Forres youth club The Gaff! needs help to run at town’s community centre and St Leonard’s Church Hall
A youth club that recently added a midweek session at a purpose-built venue is appealing for help to keep up with demand.
As well as regular Saturday nights in St Leonard’s Church hall, The Gaff! is now on upstairs at Forres House Community Centre on Wednesday evenings - a space that offered entertainment for youths and children for decades until Moray Council started using it for office space when the Auchernack meeting point closed in 2020.
However, The Gaff! development officer, Helen Murdoch, has confirmed that the organisers have had to refuse entry.
She explained: “We are limited by venue size and the amount of adult helpers who can give up their time each week. We actually had to turn away several young people on Wednesday night as we were already at maximum capacity for the amount of volunteers we had.
“We encourage attendees to book spaces online, as this will ensure entry. Booking in advance also means we can collect emergency contact information, as well as any dietary requirements, and it is imperative that we keep the youth/volunteer ratios for safety reasons.”
Upstairs at the centre has an open plan area with a lift, toilets, table tennis, seating, additional tables and chairs, and a kitchenette.
Helen said: “Wednesdays give young people a safe space to meet with friends or make new friends in a relaxed environment where they can play board games or take part in arts and crafts.
“They love the contained, safe space previously used for youth clubs and a much-missed after-school club.
“We are also linking with Findhorn Bay Arts and YouthPoint Moray to offer access to creative projects and workshops related to health and wellbeing.
“And we have support from Moray Council staff who offer interactive sessions where young people can enhance their employability.”
Volunteers have so far included a home school link worker at Forres Academy and a pupil support assistant, helping to supervise around 30 attendees aged 11-16-years-old.
The youngsters have been decorating glass bottles and jars, making jewellery, creating keyrings and decorating hair accessories. Others have made good use of colouring-in books, drawing paper and sketch pads, with gel and felt pens.
Board games include Jumanji, Connect 4, Guess Who, and Monopoly, Jenga and card games like 'P is for Pizza' and 'Six Second Scribbles.'
“The attendees are keen to try new things,” said Helen. “It's useful to see what they gravitate to so that we can continue to support their interests.”
The Gaff! offers fresh fruit and vegetables, as well as a sweet treat such as brownies, donuts or cookies.
Helen added: “During our first midweek session, we treated attendees to fresh takeaway pizzas from Pizza Pan! We hope to offer hot snacks like toasties, soup and nachos.
“We would love to work with more local businesses. We have already spoken with Anna from Forres Coffee House and we are looking to secure some donations from Lidl and Maclean’s Highland Bakery.”
Attendee Ayla Acar, 12, enjoys the regular fun as well as the snacks. She said: “It’s better to hang out with friends in the Gaff! because it’s warm and there is plenty of stuff to do.“
Mina Gundogdu, 10, added: “The adults are really friendly.”
Lucas Oliver, 11, likes making bracelets while socialising. He added: “I’ve made friends from other schools too.”
Dainton Ferguson, 12, finished: “There are good video games to play and different stuff to try.”
Helen has enjoyed her first few months as The Gaff! development officer and, thanks to funding from the Moray Local Action Fund, tsiMoray and Moray Council, will be “sticking around for the foreseeable future”.
She said: “Our dedicated board of trustees and invaluable volunteers share the same sentiment: young people in Forres deserve space where they can socialise to positively impact their health.”
Helen has visited most of the primary schools and Forres Academy to gather ideas and feedback from pupils. The Gaff! is seeing more attendees every week as a result.
Helen said: “Teachers and support staff have also been really enthusiastic, demonstrating that we all care about their wellbeing and their future.
“The Gaff! has massive potential to continue to grow with local partnerships. Long term, we need our own venue and to reinstate our regular minibus transport with extra volunteers to drive it.
“We appreciate any kind of help, whether it's food shopping and food preparation, setting up, supervising, or helping us tidy up at the end.”
Volunteer, Kelly Warren, enjoys seeing the attendees getting along so well.
She said: “I also love seeing them outside the Gaff! and saying hello. It shows that what we are doing is reaching out into the community.”
For more information visit https://www.thegaff-forres.co.uk/, @thegaff_forres on Instagram, https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100094879303900&locale=en_GB or email Helen at thegaff.forres.2023@gmail.com
