The Easter holidays may have been dull for some considering many of us have been cooped up because of COVID-19, however here at Axis Educational Trust, we decided that we wanted to make an impact on the children suffering the most throughout the pandemic. It is of the upmost importance for children to face social interaction on a daily basis for their brain development, yet the coronavirus has created a lack of both physical school classes and social activities available to them.

Considering that school classes were the only method of interaction at the time, the coronavirus had a huge impact on a lot of children, mainly those who came from disadvantaged backgrounds. Our Board of Trustees, volunteers and young people collectively had the excellent idea of creating a safe environment for children aged 8 – 15 to interact and have fun during the holidays for free and called it ‘Active Minds’. The program took place at our rented venue in Colindale; North London Grammar School between 12 – 15 April and consisted of a variety of activities.

We ensured that all of the proper guidelines were taken – every participant’s temperature was taken, hand sanitizer was provided for everyone at time of arrival and before each activity, and groups were no larger than 15. All children were organized into groups depending on their age bracket in order for them to have the opportunity to undertake every activity available and to make them feel more at ease. The activities that took place consisted of art, basketball, cycling, table tennis, performing arts, and art. In order for the children to not get bored of any certain activities, we ensured there was a fair distribution by rotating the groups every hour and implemented a lunch break where we provided healthy snacks and refreshments.

In conclusion, the project was a total success. The children all benefitted from making new friends, learning new skills, and most importantly, keeping active during the summer holidays – which was our main goal with the project in itself. A big thank you to our funder John Lyon’s Charity, this program would not have been possible without them. We would also like to thank our fantastic activity instructors who made all the children feel at ease during the program.

For information about our upcoming Active Minds Summer 2021 program, please visit https://www.axiseducationaltrust.org/active-minds-summer-2021/