Support for young people

The council supports children and young people in a variety of ways including helping them to have their say and improving availability of information and advice.

Ideas into action

Chichester District Council's youth engagement officers work in schools to deliver the "Ideas Into Action" programme. This programme enables pupils to learn more about their neighbourhood, the importance of having a voice, and how they can be influential to bring about change by having an active role in their community. On our YouTube page you can see the young people from The Academy Selsey putting their ideas into action Ideas into Action (opens new window).

Five Ways to Wellbeing

The Five Ways to Wellbeing asks children to focus on five positive actions they can incorporate into their daily lives, as individuals and also as part of their community.

The Five Ways are:

Connect - strengthen existing relationships whilst remembering to be safe online. It encourages young people to spend time with their friends and family and make time for having a chat.
Take notice - asks children to take time to stop, become aware of their surroundings and listen to their thoughts and feelings about them.
Be active - is for people of all ages you just need to raise your heart beat and have fun!
Keep learning - learning can also be taken out of the classroom, skills and ideas can be learnt everywhere.
Give - any acts of kindness, whether small or large can make you feel happier and more satisfied with life.

These workshops have been offered to schools in rural areas for year 5 pupils to learn about skills to self-manage emotions and activities to help them remain healthy both physically and mentally. This year Natures Way (opens new window) are sponsoring the workshops, Stephanie Jones, Head of Communications says: "We are very pleased to continue our support for Chichester District Council's Five Ways to Wellbeing Programme. The programme has gone from strength-to-strength and Natures Way Foods is delighted to see that the programme is reaching more pupils in primary and secondary schools in our area. Proud of how we do business is one of our core values and our involvement in the local community is an important part of bringing this value to life."

Here is a Five Ways to Wellbeing video (opens new window) from the schools visited in 2018/19 along with feedback from the teachers below on how they found the children engaged:

Tangmere student 'My favourite part was the relaxation because I was calm.'

The March student 'My favourite part of the five ways was when we sung the songs, because they made me have fun, also I loved the food.'

Central student 'My favourite part of the day was when we got into partners and we got to know what other people thought about us and also when we did the relaxation and the hand massage, also the popping the balloons.'

Midhurst teacher 'Year 5 thoroughly enjoyed the Five Ways to Wellbeing. As their teacher it helped me to spend time with them doing different activities as a bonding session and also to observe them interacting with each other. So much of our time is spent on English and Maths, really refreshing to spend a whole day thinking about our wellbeing, both physical and emotional.'

Outreach youth services

Your space is run by West Sussex County Council and is mainly aimed at young people aged 11 - 25 living in West Sussex. This website has information on all the things that are important to you in your life right now. As well as events and competitions there is also tons of stuff you can vote on, information on where to find help and advice, and details on what the Youth Cabinet have been up to.

The "Find it out centre" provides a service to all young people aged 13 to 25 years. They offer information, advice and guidance in an empowering and non-judgemental way. They offer a free and confidential service in the following areas:

housing & homelessness;
money matters;
benefits & debt;
management;
sexual health;
mental health;
relationship issues;
justice and equality;
drugs and alcohol;
advocacy, and;
education, employment and training.

The opening times are:

Monday, Wednesday and Friday 1.00pm - 5.00pm
Based at the New Park Centre on New Park Road, Chichester.

The Information Shop (opens new window), based in the Boys Club, Little London offers a free and confidential information and support service for 13 to 25 year olds. This is open weekday afternoons and offers emotional support in a safe and confidential environment on any issues that concern young people. The counselling service they offer is person-centred and is tailored to each client.

Local sports, arts and activities clubs

Chichester District Council has a comprehensive listing of sport and leisure clubs and societies in your area. The clubs are listed alphabetically by the name of the sport or activity, in our Sports club directory.

Contact us

For further information and advice email community@chichester.gov.uk. Alternatively, you can phone us on 01243 534749.