A new website that houses a directory of free and low cost positive activities for young people to do in their free time has been launched by the Police and Crime Commissioner’s Youth Commission.
The website, named One Eighty, has been designed by members of the Youth Commission to list free and low-cost activities in a user-friendly way to young people.
The activities are aimed predominately at 8-15 year olds but activities for 15+ are also available. Users are able to filter activities by area and listings include useful information, for example how to get there and what to expect. New events are being added all the time, and will be all year round, so people are advised to keep checking the site.
Police and Crime Commissioner, Donna Jones, said:
“Keeping the kids entertained over the summer holidays can be challenging and expensive. It doesn’t seem to take long for boredom to kick in and this is when we can see some young people getting into trouble. Feedback from my Youth Commission’s Big Conversation showed that one of the problems is that young people just aren’t aware of what there is to do and need help with finding activities that they can get involved in. This is where One Eighty comes in.
“My Youth Commission has worked hard to develop a website that appeals to young people, and partner agencies have been busy adding information on the activities they are running, to create a one stop shop to search for a wide range of activities including, youth clubs, skate jams, circus skills, music sessions and more.“
Emma, age 11, said:
“One Eighty is good and I would use it with my friends, it’s great to know what’s available.”
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Hampshire and Isle of Wight Fire and Rescue Service CYP Manager Karen Farr said:
“Having delivered Fire Cadet sessions and Prince’s Trust team programmes for thousands of young people, we know the value taking part in activities can have on their lives and the chance this gives them to learn new skills, gain confidence and make friends.
That’s why we’re so proud to support and be featured on the new One Eighty website. Our new Prince’s Trust Team Programmes for 16–25-year-olds start in September and more details can be found on the new One Eighty site.”
Police officers out on patrol will also be encouraged to direct young people to the website and the activities available for them in their local area. Partners are encouraged to populate the site with open access and available opportunities by completing a form for each activity.
You can find One Eighty and its list of activities here.
A weak attempt to replace youth centres and way too late, but a step in the right direction I suppose. Donna is doing the lords work by coming up with these ground breaking ideas of websites. How about actual youth centres and activities of which the police/other agencies sponsor and support and can talk face to face with the youth and tell them what is up? Nah, give em a website instead, our job is done.
I mean, this looks naff, if I were a young person I can tell you the last thing I would be doing is hanging out on a government built website. They could have maybe not closed all the youth centres then young people would have a safe place to hang out?! ♀️