Wiltshire Young People’s Development Service
Resume of Achievement
April 2008 to March 2009
Wiltshire young people’s Development Service
Resume of Achievement (March 2008 - April 2009)
(Please note: this document uses blue and yellow highlights and therefore if printed off please use a colour printer) Introduction This document has been produced to present highlights of the Service’s work ‘at a glance’. The Calendar format makes it easy to scan the when; the Emboldened Locations the where; the blue highlights the what; the Main Text the hows and why. In addition, the yellow Bulb Bar indicates how the work is enabling young people to achieve the Government’s Every Child Matters FIVE OUTCOMES Preamble Wiltshire Development Service (formerly the Youth Development Service) is a modern needsled developmental youth service that is soon to be located within the new Targeted and Community Service. We specialize in working with young people in the context of their own communities, helping them to develop the wide range of skills, knowledge and understandings they need to make a success of their transition from ‘children’ to ‘independent adult’ and ‘active citizen’. Two years ago, we joined with the Youth Offending Service and Connexions to provide young people with a more integrated ‘youth offer’ under the banner of Services For Young People. Over the past year this has developed to include other important ‘targeted’ services such as Children’s Rights, Teenage Pregnancy, Substance Misuse and Homelessness. In this era of improved integration, we are increasingly proud of the specific contribution that our youth work teams are making. Whilst they often go the ‘extra mile’ for those young people most in need - or who would otherwise be excluded - they are also working hard to keep the Service universal , as in accessible to all. Also, whilst trying to ensure their programmes and activities are not just recreational but in someway developmental (the ingredient that makes ‘positive activities’ truly positive... ) they none-the-less remain committed to the underlying youth work principle of voluntary involvement, i.e. that it’s the young person’s right to choose whether or not to participate in the first place. These things, together with a professional passion for enabling young people to have their say in how their communities and services are managed and developed, represent some of the defining features of youth work nationally and indeed our specific contribution to the wider youth offer here in Wiltshire.
2
This is our 4th Annual Resume of Achievement and once again it’s the case that most of the pieces of work we are reporting on (and all that they offer in terms of education, engagement and diversion…) are not in a category of special events, but are in fact projects forged out of the day to day working relationships our teams have with young people in our youth centres or on the streets. As you will see, we do this in collaboration with various other partners and specialists but this is nothing new. Building strong alliances with other groups and providers has always been a pre-requisite for effective and sustainable youth work. Throughout the document, their mention comes with our ‘thanks’. Finally, this year has seen the timely expansion of Community Area Young People’s Issues Groups (CAYPIGS). This is the mechanism the Service has created to ensure young people have a representative voice in each Community Area. We would invite all newly elected members and other local decision-makers to prioritise taking up their seats on these CAYPIGS as a time-efficient way of connecting with their young people and their young people’s issues. We say this with one young person’s recent words ringing in our ears: “ I think adults are only frightened of us because they keep watching bad things about us on the news – but that’s not really us is it? Why don’t you just tell them to talk to us more – then they would know we were real people like them.” Jamie (16) Westbury
3
April Wiltshire-wide / Wiltshire Youth Arts Partnership (WYAP) A large-scale project aimed at increasing young people’s knowledge and enthusiasm for
Wiltshire’s natural environment and heritage sites. Evolving Landscapes took place in youth centres and after school settings giving young people the opportunity to experience a range of arts activities including visual arts, music technology, lyric writing, film and digital media. The project engaged 118 young people and proactively targeted those hardest to reach. Prior to participating in the project most had little previous awareness of their local heritage; lived in isolated rural areas and /or had limited access to arts activities. The project was designed and delivered in partnership with Wiltshire Wildlife Trust; Salisbury Museum, English Heritage and Wiltshire Youth Arts Partnership (WYAP). Funding came from the National Lottery Young Roots Programme and Development Service core budget via WYAP Being Healthy
Staying Safe
Enjoying & Achieving
Making a positive contribution
Economic wellbeing
Durrington
The Community Area Young Parent’s Group was established to offer young parents the chance to engage with youth workers and other professionals in a safe and supported environment. At this early stage in April 2008, the group was focused on setting things up and planning for the future, which included submitting a successful bid for funding from the Wiltshire Young Peoples Opportunity Fund (WYPOF). Since then the group has gone on to undertake training in First Aid; enjoy a number of self-planned trips and visits and identify future goals. Their new programme includes work on a Calendar Project that by next year they are hoping to have produced for sale to family and friends. They have also agreed to collectively take up Yoga. As a result of this project, the participants have not only grown in confidence as a group and individually as parents, but have had aspects of their learning and development accredited. Through fostering the notion of self-help, each is also learning how to offer support to the others. Being Healthy
Staying Safe
Enjoying & Achieving
Making a positive contribution
Economic wellbeing
Westbury Wednesday evenings at Westbury Youth Development Centre is a Project Night. ‘Project Night’ is a term in common use throughout the Service for an evening session that is dedicated to working with young people in a more intensive developmental way around a given theme or curriculum area; or to help a group (or groups) of young people to achieve specific goals. 3 key characteristics of youth work projects are 1) that they are developed in
4
response to young peoples own needs and interests 2) that young people are encouraged to participate in all stages including the ‘planning’, ‘doing’ and ‘reviewing’, and 3) that projects advance young people’s skills, knowledge and confidence. This particular Wednesday night back in April was used to deliver a Young Women’s Relaxation Workshop . It was offered by one of the female youth workers following discussions with young women about them feeling stressed at school. During the planning session the young women said that they wanted it to be ‘single sex’ and that they wanted to learn techniques that they could safely use on each other. Being Healthy
Staying Safe
Enjoying & Achieving
Making a positive contribution
Economic wellbeing
May
Lyneham
The need for increased Youth provision in Lyneham was identified through the Joint Services Group. It was agreed that Wootton Bassett Youth Work Team would outreach into the area to deliver a 12 week Street Based Youth Work project. This began with a consultation process confirming young people’s enthusiasm for getting involved in a wide range of positive processes and activities. Slessor Park and the newly created bike park were ideal local venues for a programme that included football, tri-ball, power kiting and even some sessions on healthy food! Over the 12 week period the team established positive working relationships with many young people, over 60 of who achieved Recorded Outcomes. It ended with an evaluation event that celebrated the project’s impact and the positive attitude of all those young people who took part. The team has continued maintain its working links with young people in Lyneham.
