Priority Youth Project - Latest News 

0 Our Summer at the Joseph Lappin Centre!

• Activity Blog
• by Ava Fowler
• 20-09-2023

Every Friday we hold our youth club in the Joseph Lappin Centre. Here our young people are provided with a safe space to have fun, make memories, and receive support and advice from our staff. This summer our young people from the Joseph Lappin have been busier then ever!   We started our Summer with a visit from Michelle at BayTree Cookery Academy who made delicious burgers and brownies with our young people. These went down a treat! Our young people always love when Michelle pays us a visit.   The Summer also saw our young people being given the opportunity to make a splash at the Liverpool Water Sports Centre and to have a go navigating the bumpy trails of Delamere Forest during Mountain Biking trips. Lots of fun was had by both young people and staff at all of these trips where a competitive side of everyone came out!   Through the craziness of the Summer, our weekly provision continued. Our young people are pool and football mad and showed up to the centre each week raring to go and having lots of fun. We were even given the opportunity to take part once again in the Real Men Don’t Carry Knives Football Tournament where our young people played really well. There are many exciting things coming up for our young people attending the Joseph Lappin Centre… Watch this space!   We would like to say a huge thank you to all of our young people who attend our youth club at the Joseph Lappin Centre! We couldn’t do it without you!

0 Hold your horses... it's Summer!

• Activity Blog
• by Charley South
• 20-09-2023

During the summer holidays we took some of our young people to Gellings Farm Riding school, going from our visits in the past this is always a fun and eventful day out. The day started on the bus making our way down to Gellings with the young people and staff exchanging stories of previous days out to the farm, where the young people spoke of their own experiences of riding and being around animals. Surprisingly, the sun was shining which is always a bonus in Liverpool, making the day even better! We got our helmets and were split into two groups, both groups debating who would ride first and the other mucking out the stables - you can imagine what activity was preferred! It's always a great day down at Gellings Farm, it's great to see the young people getting up close and personal with the beautiful ponies and horses! We'll see you back there soon

0 Real Men Don't Carry Knives Football Tournament

• Activity Blog
• by Reece Gordon
• 20-09-2023

This summer Priority Youth Project entered two teams into the Joseph Lappin Memorial tournament hosted at the Joseph Lappin Centre.    The focus of the day was teaching the lads all about the dangers of carrying knives, with the teams being able to work with a number of different people who have been involved with both sides of knife crime. The teams were also fortunate to take part in a drugs awareness workshop on our second day. The teams were able to listen to a very moving talk given by Joseph’s mother talking about the effects knife crime has on families involved.   The main message of the tournament was “Real Men Don’t Carry Knives”   The lads really enjoyed playing together throughout the tournament. This was the first time one of our teams played together as a team and it was amazing to see the determination and teamwork they displayed as the day went on. The highlight of the day was one of our teams going through to the group stages without losing a single game and qualifying for the semi finals hosted on the second day.    Overall Priority Youth Project finished third with the young people involved looking forward to playing more football matches together in the future and having taken onboard the messages delivered about the dangers of knife crime.

0 Awesome Alpacas!

• Activity Blog
• by Danny
• 20-09-2023

Who'd of thought you get o close to Alpacas just outside of Liverpool? After one of the staff team took a trip down to Natterjack Alpaca Farm they thought it would be a great idea for our young people to enjoy the experience. Just outside of Liverpool, in Ormskirk, lies Natterjack Alpaca Farm which is a huge amount of land flocked with hundred of Alpacas. Here you have the opportunity to learn all sorts of information about these fury friends and get up close and personal with them to enjoy some amazing cuddles. The texture of an Alpacas coat is a hard feeling to describe, it's almost like a spongey cloud of softness. Our young people got the chance to see hundreds upon hundreds of these fury friends prancing about the fields of Ormskirk. Not only that, but they had the chance to get right up to some of them, give some cuddles all around and take them around the fields for a brisk walk. It was an absoltely amazing day that the staff and young people both enjoyed, we will definitely be coming back!

0 Summer 2023 at Blueberry Park

• Activity Blog
• by Ava Fowler
• 12-09-2023

What an action-packed summer we had at Blueberry Park! This year our Summer Programme was as busy and exciting as ever with lots of fun activities for our young people. We had an amazing variety of visitors and trips to keep everyone busy and were able to provide tasty food and drinks to keep the young people full up.   Our Summer started with a visit from Circus Frank who showcased all of his fun skills and taught the young people many circus tricks. We certainly found some hidden talents amongst our young people and our staff too!   The fun didn’t stop there as we also had the pleasure of welcoming Ryan and his Mobile Zoo. Our young people had the opportunity to learn about and hold many different animals from snakes to meerkats, lambs and many more. Those furry friends were definitely a big hit with all involved.   We finished off our Summer Programme with a trip to Liverpool Water Sports Centre where our young people got to try their hand on a big paddle board and were able to make a huge splash on the inflatables. Massive fun was had by both our young people and staff who got to enjoy the water, be brave and build relationships!   It was a great summer for all of our young people and also the staff at PYP. We would like to say a massive thank you to all of those involved, helping us to make our Summer Programme at Blueberry Park an unforgettable one but most of all a huge thank you goes to our fantastic young people who filled our summer with laughter and great memories. You are all amazing!

