We've changed the name of our 8-12s project in response to feedback from parents, young people and partner orgnaisations. The new name of our youth services offer to those aged 8 to 12 is now ‘Young Adventurers’.
Young Adventurers is about working with vulnerable children in the 8-12s age range, often from low income households, who are not often able to ‘adventure’ - either physically, mentally or emotionally outside of their comfort zone and world view. 
At Young Adventurers, activities such as survival cooking, challenge activities, residential trips and more, encourage the children to adventure; to test themselves, learn and try new things, and increase their confidence and resilience in a safe environment with youth workers to guide and support them along the way.
We have thought for some time that the ‘8-12s project’ had outgrown its name. The project started as a small youth group in Swanley for children aged between 8 and 12. It’s now across six different locations, with a much more varied programme of challenging activities.
We asked children and parents what the 8-12s project name meant to them, and they said they didn’t relate to the name and the name didn’t get across what we the service did – it just described the age range of the children. When we then asked about what our activities meant to the children who attended, we got much better responses, which reflect the aims of the project.
We researched for several weeks and came up with about 50-100 different names for a potential project. The criteria for a new name was that it had to:
- reflect the project’s aims
- be easily identifiable
- be relatable to young people so they want to be involved in it.
We narrowed it down to four names and we asked young people for their opinions. They chose ‘Young Adventurers’.
Ross Brotherwood, Youth Coordinator said: “We wanted to get across that we are first and foremost youth workers, and our priority is providing the best youth work we can; by delivering unique and inspiring experiences for the young people who access our services. We’re also are incredibly proud of the project. Being both a landlord and a youth services provider equips us with unique knowledge about our communities, which supports us to do the best for the children and young people we work with.”
You can find out more about the project on our website www.westkent.org/youth