Being Healthy
Staying Safe
Enjoying & Achieving
Making a positive contribution
Economic wellbeing
Wiltshire wide / Children’s Rights funded by Teenage Pregnancy The Looked After Young Men’s Project continued to run on a fortnightly basis throughout the year working with an assembled group of 13 young men from a spread of placements around the county. The programme combines off-site activities with intensive sessions of developmental group work. It conforms to the principles of ‘anti-sexist work with boys’, encouraging emotionally intelligent group discussions about what it means to be a man -
5
and what choices there are in this for them about how they think and respond. It addresses most issues head on including relationships, sexual health, substance misuse, violence and what life has been like for them in care. In May, Session 7 was held at Sprinfields School where the young men got a master class in cooking and the chance to take part in an honest group discussion about their attitudes towards women. Most were not used to cooking a meal from scratch with fresh ingredients. And those involved in the discussion admitted they had never really thought about how the way they talk about women must make them feel. At the end of the session most voted that it was good for men to “do half the cooking stuff.” And when it came to the discussion, most agreed with the lad who pronounced “ I don’t want to be like a man that slags girls off so he can show off to his mates, cause that’s like being ignorant. If he’s good looking, I bet women will say they like him because they fancy him but thy won’t really!”
Being Healthy
Influence
Staying Safe
Enjoying & Achieving
Making a positive contribution
Wiltshire-wide
/
Economic wellbeing
Voice
&
The second annual high profile celebration and show case of all that young people have achieved through WYPOF funded projects was held again this year at Westbury’s
Club Ice and aptly billed as WYPOF on ICE. The aim of WYPOF (Wiltshire Young People Opportunity Fund) is to encourage young people to identify their own positive activities and then support them in their role as decision makers, grant givers and project leaders. All young people who had benefited were invited to attend alongside dignitaries, senior officers and elected members. As per last year, the first part of the evening centred around the presentation of awards to members of the 8 ‘best projects’ - so nominated for the various creative ways they had used the funding to benefit themselves and other young people in their Community Area. As part of their reward – and to generate an atmosphere of celebrity- each of the 8 winning groups of young people were transported to the event in classy stretched Limos. Once the last award had been presented, the 500 or so young people from all corners of the county were free to dance the rest of the evening away. As the photos show this they did enthusiastically and in good humour, with no recourse to drugs or alcohol – unlike the venue’s usual adult clientele! In short, a total inversion of their negative image in the press.
Being Healthy
Staying Safe
Enjoying & Achieving
Making a positive contribution
June
6
Economic wellbeing
Wilton / Barford St Martin
As a result of the confidence they’ve gained through their participation in CAYPIGS, it has now become the norm for the young people of Barford St Martin to meet with local adults whenever there are things that need to be talked through or planned. This has enabled the young people to develop certain high-value skills that are transferable into the world of work, e.g. how to take part in more formalized meetings and decision-making processes; how to work as a team to achieve goals; and how to influence and negotiate. In June, a group of 15 young people decided that they wanted to be involved in their local Barford Village Fete and so were supported by the team to attend the committee meetings that had been set up to plan the event. They were able to advise the committee on which activities would appeal to ‘the younger generation’, and agreed to do their bit to make it all happen. In the run up, they toured the village collecting old clothes for the second hand stall; helped organize a quiz night and helped with a disco for the younger ones. On the day, the young people actually ran their own stall - face painting and apple bobbing. The fete committee was so impressed with all the hard work they put in that they gave the young people public thanks at the next full Parish Council. Being Healthy
Tisbury
Staying Safe
Enjoying & Achieving
Making a positive contribution
Economic wellbeing
First established with the support of Youth Action Wiltshire through Football
Foundation Funding, the Tisbury Football Project has continued to thrive throughout the year. The regular weekly football sessions attract on average 25 young people, from both the Mere & Tisbury community areas with youth work staff encouraging participation and providing coaching support. Through engaging in this project young people are increasing their physical activity, improving their health & fitness, developing new skills, improving team working and taking responsibility for organizing teams and leading specific activities. In addition to these positive outcomes for all participants there have been other significant team and individual successes. Young people have played against other youth clubs in a variety of county competitions. Under 14 and Under 16 teams from Mere & Tisbury represented Wiltshire in the NACYP Southern Region 5-a-side championships. Furthermore, 5 young people from Mere & Tisbury YDC’s played in Wiltshire’s 11-a-side Gillette Cup team, reaching the national quarter finals and receiving the team fair play award at this event. A number of individuals are now looking into Sports Leadership Awards and football coaching opportunities to continue their personal development.
Being Healthy
Staying Safe
Enjoying & Achieving
Making a positive contribution
7
Economic wellbeing
Marlborough It has long been common practice to for youth work teams to support and encourage young people’s involvement in recruitment & selection to vacant posts. Not only does this increase young people’s influence over the way the service develops in their area, but it affords them the chance to learn more about youth work and – more generally – the qualities that employers look for. Together with the Locality Team Leader, Youth Development Co-ordinator and other staff from the existing Marlborough team, 5 young people had the opportunity to be a part of an interviewing panel for new Assistant Youth Workers for both Marlborough and Devizes. The young people asked questions, scored the candidates accordingly and were involved in the decision making process. It was an invaluable experience for them for they had not only brought a young person’s perspective to the process, but they had gained an understanding of what constitutes ‘performing well’. Being Healthy
Staying Safe
Enjoying & Achieving
Making a positive contribution
Economic wellbeing
July Wiltshire-wide / Roots n Motion
This is a Wiltshire-wide youth dance project delivered in 8 youth development centres across Wiltshire. Each session is led by a Youth Dance Animateur managed by the Development Service and usually supported on the ground by a youth worker from the centre who already knows the young people. DanceXpress was a performance platform for all who had participated in the Roots ‘n Motion weekly dance sessions. As part of this project, the young people were given the chance to work with a professional dance artist to choreograph a dance themed on their local culture and heritage; and to also work towards achieving an Arts Award. Each group researched their own cultural backgrounds, explored the heritage of their area and learnt new styles of movement to communicate their findings through a dance piece assisted by video projected images. Each then had the opportunity to perform their dance to a full evening audience at The Arc Theatre Trowbridge, as the concluding element to the DanceXpress workshop day. Earlier on that day, the workshops had included Capoeira (Brazilian form of dance including martial art), Krumping (Urban African American street dance) and two forms of Jazz – ‘Contemporary’ and ‘Street’. DanceXpress is an excellent example of how the arts can be used as a positive activity within youth work to achieve significant outcomes for young people. In this instance, the bringing together of groups from all over Wiltshire enabled many to extend their circle of friends; the workshops were the focus for the young people learning new dance skills and increasing their understanding of different cultures; whilst the challenge of performing in front of others always accelerates young peoples’ self confidence and esteem – especially when it so obviously contributes to other people’s enjoyment.
