summer activities for 17 year old

[fffiona]

DD is 17 and just finishing year 12. She went to a new school for 6th form and for various reasons has not really found a friendship group and has drifted away from her previous friends. She feels now that everyone from school is now in set friendship groups and is quite upset about the thought of spending a summer with few friends to do things with. Has anyone got any ideas of things she could do over the summer to meet new friends - could be residential if needs be? Obviously she's too old for the usual holiday type clubs. She's not very academic so don't think the pre-uni courses would work. She's not particularly interested in anything in particular but will give most things a go. She did NCS last year which generally worked well for her so something like that would be good. She has a weekend job but that doesn't really open up friendship opportunities.

Can she volunteer?

Or find a job?

Both will keep her occupied and she can gain some additional skills.

She has a part time job which she enjoys but doesn't help with friendships. It might be a bit difficult to fit another job with this, but is certainly an option. We've been looking for volunteering but nothing available locally much for under 18s.

Volunteer wise - helping out at local kids' holiday clubs, nursing homes might want a volunteer, local animal rescue or a charity shop

She could do NCS again? The format has changed this year so it’d be different for her.

Is she able to get a job where there are more people her own age like waiting on, glass collecting or MacDonalds?

Is she sporty/active - look for outdoor pursuits centres they may have either courses she could do or jobs/volunteering.

Jobs in retail, particularly younger clothes brands like H&M, NewLook are likely to have staff similar ages to her, or if you have any theme parks/outdoor attractions where summer jobs are more prevalent.

Kibbutz Volunteer. It’s amazing :)

She could look for a job with NCS as a leader. My DS did this a few years ago and made some good friends. It's good money and DS enjoyed it because it was fun and didn't feel too much like 'work'

Volunteer with Oxfam at Festivals, my DD went on her own the first year. Now she is going again and meeting people she met last year.

festivals.oxfam.org.uk/

Sort just realised you need to be 18, tell your DD to register for next summer.

Has she got any particular interests? My DD loves horses and has many friends at the stables. She spends more time with them than school friends and is rewarded for helping out. Any hobby / club I can imagine would help with this.

Sorry MacDonalds was a stupid suggestion as she needs to be 18.

You only need to be 16 to work at McDonalds.

Helping at a kids' holiday camp is a really good idea - there's often a group of other young people doing the same.

My DD also 17 is in a very similar situation, and not really made any friends at college, to the point that it's put her off going back for 2nd year, but I'm hoping she'll hang in there. She too feels quite lonely, but she has starting a drama group which helps, so that might be something to look out for. We're looking for ideas too, My DD helped at a camp last year, I havent heard of NCS - it sounds good does anyone know if it's just in England?

A drama summer school or musical theatre summer school if she can sing. Brilliant way to make friends as everyone bonds on a show.

Helping out with children's sports camps if she's sporty.

a water sports place or sailing club

Do you? I'll look into it again. Thank you.

Thanks - some great ideas. She doesn't really have any interests, which I think is part of the problem. She can't work saturdays during the day because of her ongoing weekend job which may be difficult for retail, but I do think she might enjoy that. NCS leader is an interesting idea but doesn't she need to be 18?

It depends on the role so some roles might say 18+ but others are open to anyone over 16.