GLOW!

Could you spare a couple of hours a week, or a couple of hours a month to help support our sessions which are aimed at improving young people’s mental health?

We have various sessions planned, which are listed below-

• ‘Sensational’ The Sensory Play Space – would be a room set up with a wide variety of sensory toys and activities, and would be different every week, and would provide a calm space for children aged 0-5 to explore their developing senses. This session will be a relaxed place for parents and children to enjoy. It will be an inclusive and SEN friendly session with a focus on helping parents to build bonds with their children, and spend time together in a non-judgemental setting. Providing provocations to play and learn will aid development and increase confidence in children. When covid-19 restrictions allow it, this session will also allow parents to share their experiences and make connections which should have a bonus effect of supporting adult mental health, as well as aiding children’s social and emotional development too. 10:15-12:15 on Thursday Mornings.

• CalmKids – A session aimed at Primary Children aged 5-11 which will help to bring children from a high-energy to low energy state. Each ‘block’ of sessions (a block is 6, 1 hour sessions) relates to a ‘theme’. Themes can be tailored to the interests of the group of children or generalised themes for example, Superheroes or Magical Adventures. Sessions include physical movement and group games; stretching and self-massage; breathing techniques; positive affirmations; visualisation and relaxation. This session would be led by a coach and supported by volunteers. 4:15-5:15pm on Wednesday afternoons. Likely to start in September.

• Resilience Bootcamp – For Year 6 and Secondary School aged young people. Each session includes a warm up and a 20 minute fitness session – Bootcamp Circuits or Boxercise or HIIT followed by a cool down and stretch. We then move on to group-based work exploring emotional wellbeing topics. Evidence shows that using exercise first, ‘breaks the ice’ within the group, gets the body producing endorphins and flushing away cortisol, resulting in the group being more open and engaged in the ’emotional wellbeing’ group work. At Penistone Leisure Centre, this session would be led by a qualified coach and supported by volunteers. This would be 6-8 week course with a ‘graduation’ at the end and an incentive (such as perhaps a free months Gym Membership or a voucher) to complete the course. 3:15-4:15 on Friday afternoons Likely to start in September.

• Glow! Skate Session– A monthly skate event.  A place for young people to come together and hang out with the bonus of some skating exercise! Loud music, UV and Disco lights and a haze machine will give the session a real ‘club’ feel. Think neon facepaint and glowsticks! If demand is high, we will increase the frequency. This would be run by a mix of staff and volunteers. Held on the last Friday of every month from 7-9pm Starting ASAP.

If you have expressed an interest in volunteering for these sessions previously, you should have had an email from us now! If you haven’t heard from us, please do let us know as we may have ended up in your spam box!

We will provide you with free of charge training appropriate to each of the sessions, and First Aid Qualifications too, all of which look great on your CV! You don’t need any qualifications in order to volunteer- We believe everyone has something to offer!

If you are interested in volunteering at any of the above sessions, please contact Fran with any questions, and fill in a Volunteer Application Form Here.