HeadStart Wolverhampton, funded through The Big Lottery Fund, is a “test and learn” programme designed to improve the resilience and emotional wellbeing of children and young people by giving them the skills they need to address the challenges of modern life. ​ Big Venture Centre as part of the WV10 Consortium is a delivery hub for HeadStart Wolverhampton. For the past two years Big Venture Centre have been providing activities for young people aged 10-16 - supporting their mental health and well being.

This project will engage with families or anyone in need of support either through referral from service providers, self-referral or simply accessing the centre or on a drop in basis through one of the other projects we have going on in the centre on a weekly basis. Upon initial engagement families will be provided with a free hot meal, a food parcel if needed and then engaged onto the Flourishing Families Programme. Families will attend this programme for 6 weeks where hopefully by the end of this time they will have learnt how to cook all of the recipes in the booklet and are able to feed their families and themselves healthy meals on a very low cost budget, They will have received the help and support they require to break the cycle of financial deprivation they had found themselves in and are better able to cope emotionally and mentally.

Coming soon! The centre has recognised that it doesn’t do enough to support men so we'll soon be putting on furniture upcycling, fitness and health and well-being sessions for men where small groups will be able to meet up, get involved and improve their mental health and well-being. If you are interested in attending please contact the centre and get your name down.

Every Thursday working in partnership with the CAG (Community Action Group) and Bushbury Buddies project volunteers from The Big Venture Centre have been delivering a chilled meal to a number of older or vulnerable adults in the local community. The aim of the project is to address loneliness and isolation and has been welcomed by many during lockdown especially those who were self-isolating as for some the delivery of the meal and the 5 minute chat they had on the doorstep at a safe distance was the only person they saw from one week to the next. We are absolutely thrilled to be able to continue this project right up until Christmas. If you know of any older, vulnerable or lonely people who you think would appreciate a meal and a chat once a week, please contact us at the centre. As part of this project, once the centre reopens we will be inviting those in receipt of weekly meals to a full dinner, where you will be collected and returned home in the Bushbury Buddies community mini bus. This initiative will run on a rolling basis to enable just a few to attend at a time ensuring we adhere to social distancing guidelines. Everyone will be given the opportunity to attend.