Impact is making a difference to the lives of 6 young people from the Grange school in Somerford, Christchurch.

Project leader, Neil Robertson said “there are loads of young people out there saying they have nothing to do. We (adults) think, What do you mean there is loads for you to do. This project aims to teach a small group of young people the skills and confidence needed to maintain bicycles, from fixing a puncture to overhauling suspension. It not just about bikes. The young people we are working with have, for a variety of reasons, found mainstream school tough. This projects gives them a chance to do something practical and to excel. Working in small groups, with plenty of support from our team we can do far more than teach them to fix bikes. We aim to see improvements in their self esteem, ability to cope with conflict and their motivation for education.”

Currently Impact has funding for a 10 week project. It is hoped this will be extended for another 10 weeks. We will carry out an evaluation of the project in July and then decided whether to seek funding for a long term project.

Impact would like to thank The Christchurch Area Youth Service for there help and support with this project and Christchurch Locality for funding the initial weeks of the project and enabling us to purchase tools and equipment.

If anyone would like to sponsor Impact for this work or make a donation towards the work of Impact please click on “Supporting Us” at the top of this website.