Summer Holiday Activity Clubs - no longer a thing?

Some of the more active churches might have summer activities, there are also various Christian summer camps where they go away for a week somewhere, if that's at all relevant to you.

Got nothing against that, but I know a lot of them require you to be Christian (IIRC my mum managed to blag me into one of them when I was younger but I had to pretend to go to church etc. :p)

+1 for joining cadets, get to do lots of interesting stuff and learn all sorts of skills. I was in the army cadet side of a combined cadet force when I was at school and would definitely recommend, but go for the air cadets if he can. Might have changed, but the unit I was in the air cadets got to fly gliders & planes AND do most of the stuff that the army cadets do.

Maybe check out local sports clubs that might have some summer activities planned?

I remember there used to be some academically focused summer residential schemes that some people went on, I never found out much about them though so no idea how they were organised. They're probably more common for GCSE or 6th form aged kids, but various organisations ran academic residential courses.

Also some universities have short summer residentials, some of them might be limited based on your demographics though.

Thanks, I'll take a look at those and see if there's anything suitable.

Not sure what else tbh though. Imagine liability and safeguarding issues will have put an end to lots of the more informally organised activities from years ago.

Unfortunately I think this is probably the case, but even more formal groups seem to have very little on - been looking on the RYA site for sailing/windsurfing courses, and while there are lots of links to sailing clubs on there, I go to the site and they're not running any courses, or they're only taking bookings for 2023/2024 :confused:

Air Cadet camp saw me spend a whole week working in the armoury, servicing both small arms and aircraft weaponry. Another camp was doing ground defence training with the RAF Regiment, which included NBC training, some time on the CQB range, a few days doing some parachute training and a day playing with RAF Police dogs. Then there were all the other camping and outdoor activity things like windsurfing, raft building, hiking, navigation, rock climbing & abseiling, bushcraft, fieldcraft, etc etc... and if you had time, a flight or two in something or other. Chipmunks and vigilant gliders were at some stations, but active stations had fun things like a Chinook or a Hercules.
Subs cost 30p a week back then, but IIRC camps were completely free, with food and accommodation all provided. The only money involved was what you took up the NAAFI in the evening.

I did ATC for a bit when I was 15-16, and seem to remember it being along the lines of 70% being yelled at, 20% RAF recruitment and 10% fun activities, yeah we did some time on the range with the L98s, flew a Bulldog with a 90 year old WW2 vet and some fun navigation exercises and needing to "raid" an airfield in the middle of the night while the officers posed as guards, but the vast majority of it was drills and marching.

One of his mates does do ATC, and we also have a Sea Cadets group very nearby, but I'm not sure of the merits of joining just over the summer, and he has enough on during the week in term time that I think joining full time would be a bit too much for him (plus the ATC is on the same night as his Scouts group)
 
The thing I find most annoying is that they are generally 9-3 which isn't a whole day and still means you have to WFH or leave early to pick them up, kind of defeats the purpose really.
 
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Because they are highly addictive and the algorithms are literally designed to keep them glued to them as long as possible. I don't know how you fix it. I think its basically impossible at this point without mass regulation of the internet/social media which seems highly unlikely. Getting rid of the algorithms and going back to how things were 20 years ago where you basically saw the stuff your mates had posted up in the date it was posted up and if no one had posted anything then there was nothing left to view would be a start. Not much chance of that though.

Exactly. Its up to parents to regulate screen time. The government have been making some vague attempt to limit sugar in food and encourage healthier choices but nothing has been done or really can be done with phone/screen use from the government without massive overstep.

Parents need to do it.

As you say, these companies are essentially drug dealers and casinos rolled into one. They have the brightest minds working on collecting the most information on you to analyse along with psychologists whose job it is to work out what the best way to keep you completely disconnected from the real world and engaged in the world they create for you.

Its genuinely going to be at the core of the collapse of society because nothing keeps people engaged and enraged like a diet of hatred, outrage and misinformation.
 
