Good vibes and warm welcomes

Triston Thomas, youth service manager at Andover Youth Club, reveals what’s on offer in Islington’s youth clubs
I’m the youth service manager at Andover Youth Club, one of many youth clubs across the borough that saw more than 4,400 young people visit last year.
We offer all sorts of activities and support, and the young people are very welcoming and quick to take people in – we have someone who’s been coming for the last three weeks, and I saw him last week with everyone talking to him like they’ve known him for years. The club’s open to everyone, it’s a safe space. Family vibes is what we’re giving, and that’s what we want everyone to feel.
We’re open Monday to Thursday and we also run Finsbury Fusion, which is a Friday evening session at 2 Tiltman Place, Finsbury Park, N7 7EE. The young people came up with the name. It’s a bigger space and they can still get the same support there, from the same staff. It’s important for young people to step out of their comfort zone and meet other young people at an earlyage, develop bonds and expand their friendship group. And it just opens up loads of doors for them.
At the moment we’ve got 140 members between the ages of 13 and 19. We make sure the young people have a hot meal every day. We prefer to cook it with them so we can teach them life skills. It might sound like a minor thing, but we’ll teach them how to use a cooker safely, for example. Last week, some young people made fried chicken and waffles. We’ve made chicken and rice, lasagnes, spaghetti bolognese, and macaroni and cheese. We ask them what they’d like us to make, and go out and buy the ingredients – but we try to keep it as healthy as possible.
In terms of what else we offer, this is a relaxing place for young people to hang out, play board games or Playstation, and so on. We work with an organisation called XLP who have a full recording studio built into the back of a minibus, who come every Tuesday.
We also have workshops on healthy relationships, basic an demergency first aid. The club’s here to help young people with issues they’re facing at home or at school. It’s where they can find that neutral adult that they trust and can confide in, someone they can come to for support. We’re also there to support families as well. On top of that we’ve got connections with Arsenal and First For Sport. We’ve got someone signed up to a running club in Finsbury Park, and last week we got a young woman a trial with one of the Arsenal teams and she got in! We also have a young man signed up toa basketball team – one of our youth workers took him on the first day, he was a bit nervous, but he’s now playing regularly.
They might seem like small wins, but they’re big wins for us and the young people. That’s our main goal, to help broaden horizons and build confidence. Islington’s youth hubs and clubs include a recently opened youth space on Elthorne Estate and refurbished community centres like Highbury Roundhouse and Whittington Park Community Centre. There’s so much to explore.
For more information on what’s happening at your local youth club and online, see islington.gov.uk/MyYouthClub