8
Being Healthy
Staying Safe
Enjoying & Achieving
Making a positive contribution
Economic wellbeing
Wiltshire-wide Voice & Influence Team
This team works in a focused way throughout the year to promote and support young people having their say and getting involved in democratic processes. The Great Green Debate - organised in partnership with the NHS and Wiltshire Wildlife Trust - involved 53 students from across Wiltshire coming together in the Council Chamber at County Hall to debate a variety of environmental issues including climate change, school dinners and eco-buildings. The motions were chosen by the students and were designed to help challenge the popular views often presented in the media, as well as to develop transferable research and presentation skills. Young people who took part said they really enjoyed the experience and that it would make them think more about what they heard on the news. All were awarded certificates of participation and the winning team was interviewed live on local radio. Being Healthy
Staying Safe
Enjoying & Achieving
Making a positive contribution
Economic wellbeing
Purton and Cricklade
As a new worker taking over at Cricklade YDC Sarah was keen to spend time with the young people away from their usual environment in order to get to know them better and accelerate her working relationship. Timing was good because it was a while since the young people had been away together as a group. It
was agreed that Go-Karting would be a suitably adventurous activity and that the young people would use the computers at the centre to research availability and cost including transport. The young people choose a provider in Wroughton was chosen because of their proximity to Purton – keeping travelling costs down – and because they offered a mini-grand-prix. This meant exclusive use of the track and all the trappings of a real competition, including winner’s trophy. During the evaluation, all agreed the day had been great fun and they saw it as a good start to their summer. Because it all went so well, the 5 who had been prepared to take responsibility for planning it gained an unexpected sense of achievement and are keen to stay involved at this level. Being Healthy
Staying Safe
Enjoying & Achieving
Making a positive contribution
August
9
Economic wellbeing
Bradford on Avon.
Workers were surprised to discover that so many of the young people they were working with were enthusiastic about fishing – a very peaceful and medative activity. Consequently it was added to the summer programme in the form of a
Competition
Fishing
in partnership with the Police and Wiltshire Angling. It was held on the river at Barton farm, Bradford on Avon; and one of the local Police Officers, PC Barrett, who represents the Police in their own fishing league did much to support and guide the project. This included providing the prizes; liaising with Wiltshire Angling for the ‘pegs’; and the authority who manage the river. On the day PC Barrett worked along side the team to ensure the competition ran properly – advising the young people on their technique and officially weighing the fish as they were caught. The overall winner had never fished before and has since decided to take up fishing as a hobby. Youth work often helps young people to develop new interests and talents. It also seeks to promote positive relations between young people and other agencies, including the Police. On this occasion, it achieved both – a bit like catching 2 fish with one hook! Being Healthy
Staying Safe
Enjoying & Achieving
Making a positive contribution
Economic wellbeing
Mere & Tisbury
A group of 12 young women and 12 young men spent 4 days trying out a variety of opportunities in different locations across Wiltshire. These ranged from cooking & football for young men, to mechanics and fitness for young women. The two groups spent a final day together power boating to the Isle of Wight. As well as learning new skills and meeting new people, participants engaged in challenging activities that took them out of their comfort zones. In the process they gained the confidence to talk more honestly and openly with workers about their emotions and feelings, which is in its self, a ‘protective factor’ in relation to everybody’s mental health. The feedback from all involved in this
Single
Gender Week was incredibly positive. It confirms the benefits derived from giving young people the chance to recognize how adhering to traditional gender roles and stereotypes can limit their outlook and life chances.
10
Being Healthy
Staying Safe
Enjoying & Achieving
Making a positive contribution
Economic wellbeing
Wiltshire-wide / Locality A. Wiltshire has an ongoing International Exchange arrangement with youth services in Buxtehude, Germany and Schnodno, Poland. Sadly, the Polish group were not able to participate this year due to the economic downturn. However, the newly established Wiltshire contingent - who were all drawn from Locality A represented the county well as this year’s hosts and are set to carry Wiltshire’s participation forward on into 2009. This year’s exchange was entitled ‘Waterfront 2008’ and its 2 themes were ‘environmental issues’ and ‘Art & Culture’. Oxenwood was used as the exchange base; it lasted 11 days and the programme included a series of visits to other towns and cities to give the visiting young people as broad and balanced a view of the South West as possible. In keeping with the tradition of this exchange, it was Wiltshire’s responsibility as ‘host’ to plan and develop much of the programme in advance. A series of meetings were held with the young people to formulate this and the end result included: • • • •
Visits to venues that had waterfronts that have to be maintained or rejuvenated An international evening including information, entertainment and food A range of outdoor activities including climbing, mountain biking and high ropes, and conservation work on a local the riverbank
Activities were carried out in mixed nationality teams; and group work was used on a daily basis to discuss specific issues and evaluate learning. All the Wiltshire young people were accredited with ASDAN Activity Short Course Awards; and the overall number of young people involved was as follows: 10 English, 8 German, 2 Turkish German and 2 Russian German. Being Healthy
Corsham.
Staying Safe
Enjoying & Achieving
Making a positive contribution
Economic wellbeing
In response to young people’s own stated interests, 20 young women and 2
workers from Corsham Mansion House attended a 10 week
Combat Course.