Its genuinely going to be at the core of the collapse of society because nothing keeps people engaged and enraged like a diet of hatred, outrage and misinformation.

How dare you! Lies!

Exactly. Its up to parents to regulate screen time. The government have been making some vague attempt to limit sugar in food and encourage healthier choices but nothing has been done or really can be done with phone/screen use from the government without massive overstep.

Parents need to do it.

Agreed, and ours have time limits and filters on their devices, but they still need things to do instead, and unfortunately in most cases these days, both parents need to work, which makes keeping kids (particularly older ones) entertained during the school holidays very difficult.
 
Agreed, and ours have time limits and filters on their devices, but they still need things to do instead, and unfortunately in most cases these days, both parents need to work, which makes keeping kids (particularly older ones) entertained during the school holidays very difficult.

Yeah, this is the problem. Most people have such busy lives that there is no real time to actually do things with your children for huge amounts of the time. Its always been the case up to a point but it used to be a case of kicking the kids out of the house to make their own fun. We didn't do a huge amount of clubs or things in the summer holiday but we lived in the country so I would go play with friends or go to the woods, ride my bike etc.

Staying at home was boring. Now there are a dozen things to entertain you at home. Why would you leave?
 
Much more likely is that you've left it incredibly late to try and book something and all of the activity clubs that are running are already fully subscribed so no longer show as available.

I also love the faux-outrage of "why is nobody running subsidised activities for my kids over the summer so I don't have to do it".
 
I also love the faux-outrage of "why is nobody running subsidised activities for my kids over the summer so I don't have to do it".

Go and work out how much holiday the average person gets in a year and how much time off the average school age child gets. They don't match up.

And yes, we should be subsidising activities for children just like we subsidise so many things in society. Raising the children who will be adults in the coming decades is quite important and yet for some reason the attitude you have is massively prevalent. Plenty of people are barely scraping by at the moment so no, they don't have money to pay for these things and a healthy society will happily put tax money towards this sort of thing.
 
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Much more likely is that you've left it incredibly late to try and book something and all of the activity clubs that are running are already fully subscribed so no longer show as available.

I started looking a couple of months ago, albeit not seriously, and found a similar thing back then, but yes, you're probably right to a point.

I also love the faux-outrage of "why is nobody running subsidised activities for my kids over the summer so I don't have to do it".

Where are you seeing this "faux-outrage", and who said anything about wanting it subsidised? :confused:

Go and work out how much holiday the average person gets in a year and how much time off the average school age child gets. They don't match up.

Quite.

Much as I'd love to be able to take 13 weeks of fully paid annual leave every year, that's over double my (and probably most people's) allowance.

And yes, we should be subsidising activities for children just like we subsidise so many things in society. Raising the children who will be adults in the coming decades is quite important and yet for some reason the attitude you have is massively prevalent. Plenty of people are barely scraping by at the moment so no, they don't have money to pay for these things and a healthy society will happily put tax money towards this sort of thing.

Exactly, I've said multiple times that I'd be happy to pay more tax if it went towards actually improving society/the country, and - while we're far from rich - we're fortunate to be in a position where we can afford to do so. Unfortunately that's not a popular opinion; our society seems to be becoming more "me me me" by the day, and our politicians would almost certainly be more interested in trying to work out how to line their own pockets with that money than putting any kind of long-term social policies in place.

I already donate both my time and money to our local Scout group for exactly this reason; to give kids something to do that's not just "stare at screen" or "wander the streets causing mischief", but as individuals there's only so much we can do.
 
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I did ATC for a bit when I was 15-16, and seem to remember it being along the lines of 70% being yelled at, 20% RAF recruitment and 10% fun activities, yeah we did some time on the range with the L98s, flew a Bulldog with a 90 year old WW2 vet and some fun navigation exercises and needing to "raid" an airfield in the middle of the night while the officers posed as guards, but the vast majority of it was drills and marching.
Not every unit is like that. I made some good friends at my Sqn. One of the CIs was my best man and our AWO also attended.

