Dave McNicholl is chief executive of Warrington Youth Zone and writes a regular column for the Warrington Guardian

 

Just before the school summer holidays last year, we were contacted by Councillor Paul Warburton to recommend we connected with Fidler’s Ferry Sailing Club. Although I have worked in Warrington since 2008, I was unaware of the club, and it was amazing to visit the club and see the excellent facilities they have on the edge of the Mersey Estuary.

With the support of the volunteers who run the sailing club we were able to take 65 individual children and young people to try sailing and throughout the holidays.

This summer we have managed to work with the volunteers at the sailing club again to coordinate a sailing course for a group of our senior members who have shown a passion for the sport. We are also aiming to provide the chance for our junior members to try sailing.

I strongly encourage local families and individuals to contact the team at Fiddler’s Ferry Sailing Club and take a visit, they are really keen to encourage more people from across the borough to join the club and learn to sail, information on the sailing club can be found here: https://fidlersferrysailing.org.uk/

In 2022 just before we opened the Youth Zone, we were gifted with six canoes which were donated to us by local company Hou Canoes, they are completely unique canoes as there were Vimto themed being purple in colour and branded with the Vimto Logo.

The canoes are used to give children and young people the opportunity to canoe, the majority for the first time. The canoes have brought fun and excitement to hundreds of children and young people. Warrington Borough Council kindly agreed to store the canoes at the Transport Depot in Woolston. We were devastated to find that two of the canoes had been stolen from the site overnight on Sunday,  July 28. We did have canoeing trips planned throughout August for children and young people, most of which have had to be postponed or fewer places now available for children to take part.

If anyone has any information about there whereabouts of these canoes, please contact us. If you would like more information about Warrington Youth Zone and our activities or if you are involved in a group or club that supports children and young people and would like to access the Youth Zone please contact us info@wyz.org.uk call 01925-997277 or visit our website www.warringtonyouthzone.org