Young Women’s Body
This was part funded from the curriculum budget and partly by the young people themselves, who raised £800.00 organizing a Charity Football Match and Reggie evening. Fortunately, the course lived up to the young women’s high expectations – it was exciting, mentally challenging and enabled them to become more physically fit. The instructor did a good job of ensuring it was varied so they didn’t loose interest or become bored. It also served to strengthen still further the trust between the 2 youth workers and the young women, who found they were constantly having to work in support of each other, together as
11
one big team, especially at times when all were tired and lacking in energy. By popular demand, this positive activity will be back on the programme in April 2009. Being Healthy
Staying Safe
Enjoying & Achieving
Making a positive contribution
Economic wellbeing
September Wootton Bassett
The multi-agency group who meet in Wootton Bassett School were increasing concerned about a small number of students who were regularly truanting and
disengaging from mainstream education. The Kick Start Project emerged as a proposed solution. In essence it was a 10 week alternative curriculum programme for 12 Young People identified as disengaging, based in the less formal learning environment of the Youth Development Centre and managed by the youth work team. The notion was that the project would “Kick Start” the group’s motivation and interest in School again. Although mainly arts based, it was non-the-less designed to be developmental and led to an ASDAN short course PHSE Award. Throughout the project the young people were coached and inspired by a professional artist who had been brought in to impart related skills. Towards the end of the project, the work they had produced was displayed in school which helped to raise their self esteem and re-connect them by association. Looking back, the project has been recognized to be a success. Most of the group did reconnect and their attendance improved. Because youth work’s core business is to address young peoples developmental needs using experiential methods, informal settings and negotiated relationships; it can often re-engage young people in learning in partnership with schools, without the young people feeling as if they have lost face to ‘authority’ Being Healthy
Staying Safe
Enjoying & Achieving
Making a positive contribution
Corsham Over 1000 children & young people Alternative Sports Event (C.A.S.E.)
Economic wellbeing
participated in the annual
Corsham
As usual, this was organised by a partnership working group including young people from the Mansion House Youth Development Centre. The event is designed to promote young peoples participation in healthy physical activity and ‘street’ sports that they might not normally have the opportunity to try or be coached in, including: BMX Riding; Skateboarding; Power Kiting and Tri-ball. Climbing was also an option, with competitions throughout the day. Each year, the young people on the planning group give up their time to help run and organise the event for the benefit of themselves and other young people. In the process, they gain transferable confidence and work related skills such as planning, team work and interfacing with the public. On this occasion they also contributed to the fundraising side of things by submitting a successful application to the Wiltshire Young Peoples Opportunity Fund (WYPOF)
12
Being Healthy
Staying Safe
Enjoying & Achieving
Making a positive contribution
Economic wellbeing
Trowbridge/Studley Green Satellite Provision. When young people from Studley Green came first in last years Trowbridge Carnival it was almost a dead cert that they would want to re-enter again this year, and they did! The Town Council funded for them to have their own professional carnival workshop spanning the 2-3 months prior to the event. After various consultation and discussion sessions – including watching films for ideas – the group of 10 young people finally decided on the theme of “The Rocky Horror Show”. As well as being a theme rich in costumes and music, it was also one that prompted considerable discussion about relationships and attitudes towards sexual identity. This gave the team the opportunity to introduce notions of equality in line with Wiltshire Council Policy and dispel myths based on prejudice. Despite poor weather, the carnival was a great success and the young people’s contribution was well received. After the event they continued to help by producing an article and photos for the Residents’ Association new letter. In recognition of their efforts, the whole group was nominated for a Wiltshire Award and some individuals were encouraged to put it towards the first part of their DoE.
Chippenham
In Chippenham, the team work with a wide range of young people from different cultural and interest groups from across the town. For the most part these groups are worked with separately in response to their different needs, but the
Activity Night
Bridge Centre
has been set up to bring these different groups together in a managed way for an ongoing experience that is shared. As the title suggests the evening is designed to be engaging, with a menu of positive activities for young people to choose from including: raft building; skateboarding; mixing; DJ’ing; M’cing and live bands. At the center is the ‘Chillax’ Youth Café which serves to encourage positive socialization between the different groups. The staff worked hard together as a team to get this project off to a good start. This involved enabling young people to negotiate appropriate use of the space; pro-actively preparing them for it being an abuse-free environment – safe from bullying, discrimination or Being Healthy
Staying Safe
Enjoying & Achieving
Making a positive contribution
13
Economic wellbeing
aggression – and practicing early intervention strategies to ensure that any conflict that did arise was effectively managed. In additions, a key worker system was used to ensure prejudicial attitudes were challenged informally within a positive relationship-building process; and to engage young people in discussions about the centre being developed as a venue for new levels of tolerance and understanding between all groups. So far over 70 different young people have benefited Being Healthy
Staying Safe
Enjoying & Achieving
Making a positive contribution
Economic wellbeing
Purton & Cricklade
In response to a group’s stated interest in keeping fit, the team negotiated for 16 of them to attend the gym in Cricklade for 6 weeks as part of the
Locality ‘A’ Fitness Project. During this time they took part in many different taster sessions and worked with a personal instructor who targeted exercises to their own individual fitness needs. During the last week the group went on residential to Skern Lodge where they took part in intensive sports such as surfing, rock climbing, high ropes and abseiling. Each member of the programme and residential received an ASDAN Short Course Activities Award,and was accredited for 10 – 20 hours. Being Healthy
Staying Safe
Enjoying & Achieving
Making a positive contribution
Economic wellbeing
October Wiltshire-wide / Spark The Service runs radio for young people www.sparksite.co.uk.
Wiltshire’s leading website and webcast
This was re-launched in October after a complete make-over and upgrade which totally improved the way the site appears and is run. In the words of Jo Kerr, Sparksite’s Editor: “Sparksite has grown significantly over the past two years and this new rebuild will provide young people with an invaluable resource. They can use it as a portal to access crucial information or simply just to shout about the issues that really matter to them. In fact, by contributing to the site young people can even produce evidence towards accredited learning and qualifications that in turn, strengthens
their chance of getting into their chosen career ” This was supported by Ben and Luke - 2 young people closely involved in developing the site who said: “We think the site now has a more funky design that will appeal a lot more to teenagers.. You can find your way round easier to the things you want to see or hear”. Spark was set up in 2006 to let young people know about Wiltshire’s youth offer – ‘thing’s to do, places to go and people to talk’. The
14
webcast radio element is run as a joint initiative with the Interactive Media Centre at Wiltshire College Being Healthy
Staying Safe
Enjoying & Achieving
Making a positive contribution
Economic wellbeing
Wootton Bassett Accredited Sports Project.
