Trapped in Zone One - Summer Holidays, Activities and Food Programme 2024.

Family friendly activities during the school holidays for young people and parents in Aberfeldy.

As part of Tower Hamlets Council’s Holiday Activities and Food Programme, we hosted a 4-week programme from the 29th July to 22nd August 2024 (Monday-Thursday) for young people aged 5-16 from Tower Hamlets, providing enrichment and physical activities sessions during the summer school holidays with FREE lunchtime meals for eligible participants.

DATE: 29 July-22 August 2024 (Monday-Thursday)
TIME: 10:00-14:00
VENUE: Feldy Community Space, 18 Aberfeldy Square, London, E14 0XA

We were able accommodate a maximum of 30 young people per day, with the activities consisting of multi-sport and creative workshops for young people, with an end of project awards ceremony on the final day to conclude the summer programme.

We aligned our summer programme with Skills Builder Partnership which is is a global movement of employers, educators, and impact organisations working together to ensure that one day, everyone builds the essential skills to succeed.

Essential skills unlock learning in the classroom, boosting academic outcomes, perseverance, and self-belief. They halve the likelihood of being out of work and increase earnings across a lifetime. They even boost wellbeing and life satisfaction.

These skills underpin an individual’s success at each stage in life and support all young people in developing their independence. We will focus on four essential skills day during our summer programme:

Monday - Speaking - The oral transmission of information or ideas.
Tuesday - Listening - The receiving, retaining and processing of information or ideas.
Wednesday - Teamwork - Working cooperatively with others towards achieving a shared goal.
Thursday - Creativity - The use of imagination and the generation of new ideas.

We collated feedback from activities with Reflection Sessions.

Week 1 (29 July - 1 Aug)

Monday: Warm-up based on the topic of Speaking with core physical activity. Plus, a series of weekly art workshops every Monday for families to take part and create Alpona art, which is a traditional folk-art form from Bangladesh, with Tower Hamlets based visual artist Husna Parvin as part of South Asian Heritage Month.

What is Alpana? Alpona (Bengali: আলপনা) is a Bengali folk-art style, traditionally practiced by women, and consisting of colored motifs, patterns, and symbols that are painted on floors and walls with paints made from rice flour, on religious occasions.

Tuesday: Warm-up based on the topic of Listening with core physical activity. Plus, natured themed workshops every Tuesday with Sustainably Muslim, a not-for-profit organisation dedicated to empowering Muslims to champion environmental stewardship. Through a diverse array of initiatives such as events, workshops, volunteering opportunities, and the innovative Two Billion Strong project, she inspires individuals to embrace their role in nurturing both the environment and their communities. Cyanotype workshop: A cyanotype workshop is a creative and educational session where participants learn to make cyanotype prints, a photographic printing process that produces cyan-blue images.

Wednesday: Off-site trip to Young V&A Museum in Bethnal Green, suitable for 10–14-year-olds. We will be working with author/illustrator and games designer Viv Schwarz, who co-created an interactive board game table on display in Young V&A. She recently created a card game to be played within the galleries, and we’ll be using this as a starting point for the youth group to get to know the museum (and each other!) and produce their own creative play ideas. We’ll then spend time exploring the permanent galleries, and their temporary exhibition, Japan: Myths to Manga, which has been extremely popular with all young people.

Thursday: Warm-up based on the topic of Creativity with core physical activity. Plus, Resilience and Friendships training provided by Mental Health UK, suitable for 10–16-year-olds.

Week 2 (5-8 Aug)

Monday: Warm-up based on the topic of Speaking with core physical activity. Plus, art workshop for families to take part and create Alpona art, which is a traditional folk-art form from Bangladesh, with Tower Hamlets based visual artist Husna Parvin as part of South Asian Heritage Month.

Tuesday: Warm-up based on the topic of Listening with core physical activity. Plus, Plant, paint, and pot with Sustainably Muslim: This is a creative and interactive workshop that combines gardening, art, and crafting. Participants engage in a hands-on experience where they plant a seedling or small plant, paint a pot or planter, and pot the plant in their customized container. This type of workshop is suitable for people of all ages and is a wonderful way to foster creativity, learn about plants, and create personalized garden decor.

Wednesday: Warm-up based on the topic of Teamwork with core physical activity. Plus, we’ll be going off-site exploring local greenspace in Aberfeldy with Poplar Harca Sustainability Team for a nature themed activity and creating Bug hotels. A bug hotel helps to encourage pollination and biodiversity as they attract an array of insects such as bees and butterflies. By creating your own bug hotel, you are helping to improve your local ecosystem. They are a fantastic way for young people to connect with nature. We will be making our own DIY bug hotels from items that you can find at home and in your local outdoor areas.

Thursday: Warm-up based on the topic of Creativity with core physical activity. Plus, a creative workshop with creating a artwork about Aberfeldy Street.

Week 3 (12-15 Aug)

Monday: Warm-up based on the topic of Speaking with core physical activity. Plus, art workshop for families to take part and create Alpona art, which is a traditional folk-art form from Bangladesh, with Tower Hamlets based visual artist Husna Parvin as part of South Asian Heritage Month.

Tuesday: Warm-up based on the topic of Listening with core physical activity. Plus, Seed bomb making with Sustainably Muslim: Seed bomb making is a fun and eco-friendly activity that involves creating small balls of seeds, soil, and clay that can be thrown or planted in areas to promote the growth of wildflowers and other plants. This technique is often used for guerrilla gardening to beautify neglected urban spaces, support pollinators, and enhance biodiversity.

Wednesday: Warm-up based on the topic of Teamwork with core physical activity. A nature themed activity with Poplar Harca Sustainability Team in creating Bird feeders. Birds are an important part of our ecosystem for many reasons, such as helping to control pests, spreading seeds and encouraging pollination, just to name a few. We will be making a simple bird feeder with items that you can find at home.

Thursday: Warm-up based on the topic of Creativity with core physical activity. Knitting the Air will be discussing about the impact of air pollution for the environment and hosting a creative activity.

Week 4 (19-22 Aug)

Monday: Warm-up based on the topic of Speaking with core physical activity. Plus, art workshops for families to take part and create Alpona art, which is a traditional folk-art form from Bangladesh, with Tower Hamlets based visual artist Husna Parvin as part of South Asian Heritage Month.

Tuesday: Warm-up based on the topic of Listening with core physical activity. Plus, Hapa zome with Sustainably Muslim: Hapa zome is a Japanese art technique that involves hammering leaves, flowers, and other plant materials onto fabric or paper to create natural prints. The term "hapa zome" comes from the Japanese words "hapa," meaning leaf, and "zome," meaning dye.

Wednesday: Off-site trip to Museum of London Docklands in Canary Wharf, suitable for 10–16-year-olds.

Thursday: Warm-up based on the topic of Creativity with core physical activity. Plus, end of project ceremony for young people and staff members for this contribution to this year’s summer programme.