We know, as educators (teachers, parents, guardians, and carers), that giving young people the chance to take control of their learning, to take some ownership over part of their community, can encourage positive and sustainable growth.

Thankfully, Creating Enterprise, who are based in Abergele, have been nurturing community connections across Conwy for several years and have produced incredible results.

On Saturday 24th September the gathering of local businesses and community organisations was part of an ongoing movement toward a safer, more creative, healthy community that learns to connect through play and creativity.

Within the locality of Eirias, alongside all our feeder schools and beyond, we want to celebrate and share the stories of success that have brought local young people (students of Eirias and other Secondary schools) together in one place to find opportunity and respite through activities that nurture, build confidence, and forge connections in a fun, creative setting.

Building engaged and active communities is one of the key priorities in Creating Enterprise’s Social Impact Strategy. They have pledged to support provision of youth projects and activities, targeted at tackling community concerns such as antisocial behaviour.

Suzanne Pearce, Youth Community Development Coordinator at Creating Enterprise was delighted with the turnout. She said:

“It was brilliant to see so many young people and their families getting involved in the activities. The event was an enormous success and a great first step in engaging with the young people of Rhos on Sea.”

Zorbing balls, which Conwy Youth Services brought along, were a firm favourite with the young people in attendance.

They were in full bounce for much of the event, providing a welcome challenge and healthy energy outlet for participants to see who could stay on their feet the longest.

Creating Enterprise were also joined by Youth Shedz, an award winning initiative that provides a safe place for young people to explore who they are, to develop pro-social relationships with suitable role models, develop and learn new skills.

They provided Betsi the Bus which is a mobile youth club which runs outreach sessions and set up their VR headsets for the Young People to experiment with.

Playful Futures, led by Simon Bazley, brought a cardboard kingdom and loose crafting bits and pieces which sparked imaginations and encouraged creative structures. Wild Elements brought along natural resources, and set up a camp fire for toasting marshmallows and making s’mores.

During the day there was archery practice with some robust kit, providing a challenge for all. Quite a few parents were getting involved in the activities.

To make sure that everyone kept their energy levels up, a food token at the gate entitled all those joining into an item from Truly Scrumptious Catering.

Conwy Youth Service have recently begun sessions in Rhos on Sea on a Thursday evening between 6.30 and 8.30pm. They are currently looking for a building in Colwyn Bay to run sessions.

Kickit Sports Coaching provided football and boxercise sessions, MW Sports had water action with a water slide and bubbles, and Aspire fitness showcased their clubbercise sessions and brought along hoola hoops.

All local ventures brought something extra to the community through arts, health, well-being, and a common goal; to build bridges, to connect, to communicate, to succeed together.

Creating Enterprise are keen to hear from Young People who would be interested in joining a Youth Panel to share what matters to them and to be involved in making decisions on what type of space and activities they would like to see in their communities.

If you are interested please get in touch:

Suzanne Pearce: Suzanne.pearce@creatingenterprise.org.uk
Text Messaging: 07391 019941

You can also follow Creating Enterprise and Cartrefi Conwy to find out about more events happening near you.