This project was developed as a result of partnership working between Development Services and North Wiltshire District Council. It provided a group of mixed ability young people with an hour long session of sport per week delivered by a qualified coach and supported by one of the team’s youth workers. Over 20 Young People engaged with project each week gaining positive outcomes in terms of their physical health and development of new skills. 15 were also encouraged to undertake the ASDA Activity Short Course Award, which required each to build a portfolio of evidence including plans, reviews and photos of their participation. At the end of the process they came away having achieved a nationally recognized qualification and far more than had thought they would. Being Healthy
Staying Safe
Enjoying & Achieving
Making a positive contribution
Economic wellbeing
Wiltshire-wide / Roots ‘n Motion ‘Roots ‘n Motion’ offers half-term dance opportunities to young people aged 13-19. In partnership with The Arc Theatre,Trowbridge, young people got the chance to participate in
Sparking Out
- a 3 day residency with a professional touring dance company. Lancaster based Ludus Dance led 3 days of workshops with 20 young people from Roots n Motion working towards a curtain raiser to their professional performance of ‘Id:me’. They looked at themes of identity, diversity and how people interact with each other through different personality traits. Although it was an intense week of hard physical work there were many positive outcomes for the group. They had fun working well together as a team developing new choreographic skills and making new friends from different localities. Furthermore, they were all inspired by the professional dance companies’ work and it gave some, a timely taster of what they could each go on to achieve through education and training with focused dedication and hard work.
15
Being Healthy
Staying Safe
Enjoying & Achieving
Making a positive contribution
Economic wellbeing
.Bradford-on-Avon Working in partnership with the School Sports coordinator from St
Laurence School, the team delivered an Alternative Sports Project. This was designed to introduce young people to new and different sports. It ran for 8 weeks and successfully engaged a group of 14 young people. During this period, the young people received coaching in Ultimate Frisbee, Power Kiting, Indoor Climbing and Parkour. Each of these sports had a different focus which over the course of the project, helped the young people to develop a more rounded skill set. Ultimate Frisbee was very much about team work and hand to eye co-ordination; Power Kiting about individual skill and concentration; Climbing about a positive mental attitude and technique; and Parkour, stamina and core strength. The response was hugely positive. All members of the group got stuck in from the outset and supported each other throughout. Being Healthy
Staying Safe
Enjoying & Achieving
Making a positive contribution
Economic wellbeing
Malmesbury.
The main hall in the new centre was a blank canvas and due to be painted one colour by the contractors. However, the young people were keen on something a little more adventurous and so it was negotiated for them to paint it themselves a part of an
Internal
Mural Arts Project. The process began with 15 young people being supported by one of the youth workers with art skills to work up designs over a period of 6 sessions. The emerging favourites were then shared and discussed with the 40 or so other young people to ensure that there was general agreement and approval. The chosen image - a jungle scene was then finally transferred onto the wall over the course of a weekend by six young people who worked long and hard under the guidance of a professional artist. 4 were accredited with ASDAN Short Course Activity award and 1 used the work towards their Arts Award.
Being Healthy
Staying Safe
Enjoying & Achieving
Making a positive contribution
16
Economic wellbeing
Wiltshire-wide In every Community Area youth work teams try to ensure that there are at least 1 or 2 evening or weekend sessions per week, when the Centre is open and accessible to all in the 13-19 age range who want to come in. These ‘Open Access Drop-in sessions are a very important part of the youth work programme, because they represent the Service’s universal offer. The aim is to provide young people with a safe ‘off street’ environment in which to socialise, which is why many still refer to these sessions as the ‘Youthie’ or ‘youth club’. These sessions can however be some of the most challenging to deliver because of the skill set needed to manage all the people and processes involved. This necessarily includes: creating a credible young-person–friendly environment; maintaining a relaxed none-authoritarian atmosphere; taking time to develop rapport and relationships; and yet still be supervising all that’s going on, ready to intervene when necessary to encourage participation or prevent some enjoying themselves at the expense of others (!)
Westbury
The Westbury Open Access Drop-in runs on Tuesday nights and is an example of this aspect of the work. As with all other elements of the programme it was planned with young people using a ‘PPP ’ - one of the Services recognised project planning tools. The young people seen here completing it are members of the Westbury Young Leaders Team . - a small group of regular attenders who signed up to being more actively involved in the Centre’s development. The following list is taken from a section of the form that described the benefits or ‘anticipated learning outcomes’ they agreed young people should get from attending the drop in over time: o o o o o o o o
Get to know new people and make good friends Get to know the youth workers and build up trust Learn how to chill-out and socialise (and not bully or be bullied) Do things we like doing like football, pool, computers and cooking Learn how to get important information, advice and support work with staff to make it better for ourselves & other young people the chance to plan & organize other projects to do on other days Develop skills we can use in life and work, like, communication, negotiation & teamwork
November
Wiltshire-wide Voice & Influence Team
In November 2008 the Voice and Influence Team produced a child-friendly version of the Children & Young People’s Plan, which they then sent out to all Wiltshire Primary Schools - including Special and Independent Schools – with a consultation exercise, as a mechanism for
consulting children on the
C&YP Trust Board priorities. Over 30 schools took part and completed the exercise. The feedback was forwarded to Board members to inform future work and was also fed back
17
to children throughout the county. It is already influencing decisions in some areas of work especially in relation to the development of play and leisure facilities. Being Healthy
Staying Safe
Enjoying & Achieving
Making a positive contribution
Economic wellbeing
Chippenham
The aim of the Indoor Climbing Project was to enable more young people to benefit from use of the climbing wall facilities at Hardenhuish School. In partnership with the school and with much help from a key volunteer, the team were able to offer out 2 slots a week to a diverse range of young people, some of whom had never climbed before. Their willingness to work together in support of one another added developmental value to the activity, making it truly ‘positive’. By the end of the project all 17 young people had learned how to use the safety gear; could tie the appropriate knots and belay their partner safely up and down the wall. The project gave the young people improved access to local facilities and the encouragement to develop a new active interest. Being Healthy
Staying Safe
Enjoying & Achieving
Making a positive contribution
Economic wellbeing
Durrington
