A programme of completely free summer activities for young people aged 12 to 16 is returning to King George V Playing Fields in Watford next month. Herts Summer Parks, run in collaboration with Watford Borough Council and Hertfordshire County Council, will run every Thursday on 6, 13 and 20 August at the Tolpits Lane site, offering a mix of sports, arts, and digital entertainment.
The sessions include inflatables, climbing, graffiti art, football, archery, gaming, virtual reality, lyrical writing, and jewellery making. Every young person who attends receives a free food voucher, redeemable at a vendor near the park. The programme runs from 3 to 21 August across five Hertfordshire parks, with Watford’s Thursday slot forming part of a wider effort to fill the gap in holiday provision for teenagers.
The programme is delivered by Sporting Inspirations CIC. In 2024, it engaged 1,218 young people across five locations and saw 1,149 food voucher cards redeemed. Participation grew to over 1,000 the following year. Registration is now open on the Sport in Herts website, allowing fast-track entry on the day. King George V Playing Fields is at Tolpits Lane, WD18 9QD.
The 2024 edition featured contributions from Everyone Active, police community support officers, and organisations such as Lives Not Knives, alongside a collaboration with Cheeky Wipes and John Lewis that delivered health and wellbeing packages to young girls in Stevenage and Welwyn. The programme has shifted Watford’s day from Tuesday to Thursday this year, while Borehamwood now hosts sessions on Wednesdays.
About this article: This story was put together with the help of AI tools and checked by a real person on our team. We're a small crew trying to cover as much of the UK as we can on a limited budget. We're getting better every day - but we're not perfect yet. If something looks off, let us know. You're part of the process.
