A core part of the programme would be the WCYP Community Club — a weekly after-school space for young people aged 10+.

It wouldn’t simply be somewhere to turn up and play games. We’d like it to be a place where young people can:

• 🍪 Learn practical life skills such as cooking and baking
• 📚 Get homework and study support
• ☕ Help run a small community café
• 🎯 Take part in games, challenges and activities
• 💡 Learn from local people who have something interesting to share
• 🤝 Get involved in community projects
• 🌱 Try things they might not otherwise have the opportunity to experience
• 🗣️ Have a say in what the programme becomes

There would still be plenty of opportunity to simply hang out, have fun and spend time with friends. We don’t want to over-structure it — we want young people to feel that it is their space too.

An important part of WCYP would be a Young Volunteers Programme, giving our young people the opportunity to get involved in real community activities: helping at village events, supporting community activities, assisting local organisations and taking on age-appropriate responsibilities.

Young people could also have the opportunity to fundraise for WCYP itself, as well as for other worthwhile community projects, organisations and programmes within our parish — giving them the chance to see the impact that their efforts can have beyond the programme itself.

We’re also hoping to explore opportunities to link the programme with The Duke of Edinburgh’s Award through the school, so that volunteering with WCYP could potentially contribute towards young people’s wider development and achievements.

The idea is to help young people build things that will stay with them long after they’ve left the programme — confidence, responsibility, communication skills, teamwork and a genuine record of contributing to their community.

Young People’s Community Projects

We want to give young people the opportunity to come up with their own ideas for small projects that could benefit the community.

With the right funding, this could potentially include a small budget for young people to plan, organise and deliver their own projects.

They could identify something they would like to improve, decide what they want to do, work out what it would cost, raise money where necessary, organise it and see it through.

The aim would be to give young people genuine responsibility and the opportunity to see an idea become something real.

Inter-generational Projects

We want to explore opportunities for young people and older members of our community to work together.

Perhaps young people could organise and fundraise for a special day out or community event for older residents — a trip to The Courtyard, a community lunch, or even something like a classic car show or similar event in the village.

The young people could be involved in everything from planning and fundraising through to organising and running the event. It would be an opportunity to develop practical skills while creating meaningful connections between different generations within our community.

The WCYP Opportunity Bank

One idea we’d love to explore is creating a central place where young people can discover opportunities available within Wigmore and the wider community. This could include volunteering opportunities, work experience, helping at local events, meeting local businesses, learning from people with different skills and getting involved with community organisations.



The aim would be to make it easier for young people to discover opportunities they might otherwise never know existed.

Being part of a rural community gives WCYP some fantastic opportunities to get young people involved in the environment around them.

This could include village clean-ups, wildlife and nature projects, planting, conservation activities, learning about the local environment and potentially working alongside local organisations, farms or landowners.



These are just ideas at this stage, but we’d love to see young people taking an active role in caring for the place they live.

WCYP could  become a link between young people, families and the organisations, services and opportunities already available within our community.

Rather than trying to provide everything ourselves, we could help young people find out what is already available, who they can speak to and where they can go for different opportunities, activities and support.

The aim would be to create connections — helping young people feel that they are part of a wider community and that there are people and organisations around them who are interested in their future.

We’d also want to give young people the opportunity to carry out their own research into things that matter to them and their community.

Rather than simply asking young people what activities they would like, they could:

• Carry out surveys
• Speak to other young people
• Identify things they think could be improved
• Present their findings to WCYP, the village hall, parish council or other community organisations

This could give young people a genuine opportunity to have a voice, influence decisions and help shape the community around them.

We want to provide ways for young people to build a record of the things they achieve and experience through WCYP. This could include:

• Volunteering
• Skills they have learned
• Training and certificates
• Projects they have helped deliver
• Events they have supported
• Other achievements

Over time, this might become something tangible that a young person can look back on and potentially use when applying for jobs, college, apprenticeships, DofE or other opportunities.

It’s about creating a record of everything they’ve done and contributed — not just what they’ve been taught.

We have lots of ideas if there is enough interest and the right funding and partnerships can be found. Perhaps young people could:

🎭 Put on a show or performance
🍛 Organise a community meal night
🎤 Take part in talks and workshops with local organisations
🌳 Get involved in community projects
🏆 Organise challenges and fundraising events
🎨 Run creative projects
👩‍🍳 Learn new cooking and life skills
💼 Meet local businesses and learn about different careers
🚒 Hear from local emergency services
💻 Learn about online safety and digital life
🚌 Take part in trips or activities outside the village
❤️ Organise something special for older members of our community
🌱 Take part in environmental and conservation projects
💡 Develop and deliver their own community ideas

None of these are promises or confirmed activities at this stage. They’re ideas for the longer term. The whole point of this initial stage is to find out what young people actually want, what parents and families feel would be valuable and what we can realistically create together.

A Pilot Scheme

Before looking for funding or committing to a longer-term programme, I would like to run a four-week pilot to see whether there is genuine interest and to give young people and families an opportunity to experience what WCYP could become.

The four sessions would be designed to test the idea, listen to young people and demonstrate what the Community Club could offer.

Week 1 Your Club, Your Ideas

An introduction to WCYP, with young people helping to shape the programme.

What would they like to do? What would they like to learn? What would make them want to come back?

Week 2 Community Spotlight

An opportunity to welcome someone from our local community to share something useful or interesting.

We are currently hoping to involve the Safer Neighbourhood Team for an informal session around online safety.

Week 3 Skills & Opportunities

A chance to try some of the things we hope could become regular features of the programme — cooking, baking, homework support, community café activities and other practical skills.

Week 4 What’s Next?

A final session focused on bringing the first month together, getting feedback and giving young people the opportunity to help decide where WCYP could go next.

The pilot isn’t about getting everything perfect. It’s about listening, trying things, learning and finding out whether we can build something that genuinely benefits young people and their families.

Whether you have a young child, a teenager, are part of our home education community, or are a young person yourself, we’d love to hear your thoughts. Please take a few minutes to complete our short WCYP Expression of Interest & Ideas Form.

Tell us:

What would you like to see? What would you like to learn? What would make you want to come back? What would make this genuinely valuable to you and your family?

Your answers will help us decide whether there is enough interest to take WCYP forward and, if there is, help shape what it actually becomes.

This is your opportunity to help build something from the ground up so please click on the button and fill in our form.