The Inclusive Garden Project is another one of those projects specifically designed to bring a range of different groups together in a bid to bridge differences and broaden respect. Young people from the generic sessions held the initial competition to design the garden; young people from the Bridging project made bird boxes with the Wiltshire Wildlife Trust to encourage wildlife into the garden; the Young Parents group selected the furniture and plants; and most of the groundwork been completed by young people from the YOT carrying out their community pay back hours. Most of the 60 young people who were involved met each other over the course of the project and now share ownership of the garden. All received accreditation from the wildlife Trust. Being Healthy
Staying Safe
Enjoying & Achieving
Making a positive contribution
Economic wellbeing
Devizes The Devizes Community Area Young Peoples Issue Group (CAYPIG) is well attended by young people and adults. Meetings are held monthly in an after-school session on Thursdays. The salient issue for many of the young people who have been attending is the constant negative perception of them by adults in their community. Interestingly the adults on the group also supported this concern. As a group it was decided an open letter should be sent to the local news paper addressed to the community. This was the start of an important learning process for the young people as well as the start of a great campaign. Initially the team used their group work skills to help young people identify
18
the key themes and messages they wanted to communicate. These were then worked up into 3 draft letters which the young people finally managed to combined into a finished version. The adults then gave consent to have their names and organizations added to the letter in support of the case that the young people had made. To the delight of all the letter was soon after published in the Gazette and Herald as the ‘letter of the week’. As such, it attracted a lot of attention to the issue and prompted many sequel letters of support from all corners of the community. This is one of many excellent examples of how CAYPIGS were intended to function. Being Healthy
Staying Safe
Enjoying & Achieving
Making a positive contribution
Wiltshire-wide / Voice & Influence Team Million Takeover Day to be held in Wiltshire
Economic wellbeing
This year saw the second
11
since the National Children’s Commissioner set the ball rolling for this to be an annual event in November 2008. The event is geared up to giving young people – of whom there are 11 Million in England - a real taste of how public services are run and how managers make decisions. Among many other opportunities, 2 young women made a valuable contribution to discussions with Ruth Sexton, Director of Off The Record, as part of the Service’s review of its counselling provision. They were both very clear that it was important for young people to be able to have confidential counselling whenever they needed; but they expressed concern about sessions only being run from Devizes and Warminster – as they felt this was not helping young people equally across the County. The contract has since been reviewed and this disparity has been addressed.
Being Healthy
Staying Safe
Enjoying & Achieving
Making a positive contribution
Wiltshire-wide Red Ladder
is a specialist youth theatre company funded by the Arts Council and recognised to be one of Britain's leading touring theatre companies. Towards the end of 2008, the Service brought them in to perform their latest play
‘Forgotten Things’ at 4 youth centre venues across the County. 19
Economic wellbeing
Local teams then worked hard to ensure as many young people got to see it as possible. The play itself was a darkly comic cross-generational story that fused puppetry, innovative theatre and surreal style. It was all about finding hope and what happens when it is taken away. 16 year old Toby believed he was a failure and was loosing the will to live. His parents were frightened of loosing their ‘baby’ and Grandma Lilly was loosing her mind. Toby’s parents were out seeking help for him the night he decided to end it all. But luckily – having forgotten something ‘important’ – Lily (the Grandma) interrupted his train of thought to lead him into a mystery of half memories and family secrets that in the end saved both their lives. Following each performance, the company came back out to engage the young people in reflective dialogue about what they had seen and to answer any questions. The service believes it is important to give young people the chance to experience quality professional theatre at least once in its annual calendar. It was a captivating performance and those young people those who had decided before hand that it was going to be ‘rubbish’, were clearly excited and inspired by it once they had seen it. Being Healthy
Staying Safe
Enjoying & Achieving
Making a positive contribution
Economic wellbeing
Wiltshire wide / Voice & Influence Team November was also the month when the Service staged the annual Wiltshire Youth Awards Evening. This is an annual event held in the Council Chamber designed to recognize and celebrate the many and varied achievements and contributions attributable to young people and voluntary sector volunteers from across the County. In total around 150 people attended with over 70 receiving awards of one kind or another from Cllr Nancy Bryant, Cabinet Member for Children and Education. Valued volunteers from the Voluntary Sector received their awards - with thanks - from the Lord Lieutenant. In the audience to share the moment with young people were cross-sector staff and Senior Officers including David Whewell, Wiltshire’s Head Of Youth Work.
Being Healthy
Staying Safe
Enjoying & Achieving
Making a positive contribution
20
Economic wellbeing
Marlborough
It has been recognized for some time that the relationship between young people and the Police in Marlborough is sensitive. When asked, young people frequently voice that they feel picked on due to their age and the fact that other adults report them for simply hanging around; where as the Police on the other hand are keen for young people to consider things from their perspective, including the day to day challenges they face. In order to make some progress on this issue it was agreed that it should be made the focus of
one of Marlborough’s CAYPIGS, under the heading of Young People & ‘The Law’. The meeting was well attended by 12 young people from the local school; representatives from the local Police; a representative from the Service Management and members from the youth work team. The atmosphere was positive. The police gave an insight into how complaints get logged and have to be subsequently acted on. The young people asked questions about this and explained in more detail their sense of injustice based on their experiences in the community. Due to the importance of the subject it was agreed to continue discussing it at a future CAYPIG and to distribute information to young people about their rights and responsibilities in relation to the Law through the school. Being Healthy
Staying Safe
Enjoying & Achieving
Making a positive contribution
Economic wellbeing
December Mere & Tisbury
The Lanterns For Salisbury Project provided an excellent focus for bringing together the Young Parents Group and other young people from Mere & Tisbury Open Access sessions. Artists from Toozali worked with both groups to construct lanterns from willow and tissue for the big lantern parade in Salisbury. Once the basic lanterns had been constructed young people spent a number of further sessions decorating them. The Young Parents group, supported by youth work staff, made Christmas outfits for their children to wear in the parade. The group was 20 strong in total. All learnt new creative skills; worked as part of a team; and got to know other young people they would never otherwise have met. The parade was a rare opportunity for both groups to be part of a larger gathering and to represent their community area. Inspired by the experience, a number have since gone on to embrace other arts opportunities and are looking out for more of the same.
