St Andrew’s Club – Berlin Marathon Fundraising

On Sunday 26^th September Ed Andrewes and Tony Sweeney will be running the Berlin Marathon to raise money on behalf of St Andrew’s Youth Club.

Established in 1866, St Andrew’s is the oldest youth club in the world and prides itself on offering young people opportunities they want and need, which they may otherwise be deprived of.  The Club relies on £150,000 of charitable income per annum to provide its pivotal services to the young people of Westminster and surrounding boroughs of Lambeth and Southwark.

St Andrew’s is housed in South Westminster – situated between Parliament and Buckingham Palace - to the outward eye a very affluent area. However, incredibly, the borough houses hidden pockets of great deprivation and the Club is situated within a locality that is in the bottom 15% most deprived neighbourhoods nationally.  The Club offers an inclusive environment, open to all members regardless of race, gender, faith, sexuality and background. The Club is the only one in South Westminster that isn’t situated within a housing estate, offering a ‘neutral’ environment to local young residents, many of whom are too intimidated to enter estates in which they do not live through fear of ‘turf warfare’.

The ethos of St Andrew’s is quite simple – offer a safe, welcoming and active environment – aiming to do right by members and to help them to help themselves and others.  Activities are balanced and appealing – providing a diversion to vulnerable young people who may be at risk from activities that are detrimental to their own wellbeing and safety.

St Andrew’s provides activities that are enabling, educational, fun and participative. The club has an annual membership of 650 young people between the ages of 9 and 19 and offers a full programme of activities including archery (unique in the area, and incredibly popular), badminton, basketball, snooker, dance, drama, music production, cookery, weight training.  Football is the main sporting activity and there is a full programme at the weekends. It provides local young people with a place they can congregate and channel their energies into positive uses in an environment that is supportive and safe. In addition to the main Club, there is a Junior Club twice weekly for 50 children between the ages of 5 and 9. 

As well as the activities the Club offers a number of mixed and single sex discussion groups dealing with topical and relevant issues. An example of such a session is the Club’s Cafe Project where staff and members discuss articles in the media, leading to informal but highly beneficial issue-based workshops around areas such as sexual stereotypes, weight and body issues, drugs, street crime and bullying.  Such workshops are vital to allow members to have open discussions around elements of society that affect them, developing confidence in discussion and independent thought. Members are encouraged to challenge stereotypes and to be sensitive to the needs and values of others. Discussion groups are also a key way for the Club’s youth workers to interact with members and to pick up on personal issues that may be affecting them.

St Andrew’s has a core staff of committed and talented youth workers – many of whom have themselves been members and grown-up with the club. The staff are liked, respected and looked up to by members which is fundamental to Club’s success. St Andrew’s offers a very cost-effective service with only one full time member of project staff – the Club Manager (who has been in the role for 23 years) - aided by 18 sessional staff and a bank of 29 volunteers. 

You can rarely access the media at present without witnessing an account of a horrific youth crime. St Andrew’s firmly believes in the approach that prevention is better than cure. By offering a safe and appealing environment and programme of activities, the Club engages young people who may otherwise become involved in crime or anti social behaviour.  It helps to develop the knowledge, attitude and skills of its members to assist them in making more informed choices about the world in which they live and to encourage them to expand their experiences.

We both very much hope that you are impressed by the truly inspirational work of the club and will sponsor us in our endeavours to raise £20K.  Either of us would be delighted to show you around the Club and further details, including a webcast, can be found http://www.standrewsclub.com/.