A Star for half term camp

Monday November 8, 2010

Hundreds of children enjoyed a free activities camp at Phoenix High School over half term week.

Youngsters joined The Mayor of Hammersmith & Fulham, local Police and QPR stars Fitz Hall, the co-founder of the A-Star Charity, and Mikele Leigerwood to try out sports like boxing, football, Gaelic games and trampolining. There were also opportunities to learn new skills like cooking and arts and crafts.

Cllr Adronie Alford, Mayor of Hammersmith & Fulham, said: “In my time as Mayor I have seen first-hand the huge number of fantastic projects like this that exist in our diverse borough. The children I met at the activities camp all enjoyed the opportunity to try out different sports and activities and discover what they are good at.”

The camp, which is now in its sixth year, helps children to gain new skills and improves discipline, according to the Police. It is also part of the A-Star initiative to open up employment opportunities for youngsters through sport and other creative activities.

From Peter Crouch’s robot to Robbie Fowler's infamous line-snorting incident, footballers are always coming up with novel ways to express their joy at scoring a goal. One of the players who started the three-fingered "A" salute celebration is QPR defender Fitz Hall, who is co-founder of the A-Star initiative.

He says he wants young people to express themselves in a positive manner and follow role models who don’t glamorise ‘crime, guns or drugs’.

“The sentiment of A-Star is to influence young people to be the best they can be”, says Kenneth Bonsu, also a co-founder of the initiative.