On 17th April, Take Action volunteers offered to cook lunch for the residents of Meon Court in Southampton (which provides supported housing for older people).

When we offered to cook the lunch, we were cooking for fifteen. As word got out, the numbers increased and in the end thirty residents sat down for a three course meal.

Solent Youth Action volunteers from Portsmouth are being offered the opportunity to take part in an OCN Level 1 Award in Preparation for Event Volunteering.

The Personal Best course, run by Learning Links will be starting at the end of May for 11 weeks over one and a half days per week.

As a learner on the course you will be taught about the Olympics, volunteering, health and safety, team skills, equality and customer relations. You will also undertake a volunteer placement.

To qualify for a place on this fantastic course, endorsed by Lord Seb Coe himself, and to earn yourself the chance to become qualified to volunteer at the London 2012 Olympics you must:

• Be aged 19 - 30years
• Be NEET – Not in Employment, Education or Training^*
• NOT hold a GCSE in Maths or English above a D grade  

Solent Youth Action invites you to celebrate Volunteers Week with us at our new central office in Eastleigh.

We will be hosting an open afternoon for volunteers and organisations to come and see the new offices and learn more about what we do.

We will be providing a light lunch and refreshments, so please pop in anytime between 12 noon and 2pm.

The open afternoon will be held on:

Wednesday the 2nd of June, 12 noon till 2pm

(Limited parking but two hour bays available on Toynbee Road)

We hope to see you there!

On 7th April 2010, Solent Youth Action volunteers helped on the SYA Millbrook allotment in Southamton with planting the first of this year's crop.

They dug trenches and put the potatoes in, then planted the shallots.

The young people are keen to get down there and get the red and brown onions in over the next few weeks.

Then they will be focusing on transferring those vegetables that are currently growing in seed trays, to the ground.

On Tuesday 13th April 2010, Solent Youth Action volunteers joined other volunteers from Hampshire and Isle of Wight Wildlife Trust to survey a part of the New Forest for wildlife.

We headed to an area known as Sheffield Copse, just outside Brockenhurst.

The day started with a good cup of tea before finding a tree to use as a base… then we had to wait. Armed with binoculars we had to sit completely still for an hour and count the wildlife that we could see from our spot. We were lucky enough to see deers, butterflies, insects, woodpeckers and much more. This was followed by a picnic in the forest and a lesson in how to identify animal tracks.

On Wednesday 14th April 2010, eight volunteers from Take Action Eastleigh spent the morning at South Hants Pony and Horse Protection Group helping them with their morning routine.

On arrival at the stables, after a little time spent with Brambles and Pocket the ponies, everyone got to work. The first part of the morning involved mucking out the six horses rooms, sweeping up, changing food and water, and making hay bails.

Once the hard part was done, it was time to bring the horses down from their field to groom them! They horses ate hay patiently while the volunteers got to work making them look their best. It involved brushing their coats, conditioning and brushing their manes and cleaning the mud out of their hooves. As the summer is coming, all 6 of the horses and ponies spend their day out in the field, so after an eventful journey (Pocket decided the grass was better than the walking!) we eventually got them back up to their fields.

We are looking for young people from across the Portsmouth area to complete an NVQ Level 2 in Sports Coaching and Leadership with Portsmouth Football Club. To start May 10th.

This course covers sports coaching and leadership. Run by Henry Millington from Portsmouth Football Club the course will compose of 2 hours p/w in the classroom at Pompey Study Centre, approx 2hours per week participating in sports and up to 50 hours in a volunteering roll across the allocated time period. We are looking at the course running for 6 months on a Monday afternoon.

Volunteers from across Hampshire were tasked this month with encouraging communities to get more involved in recycling, protecting the environment and saving energy.

Solent Youth Action got together with Groundwork Solent to build compost bins for Ropewalk Community Garden in Southampton.

The 'secret garden' in the city is home not only to a Caribbean themed playground but an interesting collection of trees, shrubs, vegetables, flowers and herbs and they all need good quality compost to help them grow.