One of his mates does do ATC, and we also have a Sea Cadets group very nearby, but I'm not sure of the merits of joining just over the summer, and he has enough on during the week in term time that I think joining full time would be a bit too much for him (plus the ATC is on the same night as his Scouts group)
What does he want?
 
Not every unit is like that. I made some good friends at my Sqn. One of the CIs was my best man and our AWO also attended.

Fair enough, I'll have a chat with his mate's dad and see what kind of stuff they get up to

What does he want?

At the moment, it seems just to sit on his PC & phone as long as possible, and then laze in front of the TV. Basically as little as possible! :p
 
Go and work out how much holiday the average person gets in a year and how much time off the average school age child gets. They don't match up.

And yes, we should be subsidising activities for children just like we subsidise so many things in society. Raising the children who will be adults in the coming decades is quite important and yet for some reason the attitude you have is massively prevalent. Plenty of people are barely scraping by at the moment so no, they don't have money to pay for these things and a healthy society will happily put tax money towards this sort of thing.

I started looking a couple of months ago, albeit not seriously, and found a similar thing back then, but yes, you're probably right to a point.



Where are you seeing this "faux-outrage", and who said anything about wanting it subsidised? :confused:



Quite.

Much as I'd love to be able to take 13 weeks of fully paid annual leave every year, that's over double my (and probably most people's) allowance.



Exactly, I've said multiple times that I'd be happy to pay more tax if it went towards actually improving society/the country, and - while we're far from rich - we're fortunate to be in a position where we can afford to do so. Unfortunately that's not a popular opinion; our society seems to be becoming more "me me me" by the day, and our politicians would almost certainly be more interested in trying to work out how to line their own pockets with that money than putting any kind of long-term social policies in place.

I already donate both my time and money to our local Scout group for exactly this reason; to give kids something to do that's not just "stare at screen" or "wander the streets causing mischief", but as individuals there's only so much we can do.

It looks like you've both stumbled upon an untapped business opportunity then. I'm sure you could quit your full time jobs and make it a viable career, be the change you want to see etc.

Or in reality, parents aren't willing to pay for the costs of actually running those kind of activities in holiday periods only (as you point out, it's only 13 weeks of the year). The NLW means that staff costs alone are > £115/day before you even consider costs of equipment, insurance, admin costs etc. Ensuring proper ratios, safe guarding, insurance etc and the only kind of worker available for 13 weeks of the year are students who will likely lack the necessary training to safely run activities.

Full disclosure, I am a Scout Leader / lead team member (and have been for 20 years) as well as a volunteer at my local kayaking group where we run activities for kids over the summer and one of the few reasons that repeatably push me to quit isn't because of the kids but because of the entitled attitude of the parents - "I'm too busy with my full time job, you as a unpaid volunteer should do it for me instead and I'll complain when it's not exactly to my tailored needs" so people who complain about a lack of social activities for kids but who aren't prepared to actually step up to run them irritate the hell out of me.
 
There's plenty in the Ribble Valley & Pendle area. We got sent quite a few from school and other parents were coordinating some so friends could be in at the same time, but we've covered it by our own annual leave and few days with Grandma. I find they're either less convenient times than school, quite expensive (although a fair price, just more than you expect) and too far away becasue we live rurally and it's much further away than the school.

It's something you need to plan way ahead and budget for if you intend to use them, especially as they get booked up quickly too. Now my youngest has finished nursery we might use the odd club next year.
 
It looks like you've both stumbled upon an untapped business opportunity then. I'm sure you could quit your full time jobs and make it a viable career, be the change you want to see etc.

You're absolutely right, and I was actually thinking this last night, the problem being that my current skillset/experience doesn't really translate to running those kind of courses (except for e.g. computer building and software development, which doesn't really solve the "getting away from a screen" requirement). But yes, it's something I'm going to look into.

