7 ideas to bring summer to your street

1. Hire an ice cream van. Approx £200

   Rachel Gardner’s church in Blackburn found some funding from a local policing initiative to bring an ice cream van onto their estate. It was a big hit! Rachel said, “it felt like families could give the kids a treat without worrying about what it cost”, and they even had enough in the budget to let the adults choose their favourite too!

2. “Camps” at home. Grant funded
   

   Rachel wanted to consider what the young people on her estate didn’t have access to, that other kids might, and so they now run a sport and theatre camp during the holidays. “It creates moments and memories” said Rachel. E:merge is a youth work charity working in Bradford, they use HAF funding from the government plus other grants to contribute to their XSport summer camp with professional sports coaching. A local school donates the use of their building and children pay £10 for 3 full days of food and excellent sport activities.

3. Water Fights. Free
   

   Health and safety has killed the giant slip and slide on the huge hill in our park, but a huge water fight will still take place this summer. We might have a hosepipe ban, but a few buckets and water-guns will keep the fun flowing! Do be aware of water shortages though – why not do it somewhere the plants need watering anyway!

4. Short breaks away. £50 each (around £30 of cost paid by their families)
   

   E:merge charge a minimal amount to take their young people away for a short break called “Sanctuary”. This 3 day residential is kept simple and low cost by using a scout camp near the sea side. There are beach games and a chippy tea! Storytelling round the campfire with some Christian input helps young people think about faith too. CEO of E:merge, Andy Sykes said, “young people deepen relationships with each other, with youth workers and hopefully with God too. Time away from their normal day-to-day life, which can be quite challenging helps them to see the world differently.”

5. Local social action projects. Grant funding or roughly £15 per fruit tree.
   

   For families with long school holidays and no chance of a break away, social action projects can be a real boost to mental and physical health. Doing things for other people has been shown to have a positive effect – the so called “helper’s high”. E:merge do projects with a small group of their young people like running games at a local community centre open day and helping with an orchard planting linked to local allotments, including designing the space and planting the trees. These are activities people of all ages can get stuck into, reducing loneliness and giving opportunities to cherish our communities.

6. Bring the beach to you. Approx £600

   Mike Thomas is in Rumney, East Cardiff where they turn their church car park into a beach for a long weekend – with 4 tons of play sand! They hire a few donkeys and bring paddling pools and a candy floss machine and of course host a fantastic BBQ. Cardiff may be on the sea front, but there aren’t sandy beaches in their immediate vicinity, and around 600 people come to join the fun.

7. Use local free museums, art galleries and green spaces. Transport only

   E:merge make use of local Art galleries in Yorkshire and also take trips to the Yorkshire Dales for a walk or cycle ride. Andy says it’s important to offer these alternative experiences that might be out of reach of kids with less money or no transport: to bless these kids and give them great memories. “As a youth worker, we value summer as a team because it gives us different opportunities to build really strong relationships with young people…you do more youthwork in 6 weeks of summer than 6 months of normal youth work” he said.

Our summer doesn’t have to perfectly planned to be packed with fun and moments of connection though. As Rachel shared, “it’s more about presence than programme.” Just showing up for our neighbours with creativity and care can create belonging, bring hope, and make memories to last. But maybe these ideas can inspire us to make the most of the the longer days and warm weather this year. I hope your summer is full of joy, water fights and 99 flakes!

Photo by Erin Sorsbie – used with permission. Instagram: Beacon Church Blackpool