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

What another incredible week of HAPpy Camp at The Swan! We had a lovely day at the park playing pickleball, frisbee and, in true Swan style, running about like loons! 😄 Back at The Swan, our young people helped prepare lunch with sticky rice, gyoza and noodles, followed by banana bread for pudding. The challenge of the day was to eat with chopsticks, and we had a good laugh trying! It was wonderful to see our members trying new foods and having a go at new skills. We ended t

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

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 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