Ellesmere Port based charity Youth Fed brought the sunshine, fun and games to communities through its successful El Porto event.
Over 500 children, young people and their families attended a day of free activities and events held at Whitby Park earlier this month. Youth Fed provided a wealth of activities for the day including zorb football, inflatable assault course, drone flying, archery, quidditch, rap and graffiti workshops.
The activities were designed carefully to build resilience and self-assurance amongst the young people attending, introducing them to different activities and ultimately developing their confidence and showcasing the work of the charity and other community partners and services available.
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Chris Hindley, Chief Executive of Youth Fed, said: “We were delighted by the success of our inaugural El Porto Festival. As the name suggests, we wanted an opportunity to give Ellesmere Port’s young people a real festival experience, but with the added twist of confidence building activities and workshops.
“It was important to deliver it on the doorstep, where it was the most accessible to our communities and this paid off with over 500 in attendance. We aim for our events to help foster relationships and we feel the day was a great success in bringing support and joyful moments to young people.”
Organisations who supported the festival included the likes of Chester Sexual Abuse Support Service, Streetwise Soccer, Cheshire Police and Cheshire Fire and Rescue service. One attendee was 15-year-old Sam from Whitby High School. He said: “I have really enjoyed today, especially the drone flying. I think there should be more events like this, it is good to get you off the streets and doing something that is not dull and boring.”
Cheshire's Police and Crime Commissioner granted £4,655 towards the festival through the Community Action Fund. The Community Action Fund has been developed to enable residents and communities to address the issues which matter most to them. The fund enables ideas to be brought to life and gives the community the opportunity to be part of the solution.
PCC John Dwyer added: “I’m delighted to have supported Youth Fed’s El Porto Festival and to see it has been a success. The Community Action Fund aims to give local residents the tools to empower them to make a real difference in their community and events like El Porto are pointed towards the same goal. I want to encourage residents and communities to come together to improve community safety and community confidence within policing. Together we can make our communities safer.”
Additionally, Youth Fed matched the Police and Crime Commissioner funding of £4,655. The Northwest based charity helps improve the lives of young people through creating and delivering activities and offering one-to-one mentoring. Their online and face-to-face programme's provide support to young people aged eight to 25, covering a number of key areas such as employability, mental health, social action and personal and social development.
Youth Fed now supports over 7,000 young people directly and over 50,000 through their network of member organisations. The work they do enables young people to thrive and achieve their full potential, regardless of their background or circumstance.
