Hangout funding remaining after the closure of the Youth Group went on to support numerous other youth projects in the area
When? 2020-2024
Up until early 2020 all funding for the Hangout was focused on keeping the Youth Group up and running and meeting the ongoing costs of doing that.
There was of course a small income from session fees from the young people attending, but most of the rest of the funding would come from donations and fundraisers and from grants.
Of course Big Local North Cleethorpes was the first investor in the Youth Group with the seed funding and core funding to get the group running. But after that the Hangout itself was kindly sponsored in cash or ran fundraisers or got donations and was also successful with a £10k Awards for All grant to get the group on a good financial footing right up front.
Things ground to a halt in 2020 when Covid closed the doors, and eventually, after looking into the logistics of keeping the group running, it unfortunately closed its doors for good.
But the remnants of the Hangout Committee – largely Darren Linford and Karl Elliott – with the support of VANEL and Big Local North Cleethorpes, decided to keep using the remaining Hangout funds to support other local North Cleethorpes projects that supported young people.
In fact, the remaining funds were even topped up at one point through a small ParentZone grant in 2021 which allowed us to remotely provide some tech support to local families, whilst supporting the group with a small amount of extra finance.
The funds available at April 2020 when CYC The Hangout essentially closed were invested in other projects all the way through to the end of 2024. That’s essentially nearly four years of extra impact on the young people of North Cleethorpes – an extra legacy of which Big Local North Cleethorpes are proud.
What Hangout funded…
An overview (probably not complete) as to the projects Hangout funding was able to support after it closed the doors.
– A donation to CARE’s Toys for Joy campaign
– Parkour in the Park event. Police led activities in Sidney Sussex Recreation Ground in 2021. A very small contribution from the Hangout.
– Two Urban Arts Festivals in 2022 and 2023. At both events Hangout funded children’s Craft and Arts workshops at the Leisure Centre during the weekends of the event. (Which had also been sponsored by Big Local North Cleethorpes)
– Daubney Street Neighbourhood Watch Group hosts regular activities for children in their street and surrounding streets. Christmas, Halloween, Easter and Summer activities all get their support. So Hangout has funded a number of their events by paying for craft materials, hanging baskets and other items for the children to use and enjoy.
– Reynolds Family Hub had a major refurbishment of their outdoor garden and space for the children. Hangout provided a substantial amount to help pay for a large, rainbow coloured sandpit.
– In 2022, Hangout provided small amounts of funding to the Sidney Park Partnership to support a summer of fun for local children and families. A camera was also donated.
– Hangout also funded football kit for the junior football team in Sidney Park.
– The Ghetto Park is in East Marsh but is a unique facility and brings in young kids from all over the area to use the skate park and more. – – In 2022 Hangout funded a free session for all the kids on the Ghetto Park register from the North Cleethorpes area.
– Hangout made a small donation of equipment in 2023 to support the Little Green Influencers group running at Reynolds Family Hub and their wider network of school groups in the North Cleethorpes area.
– In 2023 Hangout supported Trinity Sounds with their DJ sessions and a music showcase. See the separate photo story here.
– In 2024 Hangout supported a local reading programme for children. We matched the Start for Life funding received by Reynolds Family Hub to help them purchase reading books. We even ran our own Hungry Caterpillar reading and crafting session in the shed at 82 Grimsby Road to support the project.
– We funded the materials too to enable the crafting group at 82 to make cushions and book covers for the reading programme for additional support.
– Late 2024 Hangout funded Lyns Powles to run a series of youth art workshops from the newly established TickART office on Cleethorpes Station. Sessions run late 2024 and into early 2025.
– Finally, all the equipment that was left over from the days running the Hangout Youth Group was distributed to other groups who could make ongoing use of it. The major items such as pool table, table tennis table and table football all remained at Kings Baptist Church to support their existing church youth projects. Other items were donated to a number of community hubs and youth projects across North East Lincolnshire. Nothing was wasted.
Overall that’s a lot of impact from the remaining Hangout funding for nearly four years after the closure of the Youth Group itself.