Or in reality, parents aren't willing to pay for the costs of actually running those kind of activities in holiday periods only (as you point out, it's only 13 weeks of the year). The NLW means that staff costs alone are > £115/day before you even consider costs of equipment, insurance, admin costs etc. Ensuring proper ratios, safe guarding, insurance etc and the only kind of worker available for 13 weeks of the year are students who will likely lack the necessary training to safely run activities.

Except that these clubs DO exist. There are plenty of sailing clubs, outdoor activity clubs etc. which cater to both kids (school residentials and day trips, scout groups, etc.) and adults, e.g. team-building days, hen/stag parties etc., along with private individuals/families doing ad-hoc activities in evenings/weekends.

Full disclosure, I am a Scout Leader / lead team member (and have been for 20 years) as well as a volunteer at my local kayaking group where we run activities for kids over the summer and one of the few reasons that repeatably push me to quit isn't because of the kids but because of the entitled attitude of the parents - "I'm too busy with my full time job, you as a unpaid volunteer should do it for me instead and I'll complain when it's not exactly to my tailored needs" so people who complain about a lack of social activities for kids but who aren't prepared to actually step up to run them irritate the hell out of me.

Yup, I completely get that, we've had to cancel activities before because of leaders who have had other commitments and no parent is prepared to step in and sacrifice a couple of hours of their weekend so that we can meet the required ratios. It is utterly frustrating and disheartening at times to be essentially treated as a cheap childcare service.

It's something you need to plan way ahead and budget for if you intend to use them, especially as they get booked up quickly too. Now my youngest has finished nursery we might use the odd club next year.

We have the budget, it's just the availability that's the problem, but noted for next year that I've probably left it too late this time.

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What's really frustrating is that there seems to be plenty of provision for kids on benefits. I don't have a problem with that, yes we should be helping struggling families as much as possible, but it's not "free for kids on benefits, otherwise you have to pay", which would seem fair to me, it's literally "the programme eligibility criteria is currently restricted to children and young people receiving benefit-related free school meals or deemed vulnerable by their local authority." :confused:
 
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Full disclosure, I am a Scout Leader / lead team member (and have been for 20 years) as well as a volunteer at my local kayaking group where we run activities for kids over the summer and one of the few reasons that repeatably push me to quit isn't because of the kids but because of the entitled attitude of the parents - "I'm too busy with my full time job, you as a unpaid volunteer should do it for me instead and I'll complain when it's not exactly to my tailored needs" so people who complain about a lack of social activities for kids but who aren't prepared to actually step up to run them irritate the hell out of me.

I'm not suggesting that we need armies of unpaid workers, we need government and local funding for these things. We shouldn't be relying on volunteers to give disadvantaged children something to do in the holidays. I appreciate anyone who gives up their spare time to run anything like this. People like you are what gives children something to do other than sit inside the whole time or other less savoury things. I really enjoyed scouts and so many of the sports I played when I was growing up were run by parents of the kids doing them and I know how much work goes into it.

Your post just came across like so many peoples these days who think that anyone who has children should pay for absolutely everything for them and get no handouts or help from anywhere because "you chose to have them". Its such a short sighted and ignorant view of how society works.
 
I'm not suggesting that we need armies of unpaid workers, we need government and local funding for these things. We shouldn't be relying on volunteers to give disadvantaged children something to do in the holidays. I appreciate anyone who gives up their spare time to run anything like this. People like you are what gives children something to do other than sit inside the whole time or other less savoury things. I really enjoyed scouts and so many of the sports I played when I was growing up were run by parents of the kids doing them and I know how much work goes into it.

Your post just came across like so many peoples these days who think that anyone who has children should pay for absolutely everything for them and get no handouts or help from anywhere because "you chose to have them". Its such a short sighted and ignorant view of how society works.
My post was aimed more in the vein of "it takes a village to raise a child" :)
 
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