Youth support workers Josh Barker and Chris Elstob will be leading the weekly sessions in the town’s local parks which will involve activities such as cricket, rounders and football.
Mr Barker, 19, who has been involved with the YMCA for the past five years, said: “We are trying to reach new people and get them to come and get involved with the YMCA. A lot of people don’t know about our sports sessions which started about six weeks ago.
“We do different sports each week. We might start playing football but then we might change and play rounders. We try to make it enjoyable for everyone.”
The sessions are held every Tuesday from 6.30pm until 7.30pm and are open to 11 to 17-year-olds. They are currently being held at the green space just off Montalbo Road and Marwood Drive.
Mr Barker said: “It has been good to see people who would not usually get involved with the YMCA.
“This is a new way of bringing people together with team-building activities.
“It lets people see what we do as an organisation and helps people make new friends. It gets a lot of young people out of the house. The YMCA gives young people in Teesdale opportunities.
“There are lots of things available for them to do. It is somewhere to chill out with friends.
“You can speak to different people other than your siblings or your parents.”
The sessions are being funded through a £300,000 grant that the group was awarded by the Big Lottery Fund’s Reaching Communities programme. Youth and community development manager Hannah Parratt said: “As part of that funding we will focus on three different areas – sport and health, drugs and alcohol and mental health – as well as trying to get more volunteers involved.
“We want to reach people who we are not engaging with at the moment.
“There is nothing for older people who are playing sports at ground level. They have to be playing at a competitive level.
“These sessions help take away the barriers to sport that a lot of people face.”
To find out more about the sessions, contact Teesdale YMCA on 01833 695780.
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