21
Being Healthy
Staying Safe
Enjoying & Achieving
Making a positive contribution
Economic wellbeing
Salisbury/Bass Connection
The Bass Connection Rock Awards 08 was a hugely successful and popular youth music event held in December 2008 at Salisbury Arts Centre to celebrate and showcase young people’s achievements and talent. Voting for the nine different musical categories began in September 08 and by the end of the process over 300 votes had been registered. Young people from Bass Connection were heavily involved from start to finish - promoting the event, helping back stage, organizing the presentations and photography etc. On the night the event was attended by over 250 young people and parents. During the evening five Bass Connection bands performed: Citystereo, Go Vegas, Dead Mile, Slapface and Martha Beck. The eventual winners of each category were as follows: Best Band Citystereo; Best New Band The Bears and Martha Beck; Best Stage Act Go Vegas; Best Singer Tom Ray; Best Guitarist James Seago; Best Bassist Nick; Best Drummer Connor Christe; the Trewent Award James and the Rose Gale Award Russell James. Each of the winners were awarded with an engraved plate. Not only an excellent event, but a heavy counter-blow the media’s prevailing image of young people as disinterested and anti-social. Being Healthy
Staying Safe
Enjoying & Achieving
Making a positive contribution
Economic wellbeing
Durrington Bridging Project.This
project offers young people with disabilities the opportunity to engage in a wide range of positive activities. The group has successfully participated in a CAYPIG and enjoyed expressing their views on local issues. They were also involved in the Lanterns For Salisbury Parade which was part of the wider No Barriers Project. Evaluation material indicates that as a result of engaging in the Bridging Project young people have gained in confidence and self esteem; felt more a part of the centre; and more valued by the wider community. The future programme is currently being designed in consultation with the group to include increasingly more challenging activities. Being Healthy
Wilton
Staying Safe
Enjoying & Achieving
Making a positive contribution
Young people living in the Wilton Community Area were
given the chance to take part in Dance Sessions at the Michael Herbert Hall in Wilton. Those involved came up with their own dance routines that they then performed at the Arc Theatre in Trowbridge, as part of the WYAP Roots ‘n’ Motion project. All the young
22
Economic wellbeing
people worked really hard on their routines and committed a lot of rehearsal time to their performance. The group continues, and they are now working with the team to find ways of extending their group’s membership beyond 12, to benefit other young people. Needless to say they have gained enormously in terms of self esteem, aspiration and transferable skills
Being Healthy
Staying Safe
Enjoying & Achieving
Making a positive contribution
Economic wellbeing
January Melksham
In January the Melksham team carried out a consultation with young people to establish whether they were interested in weekend provision - and if so, in what form? The response was a ‘yes’ and what the young people said at the time they wanted, was affordable activities with adult supervision at the Christie Miller Sports Centre on Friday Nights. Working from young peoples own suggestions, the Youth Develpoment Coordinator and partners Mike Mills (Chair of Melksham Without PC) and Rich Ayling (Fitness Manager from DC Leisure) set about devising The Friday Night Project. This would be a monthly session structured into an hour of bowling, an hour of using the gym and an hour for either dodge ball, squash, badminton or tennis. Additional funding from Melksham Without PC and Community First helped to secure the first 3 Pilot sessions which were then widely advertised through Housing Associations, a local newsletter and the School. The first session attracted 16 young people, but by the second week this had doubled to 36 - evidencing the need and strengthening the case for continued funding. The project represents young people helping to shape the services they need; in this case, into a provision that serves to provide them with a positive alternative to the Friday night street scene. As the project develops, young people will remain very much at the heart of the decision-making and through this aspect acquire transferable skills and confidence that the activities alone could not give. Records to date indicate a take up of over 70 young people
Being Healthy
Staying Safe
Enjoying & Achieving
Making a positive contribution
Downton
Economic wellbeing
The Power Kiting & Mountain Boarding Project was developed in partnership with Trafalgar School to introduce young people to alternative sports. After having done a demonstration and an assembly, a group of 13 young people embarked on an 8
23
week project aimed at giving them the skills to learn not only to fly very big kites, but also how to mountain board and kite land board! The sessions were led by an experienced instructor and took place on the school site and Hudsons field. All the young people progressed through the project to the point where they could fly the large kites competently and remain standing on a mountain board. Some progressed beyond this to combine the two using the kite to pull them along on the board – impressive to watch and needless to say not that easy! Being Healthy
Staying Safe
Enjoying & Achieving
Making a positive contribution
Economic wellbeing
Locality A (Purton, Cricklade, Malmesbury & Wootton Bassett) When Locality A ran 2 evenings of Assistant Youth Worker Interviews
they involved 6 young people in informal interviews, 2 from each of the 3 major projects. Prior to the interviews the YP took part in preparation work to agree a scoring system and to explore what it means to approach the task from equal opportunities perspective. Furthermore, the questions they asked were not just thought up on the spot by themselves, but ones that had been agreed by other young people in and across the Locality. The process was successful because it resulted in the appointment of new staff. However, during their evaluation session, the main positive that the young people identified was how the experience had prepared them for the day when they would be sitting in the candidate’s chair. Being Healthy
Staying Safe
Enjoying & Achieving
Making a positive contribution
Economic wellbeing
Wiltshire-wide / Roots n Motion
In January 2009 Roots n Motion became a partner with Wiltshire & Swindon Activity & Sports Partnership (WASSP) to deliver dance provision across the county as part of the Sport Unlimited Project. Sport Unlimited is funded by Sport England and aims to deliver extended schools work for young ‘semi sporty’ people in an attempt to get more young people involved in physical activity with positive progression routes secured through partnership working. The project comprised a 10 week-long series of After-School Dance sessions run simultaneously across 6 Wiltshire schools. This in turn fed directly into the new term of weekly Roots n Motion dance sessions which helped to bring new members into local Youth Centres and increased participation in Dance Express. Being Healthy
Staying Safe
Enjoying & Achieving
Making a positive contribution
Wilton /Barford St Martin
Young people in the village were supported to bid to WYPOF for funds to run a
Rural Leisure Credits Scheme
similar to the one
24
Economic wellbeing
that had been so successful in Tisbury. The scheme rewards young people for undertaking conservation work within their local communities with credits that they can then exchange for activities and trips of their choice. The Barford group were interested in this ideas because they wanted to maintain their positive image within the community and put something back into the village. The scheme is a partnership project with BTCV, Wiltshire Wildlife Trust and Youth Action Wiltshire, all of whose contributions are appreciated and valued. Being Healthy
Staying Safe
Enjoying & Achieving
Making a positive contribution
Economic wellbeing
February WYAP /Bradford on Avon & Trowbridge.
