To think running a village youth group is not 'a disaster waiting to happen'

[thisgirlrides]

We live in a small village with very few local amenities except a (relatively) large primary school and a fantastic new village hall. My eldest left primary last year and has lost touch with quite a few local friends & with a dearth of places to hang- out, I think a youth group would go down a storm and would love to set one up. DH thinks it's got trouble & hassle written all over it and I should ditch the idea now.
My initial thoughts are:

Meeting place for secondary school children living in the village for a small entrance fee c.£2
Once a month initially possibly increasing to twice a month with parents are volunteers.
Weekday evening Yr 7&8 from c.7-8:30 and Yr 9+ 8:45-10pm
Music playing, Tuck shop otherwise just providing a space to meet - is this a mistake? I would love to have games like air hockey, table tennis, darts etc but that would require investment and space I've yet to work out hence making it just monthly and only 1.5hrs!

All this in mind, is this a totally ridiculous idea that groups of teenagers who were once good pals will all get on famously once they all disperse to different secondary schools? And is minimal entertainment or guidance too risky?

Depends on the area and the kids. The youth club in my village was nice and the kids well behaved.
The youth club in the neighbouring village is not for the faint hearted! Lots of anti-social behaviour and kids often getting banned. It is always well attended and is now the only youth club in the wider area that hasn't had it's funding stopped.

Honestly I wouldn't unless you were affiliated to a bigger organisation, for reasons of insurance etc.
I am a Guide leader and wouldn't do it if I and my fellow leaders weren't protected by Guiding policies and insurance, and given Girlguiding training, in things like first aid, safeguarding etc.
What would you do if (when) something went wrong? When a child made an accusation, or someone got hurt?

I work with teenagers. 99.9% of them are awesome. Set firm boundaries and enjoy. I think its a fantastic idea.

I would do it Friday night cos of homework pressure

We had great youth club that my bro and I went to for years that was a suburb of large town but connected to parish church although not everyone went to church it was just held in church hall

We had it split into large hall, small hall and kitchen area

So volley ball or football in large hall, bean bags and arm chairs in small hall with record player (yes many years ago) we bought our own records

We used to love playing sardines too

It's a very 'naice village - I'll walk home alone at night without any qualms, never even heard of a burglary let alone anything more sinister and kids usually start walking home from primRy school by end of Yr 4 as we all feel pretty safe in the knowledge that they know about 50% of the occupants they pass on their way home, BUT, I know kids change as they grown up and move away, nearby village is less desirable and does have some rougher elements and unsavoury locals (I wouldn't want to run a club there!) and as this is an even no event it could well attract outsiders.

Ask for your local education authority about support or the local church as they can offer umbrella insurance and dbs checks.
Make sure you have adequate volunteers of both sexes.
Make sure you have some structure to avoid silliness. Just a space to meet may run the risk of unwanted behaviours from a few. Have clear boundaries and rules and impose strictly.
Ours had a programme of activities- football, a beetle drive etc.

Its wed night round here and tends to be the 11 to 13 range

They have football and goals, basket ball and nets then inside they have airhockey giant chess ping pong and fussball I think plus a mini tuck with penny sweets and drinks

Just wonder if it might backfire on you.
Lovely idea, just wonder if having her dm setting it up might be major embarrassment for your DD. And what if you have to tell some of the dc off etc.
I think you mght be better setting up a once a month evening (eg bowling) where the kids go off together.

I used to go to a youth club just like that.
It was in the main and dinner hall of our village primary school.
We had a couple of table tennis tables, a tuck shop and not much else.
It was just a place to hang out really. Sometimes people would do crafts.
We would have a disco a few times a year and there was always a big event at Hallowe'en to 'keep us off the streets'.
We paid what would be about £2 today each time we went, more for a disco.

Then I progressed to the youth club in the next town. That was purpose built and the best bit was that there was an anteroom to the girl's toilet with beanbags and stuff.

Three bits of advice:

1. Don't have darts
2. Don't have darts
3. Don't have darts

Apart from that - great idea. I am involved in something similar.

Attendance can wax and wane though. One year it was "hmm, so quiet it's almost embarrassing," next year it was "bloody hell they're everywhere, it's bedlam!"

I can PM you if you like.

I agree with pp poster about an umbrella organisation. DM used to work for the National Youth Club Association. She was a field officer and went and visited youth clubs in the area giving support and arranging inter youth club events. I've no ideas if the NYCA is still running but contacting them may be a starting point.

You'll need all volunteers to be Police checked which they'll have to pay for.
You'll need public liability insurance.
You need a first aider, a fire officer and a child protection officer and that's just the start.
Try to have a programme of activities that are planned in advance too.
Good luck with it, it's hard work but rewarding.

I think it is a great idea, as I often think it is a shame that this age range have little opportunity to socialise unless they belong to a particular sports club, theatre group etc. Brilliant to have somewhere safe where they can just hang out.
I have to say though that I would be very wary of setting it up myself as I would see potential dangers lurking around every corner! Good on you if you can see beyond that. If you do go ahead, I would ask whether the Council would be prepared to help (with funding/staff/equipment), or the owners of the Hall. Also, make sure you have a programme of activities as I think the kids are more likely to get into mischief if they aren't actually doing anything. A Facebook friend's husband helps at one, and they seem to have a lot of discos!

Start with just years 7-8 or 7-9. When that group get to year 9-10, then decide if you want to add a session for older ones.

Get advice from someone with experience for things like getting contact details for parents, insurance, required number of volunteers etc.

Also, I would have at least one 'organised thing' each week - some kind of game or activity that everyone can join in. Really helps for the shy ones.

Dd helps at our local one, it's run by a council youth worker, so she knows what she's doing, and it covers Y5-Y8, which is quite nice for the transition to secondary school. They have crafty activities on offer, plus an enclosed outside space for football/letting off steam, and an X box and games. It's a charity, so can get a bit of funding on top of weekly subs.

It's not for the fainthearted though, all credit to those who are happy to help this age group. Some of the stories DD comes back with are a bit hair-raising but it helps her a bit at school (shes a prefect and has to do playground duty) as she knows the majority of the local "characters" and can bellow at them . She's also taken a couple of people under her wing a bit (difficult family backgrounds) and is hoping to encourage them to stop mucking around so much at school, and maybe handing their homework in on time.

OP, I'd suggest speaking to your local council and getting advice/support from them in the first instance, there may be some funding for start up costs as a minimum.

calicohomes.org.uk/neighbourhoods/space-bus/

A rural village near us is having this visit once a week, a sort of mobile youthclub. maybe see if your council has similar?

I have many happy memories of youth club from an early age, was run by a few local adults, we even had weekends away. We used to play games and have an Xmas party