Our Youth Services Team recently hosted a fantastic two-day festival.
Called ‘YouthFest’ the event brought North Ayrshire’s young people together at Kelburn Castle camping grounds, giving them all a chance to let their hair down and have some well-deserved fun.
Returning for the first time since before the pandemic, the much-anticipated Youth Festival welcomed over 160 youngsters aged 12-16 who descended on the grounds at Kelburn Castle for a two-day festival of fun.
The free event was organised by Youth Services Team who were also joined by a host of other partners including Police Scotland, NHS Ayrshire and Arran, Scottish Fire and Rescue, Coastwatch, North Ayrshire Health and Social Care Partnership and the Drug and Alcohol Partnership.
In true festival style, young people were invited to ‘YouthFest’ to camp out under the stars, listen to some great live music and take part in two jam-packed days of activities that took place on Tuesday 2 and Wednesday 3 August.
A fantastic team effort
North Ayrshire Young Person’s Champion, Councillor Chloe Roberston commented: “We are delighted to have welcomed back North Ayrshire’s young people to Youth Fest after a long two year hiatus. The popular event was a wonderful opportunity for young people right across North Ayrshire to get together, meet people, make new friends and most importantly have some well-deserved summer fun.
“The event wasn’t just about having fun. Each day the youngsters were also invited to take part in workshops themed on key issues affecting their age group such as mental health, wellbeing and safety and other inspiring information sessions on climate change and green stem employability.
“I would like to thank everyone involved in making this year’s YouthFest a fantastic success. I have no doubt that the young people who attended will remember this unique experience for many summer’s to come thanks to the hard work and creativity of the Council’s talented officers across our Connected Communities, Education and Health and Social Care Partnership teams.”
Day one saw youngsters taking part in an initial series of ice-breaker challenges to get to know one another and settle in. Then from there, the non-stop fun included a colour run, spooky walk, performances from local musicians and circus performers, ‘rave cave’, bush tucker trails, smoothie bar, bucking bronco, giant assault course – to name only a few.
Celebrating our handworking, inspirational and resilient young people
Youth Participation Officer, Donna Anderson commented: “We are so very lucky in North Ayrshire to have so many hard-working and inspirational young people and dedicated youth workers and volunteers making such a positive difference in each of our six localities and YouthFest 2022 was our way of saying thanks by giving everyone a chance to really enjoy themselves.
“We are deeply aware of how much the pandemic and lockdowns of the last few years have affected our young people, so it felt good to be able to do our part to provide them with a safe, inclusive and inspiring platform to come together, socialise again, learn new skills and participate in all of the great activites and initiatives Youth Services has to offer.
“Everyone had such a fantastic time and the feedback from parents, carers and young people who participated has been great. So much so, we are already planning next year’s event as a similar format. Thanks to everyone who came along and to all of our colleagues, partner organisations and local volunteers who helped to make YouthFest 2022 one of this year’s most memorable youth events.”
Discover more of the action in our re-cap photo highlights video above including colourful coverage of the ‘colour run’ where an additional 150 young people joined in to take part in a vibrant 3k route covered head-to-toe in paint.
Get involved with North Ayrshire Youth Services
If you know a young person looking to get involved in all that North Ayrshire Council’s Youth Services have to offer, encourage them to follow the team on North Ayrshire Youth Services | Facebook and Twitter @nayouthservices to be in the know for all that is happening near them and how they can use their voice to make a difference to other young people.
Also, stayed tuned to social media and look out in the Winter edition of Staff Talk for news of our next collaboration with Youth Services where we’ll be working with young people to help promote #ThisIsYouthWork week and the wide range of youth work activities that are available to young people in the area. There will also soon be updates on the annual Joint Cabinet Live taking place on Tuesday 8 November and the Annual Youth Conference on Friday 11 November.