It’s a wrap! Our first year of hosting our Catch Up sessions has come to an end

In early 2022 Grow started a social drop in called Catch Up for any of the young people connected with grow to access (we’re calling them our Alumni!). The purpose of these sessions is to provide the young people with an opportunity to develop their social skills and access peer support within a safe setting. There have now been a total of 9 sessions. 12 alumni have accessed the sessions during this period, with a core number regularly attending, and we have 4 regular volunteers (more are welcome!)

Many of the young people that we work with at Grow struggle with social isolation and low self confidence. When they arrive at the ‘catch up’ sessions, they usually start the evening looking anxious and uncomfortable but before long realise that this is a space where they receive a warm welcome and the opportunity to relax and have fun.

The attendees are very much involved in planning and shaping the sessions and activities (including choosing the name ‘catch up’) as we want them to have a good sense of ownership. We have engaged in a range of activities including table tennis, computer games, board games, quizzes, arts and crafts and next week we will go 10 pin bowling! It is wonderful to sit back and watch the young people connecting with each other, laughing, joking and encouraging one another.

All young people engaged with one of our programmes are welcome to come along to the sessions. Sarah, our co-ordinator, will contact those completing programmes to invite them to the sessions, but if it feels right for the young person they can come and join at any point during a programme. We’re looking forward to seeing this continue to Grow in 2023!