Family Friendly Activities
The Winchester District offers a wide range of activities for young people.
Sporting and outdoor opportunities
The River Park Leisure Centre in Gordon Road, Winchester offers many sporting activities for children. These include junior training, junior street dance, basket ball and judo.
You can find out more by calling 01962 848 700 or at www.riverparkleisurecentre.co.uk .
Children aged 16 years and under can sign-up for free swimming at the River Park Leisure Centre. This involves a single administration fee of £2 to cover the 2 years of free swimming. www.winchester.gov.uk/freeswimming
River Park Leisure Centre also runs a passport to leisure card, which entitles people on low incomes to cheaper rates at the centre . There is free evening football for young people available at the Winchester Sports Stadium in Bar End. For further information contact Winchester City Council's Sports Development Officer on 01962 848 532.
Winchester also has many parks and open spaces to enjoy outdoor activities.
These include: St Giles' Hill Take the Sunset Walk to the top of St Giles' Hill. With superb panoramic views over the city, it is a great spot for a picnic, kite flying or family games. Water Meadows and St Catherine's Hill
Take the Weirs Walk along the fast-flowing River Itchen - where ducks paddle frantically against the current - past Wolvesey Castle and on towards the water meadows. To the east of St Cross, and an easy one-mile walk from the city centre, is the Iron Age fort of St Catherine's Hill, the site of the first settlement in the Winchester area. Another great spot for picnics, you can enjoy fabulous views of St Cross and back towards the city. Children will enjoy the twists and turns of the intriguing miz-maze cut into the surface of the hill.
Arts opportunities
There are lots of theatre, dance and music activities specifically for young people held at local arts venues these include:
Theatre Royal Winchester
• Youth Theatre • Boys Only Hip Hop • Mixed Hip Hop • Contemporary Dance
Contact their Education Manager on 01962 844 600 or email education@theatreroyal.co.uk
The Tower
• LX Dance Academy • Art Bend • Tower Performing Art School • WinFest (for musicians)
01962 867 986 www.towerarts.co.uk
Winchester Discovery Centre
• Toddler Time • Cartoon Workshops • Sunday Funday: Children's Theatre • Quilting Workshops • Ghost stories
0845 603 5631 http://www3.hants.gov.uk/wdc/whatson-wdc.htm
Chesil Theatre
• Youth Theatre
Contact Youth Theatre Director Noel Thorpe-Tracey 01962 860 426 http://www.chesiltheatre.org.uk/yt/index.html
Encore Youth Theatre
• Youth Theatre specialising in musical theatre
www.encoreyouththeatre.co.uk/contact.html
Winnall Rock School
• Offers free music lessons to young people aged ten and over who live in Winnall, Stanmore, Highcliffe and Weeke.
Contact Chris Woodsford, Project Co-ordinator, on 0775 451 6837
Family friendly attractions
Winchester has numerous attractions many of which are free. Full details of all the attractions are available at www.visitwinchester.co.uk/site/things-to-do or by calling Winchester Tourist Information Centre on 01962 840 500. Those listed below may be of particular interest for children.
At the family friendly City Museum the many hands-on activities help to put young people in touch with the past. There are children's spotter quizzes and colouring sheets, and you can try on Edwardian or Anglo Saxon costumes. Look out for visits by re-enactors and other events helping to bring history to life. www.winchester.gov.uk/leisureandculture/museumsandgalleries/citymuseum
The medieval Westgate is packed with activities for children including brass rubbing, sorting artefacts and replica Tudor and Stuart armour to try on. www.winchester.gov.uk/leisureandculture/museumsandgalleries/westgatemuseum
Vist the great hall, the only remaining part of Winchester Castle and home to the legendary Arthurian Round Table. Have fun deciphering the names of the famous knights written around the rim and imagining their meetings in this grand setting. www.hants.gov.uk/greathall
Winchester is also home to the Royal Hampshire Regiment Museum, the Adjutant General's Corps Museum and HorsePower - The King's Royal Hussars Museum, all of which are free of charge. Don't miss The Royal Armouries at Fort Nelson, near Fareham, for its impressive collections of guns and cannon, daily re-enactments and noisy gun-firings.
Lots more ideas for family fun - including money off vouchers worth over £30 - are included in the Winchester Pocket Guide which is enclosed with this letter.
Family friendly events
The Winchester District hosts numerous family events throughout the year.
For further details log onto www.winchester.gov.uk/events or call Winchester Tourist Information Centre on 01962 840 500.
Outlandish and fun, Winchester Hat Fair is Britain's longest-running festival of street theatre, it is colourful, crazy and completely free. www.hatfair.co.uk Winchester's tourist guides offer family friendly guided walks. www.winchestertouristguides.com .
At Christmas children enjoy the outdoor ice rink at Winchester Cathedral. www.winchester-cathedral.org.uk/icerink
