I am writing this as a parent, and as part of a group of families hoping to save something truly special for the young people of Rotherham.

Grimm & Co is a literacy charity based in Rotherham that provides imaginative and inspiring opportunities for children and young people across the area. Through school partnerships, holiday activities and creative projects, they help children develop confidence, storytelling skills and a love of literacy. Many of these programmes are supported through grants and funding streams such as National Lottery funding and other project-based initiatives.

However, one of their most loved programmes — the Saturday Club — currently has no funding at all.

The Saturday Club isn’t a short course or a one-off project. It doesn’t target a single theme or outcome that fits neatly into funding criteria. Instead, it is something far more meaningful: a creative youth club where children can grow, develop and belong.

There are two groups:

• A younger group for children aged 7–11

• An older group for young people aged 12–16, many of whom then become young leaders and volunteers themselves.

The success of the club is evident in one remarkable fact — children rarely leave. They start in the younger group and grow up together, developing friendships, confidence and creativity along the way. As a result, there is now a waiting list for the younger group.

The children have taken part in amazing projects together. For example, they formed a band called The Custard Creatures and Co, wrote a song about sustainability, recorded it in a professional studio arranged by Grimm, and even opened the Rotherham Show performing it. They are currently working on a heritage project celebrating the great things Rotherham has to offer.

Sadly, we recently received the devastating news that the Saturday Club cannot continue in its current form because ongoing youth clubs do not fit the criteria of most available funding streams. Grimm have suggested that the only viable alternative may be to run it as a yearly project with a new cohort of children each year.

While we understand the challenges they face, this would mean losing the very thing that makes the Saturday Club so special — the long-term community where children grow together, develop into young leaders and eventually give back by supporting the next generation.

As parents and carers, we have been asked to explore ways we might help keep the Saturday Club alive as it is: a space where children can belong, be themselves and develop their creativity.

Ideally, a single sponsor would secure its future, but we recognise that raising around £15,000 from one organisation is a significant ask.

Instead, we have launched this page to bring together support from across the local community.

We would therefore like to ask if you could support us by promoting or sharing our fundraising campaign through your networks, social media channels or community connections. Even helping to shine a light on the campaign would greatly increase its reach and give us the best possible chance of success.

While this may not be a permanent solution, it would be an important first step. With the level of demand that exists, Grimm have said that if funding allowed, they could even expand the programme and potentially run a second club to help reduce the waiting list.

As more young people progress through the group and become young leaders, they volunteer to help support the younger children — creating a wonderful circle of creativity, mentorship and community.

The Saturday Club is not just an activity. For many children it is a safe place, a creative home and a community where they truly belong.

If you would be willing to help us share this campaign or discuss other ways your organisation might support the club, we would be incredibly grateful.

Thank you very much for taking the time to read this and for supporting young people in our community.