A YouTube channel, set up last year during the first national lockdown (May 2020) to help support Bedfordshire’s young people through the Covid-19 pandemic with entertainment activities each day, has continued to be watched over 500 times and is now being re-launched to make more aware of what’s on offer.
Bedfordshire’s Police and Crime Commissioner, Kathryn Holloway, commissioned youth sports and fitness and creative organisations to produce content, aimed at 10 to 25-year-olds, as part of The James Campbell Collective YouTube activity channel, which was coordinated and introduced each day by professional personal fitness trainer and body builder James during the first lockdown and summer holidays.
The JCC staged an activity programme each weekday which included Luton Town Football Club training sessions, cooking and baking on a budget, art, chess tutorials and dance workshops.
“The word of this scheme spread and it’s continued to add a further 500 views long after the first lockdown and school holiday ended.
“The absolute beauty of investing in those outstanding organisations who provided activities through The James Campbell Collective – and frankly the wisdom of doing so given the possibility of returning to lockdown as we are currently, throughout the winter months – is that all these activities and sessions can be accessed once more on YouTube now without further investment.
“These activities are aimed specifically at those who are 10 to 25 and are deliberately led by a young person himself in James who is a fantastic youth mentor.
“He proved a highly accomplished, professional and totally reliable provider of daily content despite being only 20 at the time and those others this age group may look up to such as the players of Luton Town FC and highly respected local youth leader Montell Neufville, together with fantastic boxing coaches, artists and chefs.
“Once again I hope that the young people of Bedfordshire who fancy taking up a new hobby or improving their fitness, without access to gyms or sports clubs, can find something they genuinely enjoy doing during this new lockdown to employ some of the extra time they have on their hands at home or even something to inspire them for life.
“This is also a set of workshops and fitness sessions that are absolutely free of charge to access as many times as children and young people fancy, which I trust is a boon for parents,” said Commissioner Holloway.
The James Campbell Collective (JCC), which finished producing videos in September, had over 350 activity video sessions uploaded and live streamed to the channel for young people, which were viewed 4,965 times in four months and have since been watched a further 539 times.
James Campbell said: “When lockdown first started I was massively affected by the closure of gyms. Being someone who eats, breathes and sleeps gym, I was preparing for a very difficult time both mentally and physically. When I was presented with the idea of hosting The JCC I saw this as a perfect opportunity to help others who were about to be in the same situation as me, as well as a way to keep myself motivated and pushing through this tough time.
“The outcome of The JCC was far beyond what I expected: as we neared the end of lockdown I felt well trained and was extremely pleased with the progress The JCC had made as a whole.
“Of course, this would not have been possible without the other creators on the platform who put a lot of effort into their work and diversified what we had to offer resulting in an enjoyable experience for the viewers.
“If you are yet to join The JCC I would massively recommend it, especially with recent news of another lockdown. I know how I’ll be getting through this one!”
“I’d so appreciate it if every mum, dad, brother and sister and those who teach or lead youth activities could spread the word of The James Campbell Collective on YouTube so that as many young people as possible throughout Bedfordshire have something positive to look forward to and take part in each and every day until they can get back to their schools and colleges and a more normal way of living.
“It’s been an absolute privilege to have had the ability to set it up at such a time of need among young people and, especially, since the last lockdown unfortunately proved such an opportunity for criminals to cruise chat rooms and social networks to try to lure them into far less positive activities as the National Crime Agency and our own Regional Organised Crime Unit have since confirmed,” said PCC Holloway.
The James Campbell Collective is aimed at 10 to 25-year-olds and all 357 videos can be accessed on YouTube – https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCBBGBdJgnvMHd25wW7aqVUQ/featured
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