Youngsters love free holiday club

Around 50 children are attending the Rifty Youth Project’s holiday club every weekday during the summer holidays at the Rift House Community Building in Masefield Road.

The club, run by Stephen Akers-Belcher, is one of the 18 organisations to benefit from the Filling the Gap programme – a Hartlepool Council scheme to help ensure children in Hartlepool don’t go hungry during the school holidays.

Stephen Akers-Belcher, who is also a Hartlepool Councillor, said: “The club is open to any child living in Hartlepool between the ages of 6 and 17. We provide a wide range of indoor and outdoor activities and the club is run solely by volunteers.”

“The holiday club started three years ago and for the last two years we have received funding from the Council which enables us to provide free food for our children.”

Thomas (age 6) said: “The club is great. I particularly like the ramp for the scooters and bikes and we always get nice food.”

Fourteen-year-old Bradley said: “I like to play pool and we have lots of games. I’ve also made lots of new friends. The barbecue today is fab.”

Hartlepool Mayor, Councillor Paul Beck, who chose the Rifty Youth Project as one of his nominated charities, visited the holiday club recently.

He commented: “This is a great club and clearly children love being here. Many families throughout the town are feeling the pressure financially so I think it’s tremendous that children are benefitting from free activities and free food.”

Opening times for the club are as follows – Monday (11am -2pm), Tuesday (5pm-7pm), Wednesday and Thursday (10am-1pm) and Friday (5pm-7pm).

Any parents wanting information about the club should call 01429 280625.