Residents of some Keighley housing estates are enjoying some street-based fun thanks to government’s Coronavirus Community Support fund, distributed by the National Lottery Community Fund.  Street Support sees Get Out More practitioners offering outdoor activities like street games, gardening and live entertainment that the residents of Hainworth, Woodhouse and Red Holt in Keighley can enjoy, even within the current restrictions.

2020 lockdown, ever changing restriction guidelines from October 2020 onwards and the fact we are slowly coming into autumn have all had a huge impact on the amount of time communities are able to safely, spend with each other. The knock on effect of this is increased feelings of isolation and loneliness which negatively impact the mental health of all ages.  With this new programme, we aim to help support residents increase their resilience and overall wellbeing whilst ensuring everyone stays safe!

Since the Covid-19 crisis began, Get Out More CIC has been supporting residents in these areas of Keighley, in particular providing ‘doorstep support’ for older residents who were unable to leave there house, families struggling to keep children entertained while schools were shut and general support with shopping, resources and community morale! During this time, we got to know many more residents well, learning about their ongoing needs and how we can provide future activities to support them.

Our street support sessions are well under way, with children in Hainworth taking part in conker competitions, traditional skipping rhymes and street games. Some of these sessions have taken place on a residential street with lots of older residents who loved coming out to watch children playing games they remember well from their own childhoods.

Upcoming sessions include the continuation of traditional street games, winter basket planting, wreath making, professional jive dancing entertainment and a brass band together with carol singing in December.  All our sessions ensure people are socially distanced but are still able to connect as a community.

One local resident got in touch after a session to say “Just wanted to say we had a fantastic time yesterday. Made some amazing memories. The work and passion that you showed was very apparent and this made the experience event better. Thank you for all the handy tips. My child was so happy. Looking forward to sending my other children to the holiday club. Keep up the great work!”

Keep an eye out on our website for full details of our upcoming sessions. All these sessions are free of charge.