On a mercifully sunny Friday afternoon, a gentle breeze drifts over a colourful circle of cushions and yoga mats.

Soothing music drifts from the centre of this circle, across Meadow Park in Borehamwood to where teenagers make the most of the tennis and basketball courts.

Audible only to the children and adults perched on the mats is the comforting voice of the Pathway 2 Peace leader Matthew Johnstone.

All gathered are read encouraging messages from cards randomly drawn from a bag.

Children calmly accept the empowering messages and the wildly different to the earlier sporting activities, also run by Leecliffe to entertain over the summer holidays.

Everyone closes their eyes for the guided meditation session and led away from a field in Borehamwood surrounded by activity to an imaginary jungle full of animals.

After everyone has explored the scene, Matthew leads us away from this to the circus and everyone is encouraged to visualise being a tightrope walker, trapeze artist and clown.

The noises from the busy field seem distant, only drawing attention as everyone is encouraged to become aware of their surroundings again.

Eyes open and children smile serenely with a stillness not usually associated with the summer holidays, with not only the children stating how much they enjoyed the session.

This is the first time Matthew has led a session for children, but has been running guided meditation sessions for adults on Tuesday nights since March.

He said: “I have wanted to do this for a really long time, and when I started I told Leecliffe and Affinity Sutton my vision, and they have supported me.

“I do this at home with my son, and he really enjoys it, but I was blown away by the way the little ones were so drawn in.

“In my past I was an addict, and I could have lost the lot, but I have been meditating for nine years and it has changed my life.”

Since initially starting to meditate, Matthew has gone on to learn transcendental meditation, meditation teaching and reiki, and shows no signs of stopping.

Suraiya Kazi attends Matthew’s sessions on Tuesdays, and wanted her son Rayen to experience something new.

She said: “I get so much from it, and I would like him to have the same experience.

“Because he is always so busy, it is good for him to learn that it is okay to be still, I think before I started attending the sessions, I had forgotten what it was like to be still.”

Matthew will continue to run the sessions, and will update the information on the Pathway 2 Peace Facebook page.