As well as our generic youth sessions we also seek funding from other sources to enable additional projects that has been highlighted by the young people. These can vary from training courses, specific issue based programmes of community development.
All of these projects provide positive activities for young people to participate in where they will learn new skills, build on confidence and self-esteem and prepare them from transitioning from adolescence into adulthood.
Projects in planning stage:
Graffiti Projects
We have an exciting graffiti project coming up for our seniors, with a graffiti and animation taster workshop on Thursday, 26th of March. Then, there’s a graffiti project planning workshop starts on Thursday, the 30th of April. Finally, the graffiti project workshop is on Wednesday, the 27th of May, to complete the graffiti project, alongside our ‘Teen Zone’.
Our most recent projects include:
West Rainton Cooking Project - How long does it take? Is it ready yet?
Each session as part of our cooking project focuses on a different theme to help our young people develop a range of practical skills; the sessions have primarily focused on preparing main meals, while also introducing simpler dishes (focusing on little time and with a small budget) that young people can easily recreate at home. This approach supports them to build confidence and independence in cooking as they progress through the project.
All sessions have taken place during our evening senior youth club, apart from one session that was part of our February half- term programme; during this session, we partnered with Sprouts Community Kitchen and took the young people to their base in Stockton-on-Tees. While there, they prepared a starter, main course, and dessert. The young people gave staff very positive feedback about the experience and were particularly proud of the meals they created.
We have also delivered two educational activities as part of the programme; the first took place during one of the early sessions and focused on healthy eating. Young people explored the Eatwell Guide to assess their own diets and identify areas for improvement. We also discussed recommended calorie intake for males and females, as well as the ‘traffic light’ food labelling system and how it indicates the nutritional quality of foods. The second educational activity involved young people developing a risk assessment for our February half-term trip to Sprouts Community Kitchen. They took the lead in identifying potential risks associated with the activity, particularly those within the kitchen environment and with support from staff, they then developed strategies to manage and reduce these risks, helping to ensure a safe and positive experience for everyone involved.
Youth Room Transformations
West Rainton
The renovation of the youth room at Jubilee Hall has created a safe, welcoming, and dedicated space for young people within their community centre. This improved environment has strengthened the activities we are able to offer and has helped increase engagement among the young people who attend.
Through the introduction of new equipment, we have been able to expand the range of opportunities available to our senior group. In particular, it has supported the launch of a new cooking project, allowing young people to develop practical life skills and confidence in the kitchen. They now have access to a range of equipment including air fryers, frying pans, toastie makers, and microwaves, enabling them to prepare simple meals and learn basic cooking techniques.
Young people were actively involved throughout the renovation process, helping to shape the space into an area that meets their needs and interests. They took part in unboxing new equipment, assisting staff with assembling furniture, and contributing to decisions about how the room should be arranged. Importantly, they were also involved in selecting some of the new resources for the room, including choosing the new Xbox consoles and other equipment providing them with a sense of ownership for the space.
Pittington
The youth room at Pittington has also been refurbished. Details and photo's to follow.
Filming
"Inspired by hit Channel 4 series ‘Educating Yorkshire’, ‘Educating Durham’ is a short film created and produced entirely by a group of young people attending the Durham Area Youth Sherburn Hill Senior Sessions!
Thanks to Durham YouthPrint Big Ideas, Small Grant Funding this project provided an opportunity for young people to engage with a new, unique skillset and potential area of future employment in filmmaking and creative storytelling.
Everyone worked together to generate this idea, and school is very much a topic that unites the young people of the group as a shared and mutual experience.
The group got hands-on experience using filmmaking equipment, they got to direct, create a script, perform in front of the camera and work as a production team, producing a short film, from idea development through to post-production.
‘I like working on the film project because being the director gives me valuable experience and allows me to explore my creativity’
- Young Person Participant"
Gardening Project
We’ve just started our gardening project; the plan is to teach young people where food comes from. We already have some potatoes chitting. Young people will plant them outside, harvest when ready, then make some chips later in the year.
Previous projects include:
Poncho Project
Our young people have created their own poncho of rules for Sherburn Village sessions. They love the poncho, as they can wear it with pride and remind each other of their code on conduct during sessions.
Lantern Parade
Young people created lanterns with funding from Shadforth Parish Council and Believe Housing. They then paraded the lanterns to celebrate the new nature path in Sherburn Hill.
Involvement with North Durham Youth Print
Bournmoor youth project linked up with a group of 100 young people from 6 different youth projects to take part in Ninja Warrior UK to take on the fun, yet challenging, course! This trip was requested at the Youth Voice meeting, which 3 of our young people attended! Everyone had a great time, and the young people showed some amazing determination and resilience.
Christmas Village Market
At our youth club, we love getting involved in community events, and the village Christmas market is always a highlight of the year. In the weeks leading up to the event, our senior group helped create festive “Reindeer Hot Chocolate Cones” to sell at the market. They were excited to be part of the project and proud to help raise funds for their youth club. On the day, some of our young people volunteered their time to help run different stalls; they supported with selling items, running a raffle, and helping in the kitchen where we served bacon sandwiches, homemade cakes, and plenty of hot drinks to visitors.
Events like this are a fantastic opportunity for our young people to build confidence, develop teamwork skills, and play an active role in their community. It also gives us the chance to meet families, connect with local residents, and showcase the positive work happening at our youth club.
All money raised goes back into the youth project in West Rainton.
Christmas Tree Decoration
Young people from both of our sessions were invited to decorate a bauble as part of the annual tree-light switch on event at Bournmoor; it was great to share the Christmas spirit with the community and for the young people to develop a new skill with making clay decorations!
