Rye Youth Zone (RYZ) is an amazing session that runs 4pm – 6pm every Saturday. It is currently at Tilling Green Community Centre.
They have all manner of activities. It turns out in two hours you can do a lot!
You can paint stones, you can do drawings and play darts on a board. If you want, there are footballs and an air hockey table (which gets very competitive!) and sometimes there is an area to learn circus skills. There’s an X-Box and every card game you can think of. The pool table always has a crowd surrounding it, and there are cushions where you can make bracelets and patterns! If you like Twister, my sister and I always make a competition – you cannot imagine the shapes that your body can get stuck in!
The mini-counter has all the food for the tuck shop, with the most expensive items (like a bag of crisps) being only 40p! The cheapest items are for free.
Recently, there was the opportunity to plant seeds in a paper cup. With water cress seeds, mustard seeds, all on some cotton wool. We were able to enjoy eating these little plants which sprouted in just one week!
My sister and I have made new friends and we all enjoy the activities and games together. It is a great idea and a place for everyone to do whatever they like, or just chill out for a while, or even have conversations to help prepare for your school exams (Thank you, Martin Bruce).
Thank you so much to Caroline and Sophie for making RYZ happen, and all the volunteers who provide the activities. We very much enjoy the atmosphere. Everyone there is also having fun, which feels amazing! You make sure that everyone is seen and heard, and it always feels like a safe space.
We love going to RYZ – we look forward to it every week !
Image Credits: Rye Youth Zone .
Thanks, Xavier! Great article. Really glad you’re enjoying it. That makes it all worthwhile.
This sounds wonderful!
It brings back memories of the Rye Junior Club we used to hold every week in the 70s & 80s at the Community Centre.