We’re aiming to raise over £5000 to help Thrive Youth Work, a major project within HCC, to continue to support vulnerable young people in Huntingdon, Cambridgeshire.
This summer, two of the Thrive team, Trevor Payne and Dawn Bridger, will be taking their lives in their hands and doing a ‘Skydive for Thrive’ on Saturday 4th July. It’s Trevor’s first ever parachute jump! Although he’s spent his life working with aeroplanes, he’s always vowed to stay inside them and never to jump out! It’s Dawn’s second skydive, but they will be jumping from higher than her last jump – from 15,000ft. We’d both love you to support us as we embark on this crazy adventure in support of vulnerable young people in Huntingdon!
Thrive Youth Work was founded in 2018 in response to concern that some of the young people growing up in Huntingdon and the surrounding areas were struggling emotionally, behaviourally and relationally, and as a consequence were at risk of making poor life decisions, failing to engage well with education, and becoming vulnerable to potentially exploitative relationships and poor mental health.
Through mentoring sessions in schools, break time drop-ins and youth cafes in the community, Thrive gets alongside young people and offers them consistent relationships with experienced youth workers who create safe, welcoming environments where young people can belong, grow and be heard. We offer an ongoing, trusted presence through regular conversations, helping young people navigate challenges and find guidance as they grow. This helps them make better decisions for the course of their lives, engage more positively with education and improve their mental health and wellbeing.
In Spring term 2026, there were 169 individual attendances at Thrive’s school mentoring sessions, and 246 at break-time drop-ins. We saw 260 individual young people at our after-school cafes. In a recent detached youth work project, we handed out 1206 milkshakes to young people in the community over a 4-month period - that's young people engaging with us at least 1206 times, with each engagement an opportunity to connect and talk with a young person.
Trevor and Dawn work with 3 youth workers and around 20 volunteers who run the project, which is part of Huntingdonshire Community Church (charity no 803355). We want to raise over £5000 to enable us to continue this vital work supporting struggling young people in the Huntingdon area.
Join us as we embark on this daring challenge and push our limits!