youth Group – Every Friday at 4.00pm, we will be hosting a virtual youth group on ‘Zoom’. Invites will be sent out via text to those who are existing youth club members. If you do not receive a text and are an existing youth club member, please contact the email address below. Each week we will bring something new.
In order for existing members to join The Friday Club, you must read the guidelines below:
Youth club poster and guidelines 2020
4. The Best Life Project – a Virtual Youth Group. Every Thursday at 2.30pm, we will be hosting a virtual youth group on ‘Zoom’. Please contact Sarah if you wish to join.
In order for new or existing members to join The Best Life Project, you must read these guidelines below:
Please read this poster FAQs and How To’s Guide.
Any additional ideas or thoughts can be sent to sarah.daniels@ymcachelmsford.org.uk for consideration – we would love to hear from you 😊
Online safety
The internet is a brilliant place to connect with others, be creative and discover new things, but as young people’s usage online during this pandemic will have increased, so will have the online risks.
Online safety is paramount in all our services, particularly at a time where we are using more online methods of communicating with our service users. For all of our digital youth sessions, we make sure two members of staff are present at all times during the video call and that the video link is only shared with members known to us.
An awareness of what potential risks there are must remain important to all of us. Our staff are trained in safeguarding, we have a safeguarding policy, we keep up-to-date on the latest news and regulations and we are available if anyone has any questions about our policies or concerns about online communications in general or our young people’s involvement online.
We can recommend following EST E Safety Training on Facebook or viewing their webpage for more useful information.
