History

Founded in 1947, Warwickshire Clubs for Young People is a charity that exists to support and enhance the lives of young people through sport and leisure activities.

Exercise through participation in sport is a wonderful way to get fit, meet new friends and gain confidence. But many young people, especially those from less privileged backgrounds, miss out on the opportunity to take part. Our mission had always been to change that by creating chances for young people to meet and participate in a variety of different sports and leisure activities. Fishing, boxing, tennis, sailing, kayaking, football, basketball, hockey, golf, cricket, scuba diving, music, dance and drama, give a small flavour of our varied schedule. Our Sport4Youth initiative features courses that use existing sporting organisations, their facilities and their qualified coaches. Moreover, it is open to every single youth group across the region, extending the reach and impact of our work with young people. By making sport and activities accessible for young people, we help them to overcome barriers to learning and social inclusion and address the issues that lead to poor health, discrimination and disaffection. And it works! Over many years, young members (girls and boys) from our affiliated youth clubs have achieved regional and national recognition in their activities. But, whether they reach these dizzy heights or not, meeting together to enjoy sport and leisure has a very positive impact on young peoples' mental, physical and social well-being. We work in partnership with youth clubs and groups throughout Warwickshire, Coventry and Solihull, with the support of hundreds of leaders, workers and volunteers. Together, the sports and activities opportunities attract many thousands of young people every year.

The Future

Due to financial circumstances the Board of Directors made the decision to sell the James West Centre and to use the revenue to support WCYP's service delivery. On 7th December 2007 WCYP moved offices to its new home, Lillington Youth Centre (above). WCYP is now in the position to develop its programme whilst concentrating on ensuring a sustainable future. We are now in the process of recruiting four new development workers to raise the organisations profile, increase its membership and to deliver more sports and activities.