Activities and House Meetings

Park Lodge Project offers a varied choice of activities and group sessions within the project and the community. The activities/sessions are both formal and informal. Over the years the Project has worked with many different organisations and produced some fantastic work.

Park Lodge Project offers on-site education and training with nationally recognised qualifications in personal and social skills and in addition to this, an eight week course: ‘Managing Your Own Home’ which prepares young people for independent living.  This is alongside night-time and weekend activities.

Activities have many positive effects on young people. This is especially true when engaging in team building activities. Staff have found young people’s communication, listening skills, motivation and participation improves, whilst becoming more confident and enthusiastic. This in turn improves their self-esteem for them to gain new skills.

Examples of weekly activities include

• Arts and crafts – themed arts, cards and gifts, graffiti art, glass painting, hair and beauty nights, mobiles, puppets, printing
• Games – team games, non-competitive games, group games, team-building games, puzzles and quizzes
• Sports – traditional sports
• Cooking – pizza-making, baking, cooking healthy meals
• Issue based activities – drugs and alcohol, sex and sexuality, anti-racism, anti-bullying, environment, global citizenship

House Meetings

Park Lodge Project arranges monthly house meetings where residents from each house get a chance to discuss issues and share concerns and develop ways to work together. This is where staff can listen to matters residents that concern the young people.

It is also a good time for all the young people to come together and introduce themselves to any new residents.

All residents are encouraged to attend so that they can provide valuable feedback, become involved, feel valued and realise that their opinion counts. Resident involvement is essential in ensuring we continue to provide high quality services based upon the needs and hopes of the young people.