Bright summer ahead for Islington’s youth with Heatwave activities

From DJing and fashion workshops to sporty holiday camps and cool cookery classes, a huge range of activities are on offer for Islington’s young people and teenagers in this summer’s Heatwave programme.

There is bound to be something to inspire and delight during the school break, whether it be making new friends at a sports camp, discovering a new passion or gaining skills to add to a CV. Heatwave’s full programme of free and low-cost events, organised by the council, kicks off on Monday, 25 July.

For teenagers this could well be the best summer yet with fantastic free Summerversity courses offering 13 to 16-year-olds the chance to try their hand at DJing, digital art, cooking, fashion and much more.

This year also sees the brand new Launchpad unveiled – a programme of activities specially designed for 16 to 24-year-olds to learn new skills, make contacts, broaden their horizons and develop new interests.

Everything from handball training and archery to work experience opportunities in the fashion and digital industries await – not to mention workshops for budding entrepreneurs and engineers.

For the younger ones, there’s the Summer Reading Challenge, which this year has a Roald Dahl theme, while Islington libraries will be joining in the fun with a wide range of Dahl-related activities. Safari Pete will also be doing the rounds of the libraries with his amazing collection of mammals, birds, reptiles and insects for children to see.

There will also be fascinating crafts at Islington Museum, healthy cooking sessions at our adventure playgrounds, and an amazing project at Sadler’s Wells to explore the power of football.

Multi-sports holiday camps are one of many opportunities to try out a variety of sports around the borough – and national Playday will be celebrated at Barnard Park on 3 August.

The summer also sees the welcome return of the Summer5Challenge for 11 to 16-year-olds, with amazing prizes to be won.

Carmel Littleton, Islington’s director of children’s services, said: “Once again this year we have made sure there is a great selection of free and low-cost activities for little ones to teenagers and beyond.

“There is bound to be something that captures the imagination or offers to teach important new skills, whether it is DJing or jewellery-making workshops, kayaking or mountain-biking, painting or creating apps with the Raspberry Pi, not to mention the chance to win an iPad Mini.

“All of Islington’s youth hubs and adventure playgrounds will also be open as usual so children and young people have an interesting place to spend their time. So check out what’s on and remember to book ahead for a brilliant summer.”

All primary and secondary school in the borough will be provided with details of activities so they can let students know what's on offer. Information can also be found across Islington’s libraries, leisure centres, museums, children’s centres and youth hubs.

For the latest listings and more information on all the Heatwave activities, see events.islington.gov.uk. The full range of activities for teens is also at izzy-info.com, and you can follow all the action on Twitter @IslingtonLife.