Northumberland charity helps develop plan to expand holiday youth project to more teenagers nationally

The youth programme Holiday Activities and Food has had national success but has struggled to engage with 13 to 16 year olds, and Bedlington charity Leading Link was one of the partners that developed an extension of the programme to address this issue.

Findings of the project were presented to a conference at the Baltic Centre for Contemporary Art in Gateshead on Tuesday, February 20.

Chris Johnson from Leading Link said: "Our young people are vitally important to us all. However, research showed that the HAF programme in its current form was not appealing to the teenage cohort of young people.

“We gave young people all across Northumberland and North Tyneside a voice and encouraged them to help in the co-design of a local and national HAF Plus framework that can be rolled out nationally.

“The power of the young people who took part really shone through.

“I am proud of them all and we are delighted to announce that because of this conference we will be looking at ways to team up with others throughout the UK to establish best practice and really make a difference to the lives of our young people.”

Leading Link worked with over 60 young people across the region last year to establish their views on the programme and ensure it would meet their needs.

They collaborated with a research team from Northumbria University, Gateshead Council, Mayor’s Fund for London, Northumberland County Council, and Street Games Birmingham on the project.