Showing at the Aldwich Theatre our young people met up with other groups who are also part of the programme. For some this was the first time they had been into a theatre to see a show. Many of the young people who attend the Dragon Hall Youth Club live in the Covent Garden and Holborn area – a very short walk to the West End and numerous theatres – however most had never been to see a West End show.

They all loved ‘Dirty Dancing’ and had a fantastic time – here are a few pictures of the trip…

[View with PicLens]

Street Dance Back by popular demand! With Teachers from Sadlers Wells and supported by London Youth, Dragon Hall is very pleased to have a new course of street dance available to all young people aged 8 upwards.

To reserve your place please call 020 7404 7274 or email info@dragonhall.org.uk

A very successful and fruitful Easter Playscheme helped by our new Neighbours in Business ‘The Metro bank’. We were lucky enough to have 4 volunteers come in every Wednesday and support the young people in any shape or form.

Apart from our usual mix of indoor sports like table tennis, pool and play station comp we tried something totally new and different this time. We introduced singing and acting to the playscheme loosely based on Oliver the musical. One of our parents gave up her time to come in and teach the Young people songs from Oliver (thank you Gillian) and our lovely Drama people from Pascal Theatre l taught them how to act. This was indeed an eye-opener for all staff and we were surprised and delighted by the talent we had at our scheme.

We were not just confined to singing and acting, oh no! We also had 2 lovely trips out. One to the Natural History Museum where we queued to see the fantastic Dinosaur exhibition, it was worth the wait. The other trip was to Mudchute Farm where we mingled freely with the sheep and fed the Llamas. The weather was once again on our side and fun was had by all.

The second week was once again a really busy one for our Young People as our acting and singing came together to produce a showcase of what we had learned so far, in front of a small audience made up of parents and office staff. The young people brought tears to our eyes as they were superb and now we can’t wait until they perform it in front of a much larger audience later on in May.

Yet again we had 2 Fantastic trips.

By popular demand we went back to the Wetlands Centre and again the day was fantastic fun. We even managed to get some pond dipping into our day which was very exciting, especially when we caught a small looking reptile!

Our second trip saw us showing off our skills at the bowling alley where the girls were victorious over the boys.
We had such a surprise on Friday as during the party we had a visit from Mr. Metro and staff who came bearing gifts of pens and lollies which fitted in nicely with our end of play scheme party.
I would once again like to thank all the parents for their great support and generous donations of food and drink for this Easter.

We are all looking forward to our May half term all be it for 4 days.

We are launching our new after school club, every Friday during term time starting on the 23rd April 2010. The club will start at 3:30pm and go on to 6:30pm.

The club is for ages 8 to 11.

We have planned an exciting programme

• Homework hour
• Arts and Crafts time
• Physical Activities

All these activities are FREE!!

Contact us to register your interest.

Places are limited so early booking is essential to get a place!

020 7404 7274
or email editor@dragonhall.org.uk

Whats happening!

23 April
3:30pm Homework Club
4:30pm Glass Painting
5:30pm Games and Play

30 April
3:30pm Homework Club
4:30pm Canvas Designs
5:30pm Martial Arts Trial

7 May
3:30pm Homework Club
4:30pm Cooking
5:30pm Rounders

14 May
3:30pm Homework Club
4:30pm Graffiti Workshop
5:30pm Football Trial

21 May
3:30pm Homework Club
4:30pm T-Shirt Printing
5:30pm Mini Olympics

28 May
3:30pm Homework Club
4:30pm Marble Ink
5:30pm Basket Ball

Would you like to gain experience working with children & young people aged 8-12yrs?

Then why don’t you volunteer at our holiday play schemes? We run them every school holiday throughout the year. We try to make sure that everyone has lots of fun and gets the chance to learn new things & go to new places.

The dates when we need people are:

• 5th to 16th April
• 31st May to 7th June
• 5th August – 9th August
• 12th August – 16th August
• 19th August – 26th August
• 30th August.

This is a fantastic opportunity to develop your skills, gain a reference and take part in training.

If you are interested then please contact James on:
Tel: 0207 404 7274
e-mail: youth@dragonhall.org.uk

with former WBO champion Jason ‘the method man’ Matthews!

Every Friday from 8pm to 10pm at Dragon Hall.

What is non contact boxing?
The first impression people have with this sport is they will have to get in the ring and hit people. In reality, that is not true. Some people, when they take up the sport, are indeed training to be boxers. However, there are a growing number of new people who are taking up the sport for the health related benefits. So, we need to get one thing perfectly clear. We are not going to EVER have to hit another person when we start our boxing training. And you NEVER get hit by another person. People will often ask you when you tell them you are starting to take boxing training, “Doesn’t it hurt when you get hit?” or “How do you protect yourself from being hurt?” You would tell them that you have no idea because you will never get hit by another person. Remember, you are taking boxing training for the physical and mental benefits they provide.

Who is the Trainer? Jason ‘Method man’ Matthews turned pro in 1995 and won the former WBO intercontinental Champion, Former Commonwealth champion and WBO middleweight title on June 17, 1999 with a victory against Ryan Rhodes.
Jason is now working as a street warden for Camden Council.

When and where? The training will be taking place at Dragon hall in the main hall from 8pm – 10pm every Friday.
Other Information: During these sessions there will be youth workers on site at all times.

‘We had our first session on Friday 26th February. This was well attended with a mixture of young people drawn from across Camden. Jason put the group through its paces, giving the participants new skills knowledge and understanding. The group is excited about the next stage and cannot wait to attend next week.’

Funded by Camden Street Wardens, Dragon Hall

From 29th January 2010 we will be starting Street Dance Workshops given by Sadlers Wells and supported by London Youth. The sessions will be on Fridays from 5:15pm to 6:15pm. The workshops are for ages 8 to 12 years. Places are limited so if you would like to join in please email or call to put your name down.

Meet new people
Do something that we don’t really often do
Giving us access to money that we normally wouldn’t get
Getting to know the youth workers better

What were your experiences going through the process?

It was fun
It was rewarding
The paper work was a bit hard
We learnt a lot of new things
It allowed us to feel like young people

What are you going to do next with the help of the Keyfund?
Where are thinking about a gym project to help with our fitness
And we are in the process of brain storming more ideas

by zahra

The Keyfund helps groups of young people recognise and develop transferable skills whilst at the same time accessing up to £3,750 to spend on activities that they want to do.

This presentation was the culmination of weeks of thought, planning, research, presentation and  development of their ideas.
They presented their requests for funding, supported by detailed research, costings and evidence of their own learning during the process. The skills they  identified using included problem solving, negotiation, communication, planning and settling disagreements.

The young people were successful in their bids to fund a football tournament, a playstation 3 console plus games and a trip to the cinema  plus dinner.

See a review of the process by Zahia

Thanks to the Playscheme Co-ordinator Jasmine Roynon and Fathia Abdulrahman (other playscheme worker) for working tirelessly to improve the holiday programmes. They were supported by Junel Ahmed, Samiur Rahman (both senior volunteers) and Jacob

Activities included a trip to the Clink Museum and the Transport Museum, bowling and football, a street dance session and the halloween party.

The next Playscheme is from Feb 15th to 19th 2010, 10am to 4pm. If you are aged between 8 and 12 why not come and join us at Dragon Hall. The cost is £16 if paid before Jan 15th and £20 after that date. 2 or more siblings one pays full price and the rest pay half price.

‘Playscheme is fun, exciting and always full of surprises!’ Junel