Thousands of children and young people benefitting from a packed summer of activities laid on by Islington Council

The council’s Summerversity, Access to Sports, Heatwave and Bright Start programmes have proved a huge success, with a higher attendance this year than in any previous summer. Collectively, more than 30,000 days of activity have been enjoyed, boosting the social and emotional wellbeing of thousands of children and young people, aged 0-24, after a very difficult year.

Young people have been getting a taste of the hospitality industry with an Introduction To Catering course at an outdoor kitchen located at the Lift Youth Hub.

A professional chef has been teaching them how to prepare lunch for 80 of their peers, helping them to learn a host of transferable skills like planning, menu design, safe storage, food preparation, food hygiene, cooking and customer service.

Furnished with a pizza oven and barbecue equipment, the outdoor kitchen gives young people an authentic experience of a professional catering environment, and allows them to get creative with food by exploring cuisines from all around the world.

The wide range of other activities and workshops on offer includes archery, athletics, poetry, yoga, football, music production, fashion, website building and much more. Young people have also had opportunities to focus on their future careers, attending courses as varied as carpentry, social media, farming and business.

Cllr Michelline Ngongo, Executive Member for Children, Young People and Families, met dozens of young people learning valuable life skills and enjoying healthy, free food during a visit to the outdoor kitchen at the Lift Youth Hub.

She said: “I was really impressed with the skills and potential of the young chefs at the outdoor kitchen. It’s great to see them thinking about the future and enjoying themselves. Everyone deserves to find a career that fulfils them and I couldn’t be happier to see these young people getting that opportunity in Islington.

“This is just one of the many activities that together are helping to create a fairer Islington, enriching the lives and opportunities of our young people and making sure they all get the support they need to recover after such a tough year.

“Our wonderful programme of activities follows an extremely difficult period for young people, whose educations and lives have been so disrupted. I’m proud to be helping them through the school holidays.”