Young people raise money for Island training centre

By Press Release Mar 5, 2024

The young people at Network Ryde, Ryde Town Council’s Youth Service have successfully raised over £200 for Haylands Farm, a work based training centre for people with a learning disability on the Isle of Wight.

On Saturday 24 th February 2024 Young People hosted a ‘Cake and Cuppa’ Event at Network Ryde, serving cakes and drinks for people in the community. The young people were tasked with running a project as part of a social action group launched by Network Ryde and wanted to raise awareness and funds for a local charity.

Nichola Cook, Manager at Haylands Farm commented: “We really appreciate the donation that the young people from Network Ryde have made for us. The money will go towards items for the farmhouse renovations which is on its way to being complete.”

Network Ryde youth service that has been running since 2018 and launched this Social Action Programme at the end of 2023 for young people in school years 7 to 13 to organise projects that will encourage intergenerational connections and provide opportunities to develop their skills and confidence whilst making a difference in their community with further projects planned.

Funding has been provided by Clarion Futures, the charitable foundation of Clarion Housing Group, as well as Places for People and Sovereign. The #iwill Fund – a joint fund from the Department for Culture, media and Sport and The National Lottery Community Fund that supports young people to access high quality social action opportunities – has provided match funding.

Matt Parsonage, Head of Communities at Clarion Futures, said: “Our Nationwide community Ambassador Programme is a great way for young people to gain skills and qualifications whilst making a positive difference in their local area. We’re delighted to be working with Network Ryde and are sure that the programme will be a huge success, allowing young people in Ryde to support their community and develop skills to enable them to follow their dreams, whilst building intergenerational connections.”