Swan Highlights

What a wonderful final week of our HAPpy Camp Summer 2026! We started the week with park fun, a visit to the Town Hall library and a very important discovery… we thought we'd found Marge Simpson's hair! 😄 Thankfully, it was just our first attempt at making our own candy floss! There were lots of smiles, a wonderful lunch together and plenty of candy floss making. A lovely start to our last week of HAPpy Camp. Food continued to be a big part of the week. We used freshly picke

A huge thank you to David Taylor MP and Victoria Collins for their support during our meeting about the Dacorum Youth Hub. Thank you both for helping The Swan Youth Project connect with partners working on a youth hub for Dacorum. It was really positive to see cross-party work being done to support young people within Dacorum. This collaboration shows that despite political differences, we can work together for a better future for young people in our communities. Watch this s

What a fantastic first week of HAPpy Camp at The Swan! Our young people got involved in so many different activities throughout the week. We spent time at the park playing dodgeball, trying an exercise circuit and playing plenty of games together. Back at The Swan, there was lots of creativity with decorated water bottles, Hama beads, drawing and clay modelling. 🎨✨ Food was a big part of our week too. Our young people helped prepare lunches, chopped fruit and vegetables, lea

Catherine McArevey, who was Mayor of Dacorum at the time, took the Hot Seat at The Swan back in May. Our young people asked their own questions, heard about Catherine’s journey and learnt more about the role of Mayor. Watch the full Hot Seat interview below. 🔥💜

A huge thank you to our wonderful Waitrose Berkhamsted angels 😇 for their donation towards our end-of-term party on 17th July. They are so generous and kind and always think about supporting us at The Swan Youth Project. We couldn't do it without Maggie and the team and everything they do to make a positive difference to our members. We adore you all! ❤️ Community supporting community.

What a wonderful time we had at the Community Fete at George Street Park with the lovely team from Sunnyside Church Berkhamsted. We were so blessed to be part of this lovely event, with lots of arts and crafts, temporary tattoos and plants for sale. Lots of plants were sold, many tattoos were applied and it was lovely to see so many people come along and enjoy the afternoon. A huge thank you to everyone involved in making the day so enjoyable, including our special guests. An

A HUGE thank you to the wonderful Vicki, Sandra and the team at COOK for their generous donation of meals to The Swan Youth Project. We are so very grateful for this. As part of our mission, we believe that no child should go hungry, and having this support means so much to us and our young people. We are so blessed to have such amazing support from our local community. Community helping community. ❤️

The very amazing James Butler took on our Hot Seat! What many people may not know is that James has also been volunteering at The Swan Youth Project and has been an invaluable member of our team. He has been so engaging with our members, his cooking skills weren't bad either 😄, and all round he has just been a great human to have around. James has a new job, so we just wanted to say it's been a blast and we hope you come back and see us soon. All the best in your future ende

We had lots of fun this month, tried new things, got a bit messy and laughed a lot. We made crafts, tried slime, spent time outside, did a bit of gardening and had two days at the skate park. 🌱🙌 There were also plenty of games, good food and, of course… chocolate! 🍫✨ Lots of fresh air, moving, chatting and good energy. These are the everyday days at The Swan. A place where young people have: ☝🏻 Somewhere to go 🌟☝🏻 Something to do 🌟☝🏻 Someone to listen 🌟 And sometimes

A huge thank you to QCS for hosting such a wonderful fundraising event for us at The Swan Youth Project as part of their World Cultural Day celebration. 💙 Their staff went above and beyond, each cooking their own amazing dishes for us to taste and vote on — and wow, the competition was fierce! 🍽️👏 The effort, generosity and community spirit shown throughout the evening meant so much to us. At The Swan Youth Project, we are passionate about promoting acceptance, inclusion a

We were lucky to have some lovely volunteers join us at The Swan Youth Project to make tote bags and pencil cases with our young people. ✨ As it was Mental Health Awareness Week, we wanted to do an activity that encouraged our young people to step away from their phones and everyday stresses for a while, and instead focus on creativity, connection and wellbeing. 💚 It was amazing to see how creative everyone got, and we were completely blown away by some of the designs and wo

A huge thank you to the then Mayor of Dacorum, Catherine McArevey, for visiting The Swan Youth Project and taking part in our “Hot Seat” session with young people. It was a really inspiring afternoon, full of thoughtful questions, honest conversations and lots of laughter. Our young people asked questions about things that matter to them, including safe spaces to spend time with friends, protecting the environment, mental wellbeing and how they can make their voices heard in

What a wonderful evening at Berkhamsted Town Hall celebrating one of our Swan members, Alexi, who received the Junior Rotary Award. Alexi was recognised for his support of young people in the community, his resilience and his commitment to helping others. In a world where young people are surrounded by so many different influences, we are incredibly proud to call Alexi one of our own role models. I have had the privilege of working with him since his primary school days and w

Our kitchen turned into a little piece of Italy when Massimo joined us for a cooking session with our Swan members. It wasn't just about cooking. There was lots of sharing, laughing and learning the small secrets that can make a big difference when making a good pasta dish. Together, we cooked pasta and made three different sauces: olive oil and garlic, tomato, and broccoli with a few anchovies, which surprised everyone! The best reaction came from one young person who doesn'

We are feeling very grateful for the donation of a minibus from Berkhamsted School! 🚌 The team really pulled out all the stops. Not only did they give us the minibus, but they also helped with all the paperwork, and poor Alan Gillman had to take me out for some practice runs! We are pleased to say he has now fully recovered from being a passenger! 😄 Another huge thank you to the wonderful Richard Thompson for helping make this possible. What started as a seed of an idea man

There was plenty of chocolate at The Swan this week! We're open Monday to Friday for young people aged 11–16+, and there's always something different going on after school. Some days we cook, some days we get creative, play games, have competitions or just sit down and have a chat. This time, it was all about chocolate. Everyone made their own bar, choosing what to add. There were lots of different ideas, a bit of mess, and plenty of tasting along the way. We added a little c

It’s already the second week since we reopened, and we are absolutely loving our refreshed centre! Every day, we hear the most wonderful feedback from our members and our partners at Mencap . It’s incredible to see the reaction — everyone who walks in immediately notices how much better everything feels. It has truly become such a lovely, bright, and welcoming place to be. A huge thank you once again to Peabody Community Foundation and Lux Property Services for the incredib

The doors are open, and it feels amazing to be back! We reopened today, returning to our usual hours: Monday to Friday, 3:30pm – 6:00pm. It was wonderful to see so many familiar faces. The most common reaction from our young people? “It looks so clean!” The centre feels much fresher and brighter, and the new colours have been a huge hit with everyone. A massive thank you again to Peabody Community Foundation and Lux Property Services for such a fantastic job. Seeing the me

Take a look at these changes! The centre is looking incredible, and we simply cannot wait for you to see it for yourselves. This transformation has been made possible thanks to the amazing support from Lux Property Services , Peabody Community Foundation , and Connect Property Services . Thank you for helping us create such a bright and welcoming space for our young people. We’ve really missed the noise and laughter in these rooms, and we are now busy getting everything ready

Wednesday was such a special day for all of us at The Swan Youth Centre . We were absolutely thrilled to welcome our Mayor, Councillor Catherine McArevey , to see our amazing new renovations and officially cut the ribbon ahead of our grand opening. It was a lovely opportunity to show her around, chat about our transformation, and share more about the positive difference our work makes in the lives of young people. We are so grateful she took the time to listen and learn more