0 The Pride of Sefton

• Activity Blog
• by Ava Fowler
• 12-09-2023

Here at Priority Youth, we are always looking for ways we can showcase our beautiful city to our young people and give them experiences which are entirely new and exciting. This Summer, the Pride of Sefton was the perfect way to do this!   We hopped aboard and travelled the lengths of Liverpool’s hidden waterways, discovering our city from a totally new perspective. Along with tasty afternoon tea and sunny skies, our young people got to try their hands at steering the barge. We even got to learn about the history of the buildings along the route and how to open and close the locks along the canal.   All of our visits to the team on board the Pride of Sefton were thoroughly enjoyed by our young people and the staff team at PYP.  A massive thank you to Anna and her team for all their hard work and also our amazing young people who made each trip unique and memorable! We look forward to our next trip along the Liverpool canals!

0 Counselling Services at PYP

• Activity Blog
• by Tony McGlynn
• 12-09-2023

Priority Youth Project  (PYP) have been providing a young persons counsellor working with young people of 8 up to 25 years across the city of Liverpool for a 2 year period. Our counsellor has 30 years’ experience working with young people and has had 10 years counselling experience working with Adults and children in an integrative style utilising CBT and Person Centred Techniques We have supported up to 80 young people within this time frame offering counselling support in a variety of settings which include local primary and senior school provision , utilising safe and appropriate spaces within our community . We attempt to be  responsive to the times and the needs of our young people as much as we can. Many of the young people present with a variety of complex needs which include Adverse Childhood Experiences and present with levels of trauma, anxiety, depression, attachment issues, self-esteem, bereavement, loss or have expressed suicidal ideation and many more. Many will have had additional needs are on a pathway awaiting assessment or  have been accessed for ADHD or ASC. Many of the young people feel they are able to develop a positive working relationship with our counsellor and feel the counselling offers them a safe place to be listened too and gain a more healthier and balanced sense of self. We provide a confidential service to young people but if the child is deemed to be at risk  in agreement with the child we will work with colleagues and other professionals to ensure the safety and the best positive outcomes for the children. We have supported parents and have been a sign post to other more appropriate agencies, have net worked with professional colleges across the city including Family Support, Pastoral Care Support, SENCO Social Work teams , Targeted Services and many more. The PYP offer a wide range of support to children and their families including a range of youth provision for juniors and seniors. A number of our young people who have experienced counselling have been signposted into these groups to help with their further socialisation confidence building and an opportunity to try out some of their new found coping skills in a safe and supportive environment. If you wish to find out more about the counselling services we can offer, please get in touch by filling out a contact form on our website - Contact Form

0 Our trip to Chester Zoo!

• Activity Blog
• by Ava Fowler
• 12-09-2023

On the 12th of July 2023 we took a trip down to Chester Zoo with 100 young people from Dovecot Primary KS2 and it is fair to say that the day was filled with lots of giggles, fun and monkeying around!   Our young people were loaded onto two coaches with their teachers and travelled down to the zoo where they were met by our PYP staff ready to have an exciting day out and make some memories. It was a fantastic opportunity to see many animals, some of which we had never seen before. The giraffes were definitely popular amongst the Year 5 students who were shocked to learn that a giraffe’s neck is actually too short to reach the ground! Over the course of the day, we got to see a range of animals from the fastest cheetahs to the slowest sloths.   Around 12pm it was feeding time at the zoo and our young people enjoyed telling us about all the animals they had seen so far. For the rest of the day, we had a wild time at the zoo, and it was brilliant way to celebrate the end of the year with all of our amazing young people.   We would like to thank our Trustees for giving us the go ahead and allowing us to make this dream a reality for so many of our young people. This trip was one which was highly requested and so we are very grateful that we were able to go! Most of all we would like to thank all of the pupils at Dovecot Primary for a fantastic year at our Mobile Bus Project and a roarsome day out at the zoo! You are all amazing!

0 Priority Pensioner - Christmas Giving

• Activity Blog
• by Danny
• 25-12-2022

This time of year can be difficult for those who may spend it alone, so it’s our job to put a smile on those who need it. Over the past few years, we have built a great relationships with the local resident homes, regularly visiting them throughout the year. During the Christmas period we always make it our mission to visit them and drop off some festive cheer! We took on the mammoth task of bagging up over 150 miniature Christmas tree, boxes of mince pies, a Christmas card and hand delivering them to resident homes and individual houses in the local community. It’s always a heart-warming moment bumping into the residents and seeing their faces light up – we hope we managed to put a smile on as many faces as possible!

0 Afternoon Tea & Santa at The Shankly

• Activity Blog
• by Alex Gunn
• 21-01-2022

Just before Christmas we took a group of young people who regularly attend our mobile bus club at Dovecot Primary school to the Shankly Hotel for afternoon tea and to meet Santa. It was a lovely festive treat for the children who went as they ate some fantastic food, danced to Christmas songs and told Santa what they wanted for Christmas.   A big thank you to all the staff at the Shankly who made us feel very welcome, all the young people had a great time! Keep an eye open for what adventures our mobile bus project gets up to this year.