An all boys club that builds a strong sense of self-esteem through interaction with positive male role models will host their first ever overnight camp on Paget Island later this month.The Just Us Guys Boys Club will step outside the confines of the Centre on Angle Street with 25 club members for a weekend of life skills training, water sports and good, clean fun.Community worker Eddie Glasford, one of the club’s founders said the structured programme provides a safe haven for youngsters in the Angle Street. And it keeps children off the streets after school hours.Having grown up in the area himself, he was all too familiar with the need for positive, supervised environments for children to be in especially when parents work long hours.The club is also appealing to members of the public to sponsor a child to attend the event with the intention of opening it up to more boy.The club meets on Friday nights from 6pm to 8.30pm at the Centre for boys aged between five and 12.“Friday nights proved to be quite popular, we got more children, more parents got involved and on any given night we could have 25 to 30 boys here,” Mr Glasford said.“We use part of the time to teach them life skills, we teach them etiquette, things to do with self-esteem, how take care of their bodies and personal hygiene, then we have recreation.“Each meeting starts with dinner at 6pm and more parents talk to us regularly about how their boys are doing in and outside of the classroom.”For children in families struggling to make ends meet he said quite often the Friday night dinner is one that many in the group count on when there are food shortages at home.There is also the issue of absent fathers who have left a void in their son’s lives when they are impressionable and young.“A lot of these boys have low self-esteem, so we try to build it up. A lot of them don’t have fathers present in their lives and for some, outside their immediate families, the men here are the only male role models they have in their lives.“Positive interaction with older men is important for young boys to have and we take on that role because these children come with a lot of issues. They need help to deal with it because those issues are linked to the home and circumstances beyond their control,” said Mr Glasford.“Some come when they haven’t had anything to eat because there’s just no food in their house, or their hygiene is not up to par. We have supplies here that they can take home like basic toiletries, deodorant and things like that.“This recession is affecting children in more ways than you know, some of these boys are dealing with adult issues that are serious when at their age they shouldn’t have to. When mothers are out working all the time, children are often left in the care of older siblings who become the adult when mom’s not there.“We try to take some of that pressure off and give them a chance to be around boys to at least try to have some fun and be a child again.“And residents in this area don’t have a lot of space for children to play in back yards. I’ve lived around here for a long time and all I see is the children playing in the streets around people doing their thing,” he said.“The Centre is a safe zone where parents know they are safe, they are supervised and doing positive things.”The Centre is headed up by youth development officer Jason Hansford-Smith. Mr Glasford is one of four community workers that include Harold Minors, Stephany Outerbridge, Ms R James and supervisor Ellan Smith.The registration fee has been reduced to $50 so that more children will be able to attend. Anyone who may wish to sponsor a child to attend the weekend camp should contact the Centre at 292-1343 or e-mail eeglasford@gov.bm.It has been promoted within the club as a treat for the boys to mark the end of the club’s sessions for the school year before the summer holidays begin. They also host summer day camps for the boys and girls clubs run by the Centre.They’ll spend Friday, May 31 overnight at the Centre and set out early on June 1 to leave for Paget Island from King’s Wharf in St George’s at 9am.Mr Glasford concluded: “We return on Sunday after a weekend of water sports, camp fires to sit around and talk to each other, football, life skills and lots of activities.“We can take up to 25 boys, we’re hoping to have a full group registered for all our boys and we’re looking forward to it.”