By Anna Scott
The quest for affordable school holiday activities continues to occupy our time, even more so with Easter on the horizon. If your offspring are coming to the end of their second term at high school, you’re probably feeling the full effects of that dramatic life change. This transitional period is a tough one and not just during term time—finding things to keep a teenager (or pre-teen) amused and stimulated during the school holidays can often prove a difficult task. However, for those of you who are resident in the London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham, there is a great initiative that might go some way to easing the stress of school holiday entertainment. And one of the very best things about it? It’s absolutely free.
Let Me Play is a council-funded scheme that offers a programme of activities suitable for 11- to 19-year-olds throughout the borough. They’ve just completed a February half term jam-packed full of workshops centred around three different themes: art and fashion, sport and wellbeing, and performing arts and music. Examples of previous classes include learning the basics of stage makeup at the Lyric Theatre in Hammersmith, trying out different techniques of graffiti design, cookery classes, performing arts camps and street dance sessions. Sporting activities have covered everything from football, basketball and rugby to tennis and gym sessions. Workshops range from one-day activities to weeklong courses—with such a varied array on offer, there’s bound to be something to interest your offspring.
Following a successful run of activities in the last half term holiday, the Let Me Play Easter programme, running between 14th and 17th April and 22nd and 25th April, is due to be confirmed in the next couple of weeks—so stay tuned to WLM’s Easter holiday guide as well as the borough’s website. Hammersmith and Fulham’s co-ordinator, Julia Cheng says, “We will be running activities every day during these dates including ‘Hammersmith’s Got Talent 2014’ and ‘Borough Sports Championships’ along with all our other free activities like basketball, cookery, graffiti, hair and beauty, fashion design, drama and street dance and much more.”
So if you’re worried about what will happen when the school holiday boredom sets in, it won’t take much persuasion to get your kids to take up one of these opportunities. For more information on past courses and up and coming workshops, visit the Hammersmith and Fulham Let Me Play site, or contact them on [email protected].
About the author:
Anna Scott is a freelance writer, parent, procrastinator and Hammersmith resident. When she’s not attempting to write her first young adult fiction novel, in between reading and reviewing the odd book or two, she can be found chasing after her two little girls. In a previous life she was a politics graduate and wine trade lackey. Head over to Anna Scott Jots to find out more…
