Longlevens Recycled Teenagers

By Carena, Community Builder

During Covid, groups in Longlevens had to stop meeting due to Covid restrictions and began meeting online instead.

As restrictions lifted in the middle of May. I reached out to residents who wanted to get back to meeting face to face. Most groups were still only meeting online, restricting some residents who were not as confident or did not have the capabilities to meet online.

The Longlevens Community Centre advertised that they will be open Monday to Friday every week from 10am to 12 noon to the public, serving tea and coffee, in line with Government guidelines.

I posted on Facebook, WhatsApp and made phone calls to residents to meet me at the community centre, to talk about what they would like to do to start meeting up physically again.

In the first week, 2 people turned up, on the second week 5 residents. This continued to grow, and now there are a core group of 12-15 people each week meeting up. The residents started getting to know each other and connecting. After a few weeks, the residents made it an official group and called themselves the Recycled Teenagers. This group has continued to grow and now has over 20 members.

People need physical connections, building a healthy routine for themselves at home and the opportunity to interact with people face to face. The companionship has been the driving force behind the group. Enabling the group to grow and create new activities from the input of new members.