Scarecrow Building for the Scarecrow Trail
As part of the summer programme, we asked the young people to create a scarecrow to be entered into the Annual Scarecrow Trail that is held in Bournmoor! The young people had all heard of this event before and were keen to make one from their youth club. It involved them planning, collecting resources and working as a team to bring her to life- they did a great job and we cant wait to showcase her in the community and display the young peoples hard work!
Flower Planting
Young people from our senior session worked with volunteers from St Barnabas Church to plant flowers around the Church. They got stuck in, had lots of fun, and this activity encouraged our seniors to work together and to have a sense of pride for where they live! We also worked with Leamside Garden Centre and Nurseries on this project, who kindly provided the flowers for us!
Summer 2025 Graffiti Project
Supportive Transition Project
The Supportive Transition Project was developed in response to the challenges young people face when moving from junior school to secondary school. This period of change can be overwhelming, bringing new environments, expectations, and social pressures. The project aimed to provide young people with the right support at the right time, helping them feel more confident and prepared for this transition.
Delivered outside of the academic setting, the project created a relaxed and supportive space where young people could explore key themes affecting their wellbeing and confidence. Sessions focused on developing healthy relationships, understanding change, improving communication skills, and building self-confidence. By removing the pressures often associated with school-based learning, young people felt more comfortable engaging, asking questions, and sharing concerns.
A key part of the project was listening to young people and responding to their individual needs. Where specific challenges were identified—such as worries about friendships, learning pressures, or SATS—targeted support was offered to help young people manage these concerns more effectively.
The project also encouraged peer-to-peer support, with older young people volunteering during sessions. This helped younger participants feel reassured by hearing from those who had recently experienced the same transition, reducing anxiety and building a sense of belonging.
Overall, the project set out to support Year 6 and Year 7 pupils to better understand change, develop coping strategies for wellbeing and emotional challenges, build positive peer relationships, strengthen communication and confidence, and feel supported during transition days as they prepared to move into secondary education.
Durham Fringe
Some of our young people came along to volunteer with the festival and we spent the day promoting it within the city centre, it took a lot of confidence to work with new people, hand out programmes and speak to the public. They did an amazing job and fed back to staff that it was fantastic to see behind the scenes of the festival and talk to staff about their roles.
We also took a group of young people into Durham to watch some performances held by the Durham Fringe Festival; some of the young people had heard of this event but had never been before. They were able to watch 2 performances, a magic show and a theatre performance- and the feedback from the young people was that they really enjoyed the theatre performance that was by young people the same age as them! The young people spent the day at the Students Union where the shows were held and enjoyed lunch with their friends.
Residental Trips 2025
Some of our Seniors took part in an overnight residential trip to Moorhouse during the summer, they loved having the opportunity to take part in activities such as tomahawk throwing, tree climbing, bushcraft and high ropes. Young people from across all five of our sites were invited to these trips and, as a result, were able to take part in fun, challenging activities which they may not have been able to do elsewhere. It was great to see young people from different communities come together and socialise, sharing interests and encouraging each other to give the new activities a go! The outdoor activities were mentally and physically challenging for some- this encouraged the young people to be resilient, work as a team and overall, they had so much fun!
There was also a sleep over residential at the end of October at TCR Hub in Barnard Castle
Street Art
At the start of the project this quarter, working with Creative Youth Opportunities, the young people looked at colours and explored how different colours can represent emotions, this helped when creating their personality ball where each young person wrote on paper their likes, hobbies and favourite things. The next weeks, young people practiced their designs on square paper and had lots of fun using selfies, quotes and ink stamps to personalise them, these will be framed and displayed in their youth room. The young people are currently creating the elements for their final piece of group artwork and replicating their paper designs onto cloth, with lots of blue hands!
Young Person Quotes
“Youth club is supercalifragilisticexpialidocious”
“it’s really fun and allows me to let my creativity flow”
“it’s mint”
“I like all the different techniques we use like the stamps and the photographs”
“I can’t wait to make my mark on DAY’s banner”
Durham Pride
Durham Area Youth supported the LGBTQ+ community by taking part in Durham Pride 2022. Fifteen young people from across all our villages along with staff marched with our banner through the centre of Durham.
Young people then volunteered on a stall at pride, using their social skills, and getting members of the community to take part in naming the pride bear and guessing how many sweets were in the jar.
They raised £200 which will go towards a project led by the young people continuing to raise awareness and supporting the young LGBTQ+ community within DAY.
Gals with Goals and The Lads
This year young people highlighted to the staff team the need for a specific project to support mental health following the two years of covid and knock on affects to mood, relationships, socialising, family life and school.
Young People designed a project for females aged 11-16 years called 'Gals with Goals' and the males group called 'The Lads and staff sourced funding from Believe Housing to deliver.
Starting in October 2022 in partnership with Live Well North East a mental health support project started firstly with a group of 12 girls. The 12 week program provided specialist sessions linked to resilience, mindfulness, emotional control and physical and mental wellbeing. The sessions are co-designed with the young people at the heart of designing linked to their needs and current issues. Once the girls 12 weeks have finished the project will work with 12 males.
Within each program young people will be given the opportunity to visit the Live Well North East Community Wellbeing Hub in Sacriston which has specific facilities allowing them in addition to the boot camp to access physical activity and fitness such as boxercise and rock box and access to sensory rooms, meditation and calming resources. The combination of expertise and design of the project will enhance young peoples mental and physical wellbeing, giving them the tools to move forward tackling their own mental health and supporting others with theirs.
Although the project is due to end in July 2023, we have already started to see and hear the benefits it is having on the improvement of individuals mental health.
