Girls’ youth group set to expand

South Wye girls' group run by Herefordshire Council has become so popular that the membership has been divided into two separate groups: a senior group for young women aged 13-19 and a junior group for young women aged 11 and 12 years.

The original girls' group grew from strength to strength with numbers peaking 30 last year. To cater for growing numbers and different age groups, some of the older members set up a new junior group with support from the Herefordshire youth service. Both senior and junior groups now meet every Wednesday from 7-9pm at Hinton Community Centre.

The girls plan the activities they would like to set up and then the youth workers support them, helping turn their ideas into reality. Junior group activities for this term include a talent show, a Halloween party, sports night, fashion show and chocolate fountain night. The senior group have planned healthy eating cooking sessions and workshops with the local community support officer around personal safety, fear of crime and road safety.

Sarah Melia, community youth worker, said: "There's a big difference in age range of those using the centre, so it made sense for some of our older members, who are interested in youth work, to get involved in organising events for our junior members. Eleven year olds tend to like different activities than sixteen year olds and have different issues they like to share with each other.

"We are fortunate to have two separate rooms at the Hinton Community Centre, so we can run both sessions simultaneously on a Wednesday evening."

New members are welcome. For further information contact Sarah Melia on 01432 383376 or 07792 880199.