Words: Jayne Young
Kirkstall Valley Development Trust held their second youth activity day in February half-term – this time at the KVDT Hub in Flexspace.
Led by students and staff from Leeds University’s education outreach team, the group of young people from the Kirkstall community had a go at making their own quadrats – a simple frame used to mark out a sample area for gathering data about biodiversity.
Powered by a delicious lunch of macaroni cheese provided by Butlers at Kirkstall Forge, the group then took their quadrats to Burley Park to try them out.
So if you saw a group of teenagers with sticks, string and clipboards in the park and wondered what they were doing, now you know!
The original plan was to spend some time at Kirkstall Valley Community Farm, where the group spent an activity day in October half term but the recent flooding made that impossible.
It was lovely to see young people enjoying spending time in the KVDT Hub; playing games and hanging out with their friends in between activities. It felt like an important step forward in KVDT’s plan to develop a programme of activities for 11-15 year olds and create a young people’s steering group to help shape the programme.
The day finished with yet more snacks and an energetic planning session, with the group coming up with lots of ideas for future sessions.
Next up – a pizza and games night! So look out for details in the coming weeks.
If you are interested in volunteering and supporting young people in Kirkstall, get in touch with kirsty.ward@kvdt.org.uk or adele.rae@kvdt.org.uk.