Active Bodies promotes the benefits for young people of getting active and healthy and provides a wide range of opportunities to help all young people in Oxfordshire get involved in activities in their local area as well as gaining skills and qualifications to organise and run activities in their own communities.

Projects

Active Bodies projects all promote the benefits for young people of getting active; from fun activity nights at their youth clubs to leadership courses on residential in Scotland. Through our project work we aim to engage and motivate young people, involving them in the design, content, delivery and evaluation of all our services.

A-Team

Our mobile facility, run by young volunteers with support from our staff, visits youth and community groups throughout Oxfordshire bringing equipment and activities along to provide a fun and affordable alternative for an evening.

Motiv8

A six-week Oxfordshire County Council accredited course run for young people aged 13-17 who are part of a community group, combining physical activities with information work shops on topics such as sexual health, drugs and healthy eating. The content of the sessions is decided by the young people involved so they get to choose what activities they would like to try.

Leadership courses
Through activeTEN20 young people are supported by qualified tutors in a range of residential and non-residential training to gain Sports Leader UK qualifications which provide personal development opportunities as well as a stepping stone to employment.

Residentials
We run residential courses at a variety of rural locations all over the UK which aim to help young people realise their potential in a fun and challenging environment, learning new skills and boosting their confidence.

Events
As well as our own programme of events for youth clubs which run monthly throughout the year, we can arrange one-day events or week-long summer camps on request by any community group, offering a range of activities from circus skills and gladiator jousting to baseball, volleyball and ultimate frisbee.

Alternative education programmes
We work in partnership with schools and organisations around Oxfordshire including the Youth Offending Team and Pupil Referral Units to provide accredited learning and training opportunities for young people outside main stream education.

Active Minds The Active Minds department offers impartial advice, information and workshops, around specific issues relating to young people. These include: Drugs/Alcohol, Sexual Health, Relationships, Healthy Lifestyles, Bullying, Behavioural Issues, Self Esteem, Careers, etc. We are also a link to other services and organisations that young people may wish to access.

We have two main methods of delivery:

1. The Active Bus. The Active Bus is a converted double-decker bus that is staffed by trained youth information workers. The bus provides a safe, fun and friendly space for young people to meet and discuss issues that are relevant to their needs. The bus covers the whole of Oxfordshire, with particular emphasis on rural isolated areas with little existing service provision - to find out where the bus is visting click here.
2. Single Issue Workshops. We offer tailor made workshops in drugs/alcohol and sexual health, aimed at larger groups of young people, such as an entire school year or youth club group.

Workshops are delivered in:

• Educational settings, (schools and Colleges). We work closely with schools, supporting those young people with specific issues or that may be in danger of exclusion. We also offer additional and alternative approaches to the personal and social development of all students.
• The community. We work in support of established youth centres, delivering workshops and providing an alternative, safe space for young people to socialise and access information. We also work alongside District Councils and other agencies, targeting areas where there are no services for young people or where there have been issues with anti-social behaviour.

Please contact us to book the Active Bus, Single Issue Workshops or any other Information service queries you may have.

Active Clubs Active Clubs is a project that was initially set up in response to the need to provide training and support to volunteers involved in running youth groups located within rural communities throughout Oxfordshire. Now, through our affiliation scheme, we support the work of over 60 projects working with young people and children across the county – that’s over 400 volunteers and 1000 young people!!

Providing support for generic youth clubs run by volunteers in rural settings has always been at the centre of what we’re all about. Through the work of Active Clubs, our goal is to empower and resource local communities – in other words to act as the first and last port of call for groups of individuals who want to address the needs of young people within their local community.

Through our affiliation scheme, we provide a range of training and support which currently includes…

• On the ground advice for groups of individuals and communities who want to start a youth group in their area.
• County-wide training events open to volunteers and workers from all affiliated groups including free access to OCC Youth Service training events.
• Training sessions tailored to the actual needs of groups in rural communities.
• Support visits from our team of part-time youth club support workers – we aim to visit affiliated groups in rural communities 6 times over the course of the year as well as visiting other affiliated groups upon request.
• Ongoing backup and supply of information etc. via telephone, email, post and additional visits.
• Free Criminal Record Bureau checks for all volunteers from affiliated groups.
• Access to other programmes, events and resources as well as input from our Active Bodies and Active Minds departments (often at a subsidised rate).
• Automatic affiliation to Clubs for Young People [CYP].

Affiliation – what’s involved?

The ongoing support that we provide throughout the year would not be possible without the continued financial support of Oxfordshire County Council Youth Service. As part of this partnership we ask youth groups that affiliate to us to work to our affiliation guidelines.

These guidelines simply set out the minimum requirements necessary for any youth group to operate safely and in line with recognised good practice. Training and support on all aspects of the guidelines is available as part of the different affiliation packages on offer.

Affiliation runs from the 1st April to 31st March each year. At present, our affiliation packages range from bronze to gold as set out below…

• Bronze – this is our basic, standard affiliation scheme which includes ongoing backup and support, tailored training visits as required, free CRB checks for volunteers, free access to OCC Youth Service training events, a monthly email magazine, subsidised first aid training as well as access (with charge) to other programmes delivered by our Active Bodies and Active Minds departments.
• Silver – bronze package plus 2 A Team visits and a 10% discount on any other service/programme/training booked during the course of the year.
• Gold – bronze package plus 4 A Team visits, a 20% discount and first refusal on any other service/programme/training, e.g. Motiv8, provided by us during the course of the year.

To find out more about our affiliation scheme and download a copy of our affiliation guidelines and affiliation form please choose a link below:

Affiliation guidelines.pdf

Affiliation form.pdf