Prince Philip comes to visit

Our Patron, His Royal Highness The Duke of Edinburgh came to Hackney on Tuesday 21st February to witness innovative youth work and London Youth’s new project Athan 31 in action.

He visited two of London Youth's member clubs: the Laburnum Boat Club and Hackney Quest.

Athan 31 is our new Youth Action programme. Over the past seven years, London Youth have seen the benefit of young people coming together in groups to design, lead and learn from projects that they have created themselves. Athan 31 takes this to the next level and, as well as supporting young people to develop their own projects, aims to impact the club at management level. Athan 31 begins to develop a culture of ‘youth action’ through training staff and sharing best practice across grass-roots organisations.

53% of clubs we've spoken to reported that young people are only rarely or occasionally involved in designing and delivering their own projects from the beginning to the end; and only 13% say that young people are frequently encouraged to make decisions at their youth club.

In this pilot year, the programme is working with 16 member clubs, including Hackney Quest, to support young people to run their own projects and take on leadership roles across four stages: my team; my club; my community; and my leadership.

During his visit Prince Philip had the opportunity to see a range of water sports activities along the canal (even hopping onto a narrow boat himself) and saw pancake tossing from some of the young people at the Laburnum Boat Club. Later, he moved on to Hackney Quest to witness an Athan 31 session in action, a healthy eating and fitness class, as well as speaking to the young people there about their current fundraising plans for their trip to Zambia to teach Tag Rugby. 

Prince Philip has been our Patron since 1946 and we very much appreciate his continued enthusiasm and support for the value of youth work and youth clubs.