Return of the Airplay: Henlow strikes back!

Youngsters at RAF Henlow are excited to be able to return to their youth group following restrictions due to COVID-19. In this guest blog, station youth worker Julia Purton gives her take on getting Airplay going again.

"We all knew how important it was to bring Airplay back to Henlow after lockdown but we didn't realise how important it was to the young people until we started talking to them. It was important to bring it back for a group of young people who were transitioning up to middle school from lower school and so the youth club provided them with support and also any new young people had a chance to make new friends before going to school.

"In a world that was no longer normal we wanted to give the young people some sort of normal so we set up our sessions again and invited all our young people back. We weren't sure how many we would get but our young people wanted to see us and get back to youth club and our numbers were really good.

"We asked the young people why they were so eager to come back to youth club and the main answers were because they wanted to be back with their friends and have fun in a safe environment. They also said they wanted to come back to somewhere that was away from their parents and they could talk to the staff about things they didn't want to talk about with their parents. A lot of the answers were also around freedom and after months of being inside and being told what to do all the time they relished in the fact they could come to youth club and choose from the activities we set out and most importantly they got to do fun activities away from their siblings!

"The fact that the young people all came back to youth club and embraced the changes and are enjoying it just shows how much it is needed. It is their space where they can be whoever they want to be and have fun with their friends in a safe space."

One of the young people who takes part in the sessions, aged nine, shared that the "youth club is the best because you see your friends and play games and you're never upset because it makes you happy. Who you gonna call? Youth club!"