AWSOM website helps youngsters find adventure activities in Somerset

A NEW website is helping young people in West Somerset fill their spare time by trying their hand at sky diving, fly fishing, and mountain biking.
The AWSOM (Activities Within Somerset for Young People) website has been created by Somerset County Council and designed by young people to help 11 to 19-year-olds find and participate in all sorts of activities.
AWSOM searches more than 1,000 records to put young people in touch with activities including belly dancing in Taunton Deane, climbing and caving in Sedgemoor, scuba diving in South Somerset, and even submarine excursions in Mendip.
Visitors to the site at www.awsom.org.uk simply have to enter the activity they are interested in and their location.
They are then given details including dates, times, cost, and contact information.
There is also a link to Transport Direct to help them travel to and from the event.
The council’s project manager for participation, John Batt, said: “The AWSOM website has been designed with the help of a group of young people to be simple, user-friendly, and enable information to be found within three clicks of a mouse.
“We are keen to improve it even further and we are meeting with providers to put young people in touch with more great activities.”
Council portfolio holder for young people, Councillor Pauline Clarke, said: “This fantastically straightforward website is helping Somerset’s young people access all kinds of enjoyable things to do.
“I hope that by trying out these activities now, they will develop keen interests that keep them happy and healthy for many years to come.”
If an activity is not found on the AWSOM website, the team can be emailed via a link on the site for suggestions to be passed to potential providers.
At www.awsom.org.uk, there is a link to the Somerset Young People’s Film Council, where there is a short film about the AWSOM website and activities.

• Our photograph shows three of the youngsters involved in helping to design the AWSOM website (left to right) Verity Colin-Smith, Maha Yuaseef, and Steph Walling, outside the Orchard FM radio station, in Taunton, where they helped to agree a script for an advertisement. Photo submitted.