Summer activities 2026!
Work Experience Week - Saturday 11 - Friday 17 July
Crediton Town Council is delighted to be offering work experience placements to a whopping nine young people this year, reinforcing its commitment to helping local young people develop essential workplace skills, confidence and experience.
The programme forms part of the Council's youth strategic objectives to support learning, skills development and personal growth, ensuring that young people in Crediton have opportunities to gain practical experience and a better understanding of the world of work.
Participants will spend time working alongside council staff and elected members, learning about local government, community engagement and the different roles involved within the town council. The placements are designed not only to build employability skills, but also to help young people grow in confidence, develop communication skills and feel more connected to their community.
This opportunity comes at a particularly important time. VOYC Devon announced that nationally, more than one million young people aged 16–24 are now classified as NEET (Not in Education, Employment or Training), with recent figures showing this number has risen to over 1,012,000.
The challenges facing young people are particularly acute in rural areas such as Devon. The decline of traditional "Saturday jobs", seasonal employment patterns, rising transport costs and limited public transport can all make it difficult for young people to access valuable work opportunities.
A parent of one of last year's participants said:
"Jane thoroughly enjoyed last year's work experience! During the project, she was so energised and engaged, it really lit a passion in her for local government and how it sees the younger members of the community. She gained in confidence, especially in speaking to adults outside of the school environment on challenging topics. I would encourage any young person considering it to give it a go!"
Whilst we cannot solve the national challenge of youth inactivity, Crediton Town Council is determined to play its part. In a country where over a million young people are currently struggling to find their next step, the Council is pleased to be helping nine local young people take theirs.
Youth Festival - Monday 20 July
Our youth work team has enjoyed a fantastic summer with young people across Crediton. Alongside our regular project night and girls’ group activities, we hosted eight young people for work experience. They joined in with a range of youth work activities and even created a fundraising video — look out for it on our social media channels. A highlight for many was taking part in Crediton Food Festival and giving something back to the local community.
In partnership with Community Alcohol Partnership (CAP), we ran a Youth Fringe event in Newcombes Meadow Park, featuring graffiti art, games, zorbs and sumo suits, with support from our friends at Space Youth Services.
Thanks to the Crediton Heart Project, young people also took part in two creative workshops: giant flower making and drumming. To round off the summer, Crediton Youth Voice ran two fun-packed activity days, followed by a screening of Rio in partnership with Films for Crediton.
Twenty young people attended a First Aid course, initiated by Crediton Youth Voice as part of our commitment to providing practical skills and learning opportunities. They learned CPR, how to respond to injuries, and how to use a defibrillator.
National Emergency Briefing - Monday 28 September
Crediton Youth Service and Queen Elizabeth’s School co-hosted the first Devon County school screening of the National Emergency Briefing on Monday September 28th. The event attracted 54 attendees, with over 30 young people from QE Sixth Form and Exeter College.
Zeph Corthorn (QE Sixth Form) instigated the screening, after watching the film with Crediton Youth Voice:
"I saw this briefing in Crediton earlier this year and I thought it was so important that I decided to try and get my school to screen it. This film needs to be seen by as many people as possible because it is so eye-opening and informative. "
The short film creates a shared understanding of the scale and implications of climate and nature breakdown and encourages discussion about shared climate action through community conversation.
Following the screening, Crediton Town Council Peer Educators, Zeph and Izzy, shared their reactions. Zeph said:
"This is the least extreme weather we are going to experience in our lifetimes, and the National Emergency Briefing sets out the important information on the nature and timescale of the threats to this country, and how we can approach dealing with them".
Zeph went on to talk about biodiversity in Crediton and the Youth Service’s work, such as the micro-forest project; Izzy shared opportunities for young people to get involved and make their voices heard; Tamlyn Fraiquin shared information on a wide range of student led QE projects.
Rt Hon Mel Stride had been invited to the screening, and the audience was encouraged to write to him. 12 messages were collected asking for a range of climate actions. Perhaps the most impactful, was one young person's simple appeal to Mel Stride: "Lock in bro, we need u".
A community discussion explored how Queen Elizabeth’s School and the wider Crediton area could become more sustainable. Students were encouraged to join local climate-action activities, including QE Gardening Club and Crediton Youth Council.
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Crediton Youth Service's swap shop a hit at Big Green Fair | Crediton Courier
CREDITON Youth Service organised a successful ‘Swap Shop’ at the Big Green Fair on Saturday, hosted by Sustainable Crediton.
As part of Sustainable September, Crediton Youth Service organised a ‘Swap Shop’ where children were able to bring toys, games and books they no longer used, to then swap with other toys, games, and books available.
Friends of the Library kindly contributed books for the stall and those without items could donate money towards Friends of the Library, overall, raising £81.70!
As part of Crediton Youth Service’s ‘Tree on Tour’, Youth Service Peers were able to use this opportunity to speak to the public about suggestions on how to improve Crediton’s sustainability and raising awareness of their micro-forest project.
For more informationabout projects for young people contact c.kelly@crediton.gov.uk