Bradford on Avon Youth Development Centre was the venue for the pilot of
the Young Arts Leaders Award, which drew together a group of young people from Bradford On Avon and Trowbridge who were interested in developing transferable skills associated with planning and organizing arts events for themselves and other young people. From its start in February, this committed group went on to meet up on 24 separate occasions throughout the year to take part in an intense programme of training sessions covering areas such as The Arts Award; Arts Assessing; and using the arts as a tool for increasing young people’s voice and influence. Much of their learning was put into practice when they got the chance to help plan, organize and facilitate the Creative Juice event, held at the Arc Theatre. This offered other young people taster workshops in dance & music technology; a rolling large scale origami art piece; various dramabased consultation activities and a line up of live performances.
Being Healthy
Staying Safe
Enjoying & Achieving
Making a positive contribution
Economic wellbeing
Bradford on Avon.
As part of a programme of targeted youth work in schools, a group of young women decided they wanted the chance to take part in an extreme sport activity. They decided on Boarding and so called their project Mad Girls On Boards. From the outset, they were encouraged to share responsibility for the planning and their first achievement in this respect, was a successful WYPOF for funding. In this, they and were clear about why they wanted it to be a ‘women only’ activity - because they did’nt want their experience to be spoilt by the inevitability of lads showing off and making fun of them if and when they fell. The day went really well with all young women participating to the max, having fun and learning a completely new skill in the process. Confidence levels increased with each turn and despite their being some hilarious tumbles and some being far quicker to pick up the skill than others no one was put down or made to feel silly. It was a great event and an illustrative example of how selective use of single sex youth work can accelerate important aspects of young people’s development – in this case, their confidence and self esteem.
25
Being Healthy
Staying Safe
Enjoying & Achieving
Making a positive contribution
Economic wellbeing
Localty ‘C’ (Melksham, Trowbridge and Bradforn on Avon)
Encouraging young people to take part in exciting positive group activities has always been an important ingredient within youth work, so long as the potential opportunities for young people’s personal and social development are properly recognized and facilitated. In the case of Locality ‘C’s February Half Term Extravaganza, the learning process started prior to Christmas when young people were engaged in the process of selecting and agreeing which activities they would like the chance to do and why. The first of these activity days involved 30 young people Go Karting at Castle Coombe race course and the second, 40 young people on a Multi-activity day in Bristol. As a result of discussions with young people about cost and finance, they agreed to contribute £20 & £15 per day respectively to reduce demand on the curriculum budget. Both days were judged to be a success for the following reasons: the groups from the different community areas mixed well without conflict; they regulated their own behavior and abided by their agreed code of conduct; working relationships were strengthened and young people’s engagement with the service has increased.
Being Healthy
Staying Safe
Enjoying & Achieving
Making a positive contribution
Economic wellbeing
Warminster On February 24th the team supported young people from Warminster to attend the Pilot Area Board Meeting, as the agenda was focusing on provision for young people related issues. Two groups attended from the centre: a group of young women from the dance project - who agreed to liven up the meeting with one of their routines - and a group from other sessions who talked with the board about why they attended the youth centre and what they got from it. These, together with a small presentation by the out-going Youth Development Co-ordinator on achievements of the last year helped to give the board a better insight into what goes on at the centre and the ongoing potential contribution that youth work can make to lives of young people in the town.
26
Being Healthy
Staying Safe
Enjoying & Achieving
Making a positive contribution
Economic wellbeing
Westbury
During their last CAYPIG young people put forward a very well argued case to Paul Fife from Selwood Housing Association for help with building a Youth Shelter at the back of the centre as somewhere for them to gather and socialize when the centre wasn’t open. Paul had come on behalf of Selwood to ask young people about their needs. The argument as they articulated it was as follows: “We don’t feel wanted by the adult community in Westbury. Where ever we meet up they always call the police and we get moved on even if we are just hanging around and having a laugh. The youth centre is the only place in Westbury that feels like it’s ours and because they know it’s a youth centre no one would move us on” It was agreed that this should be turned into a youth work project -
The Youth Shelter
Project - and a month or so later Paul came back to talk it though with them in more detail. During this project planning session, the group started thinking about how it could be designed and took Paul outside to show him where they thought it should be sited.
Being Healthy
Staying Safe
Enjoying & Achieving
Making a positive contribution
Economic wellbeing
Devizes / WAYS
During our open access sessions at Devizes Development Centre, a group was identified who were
interested in taking part in an Alternative Sports Project. They were keen that this should be to run as an ‘after school’ session, in order for it not to impact on the existing evening sessions and because some of the activities needed to take place outdoors during daylight. The sessions combined a wide range of activities – climbing, power kiting, mountain boarding, and Parkour – with periods of group work that were used to add value young people’s learning. These were used to explore such things as maintaining health and safety; the importance of adopting a positive mental attitude and awareness of self in relation to others. The evaluation not only revealed the extent to which young people enjoyed the process –and the chance to learn new skills - but it also resulted in their increased attendance at other sessions including the CAYPIG. All the young people took up the offer of gaining an ASDAN Activities Award - putting in extra sessions to complete the associated paperwork – and one went on to become even more involved by becoming a regular volunteer at the Bridging Project.
27
Being Healthy
Staying Safe
Enjoying & Achieving
Making a positive contribution
Economic wellbeing
Wiltshire-wide / Voice & Influence team
Because political education is part and parcel of young peoples personal and social development, youth work has traditionally played a key role in promoting understanding of (and engagement in) the democratic process. One of the mechanisms for this in Wiltshire at a County level is the Wiltshire Assembly of Youth. During the
Elections
Wiltshire Assembly of Youth (WAY) & UK Youth Parliament
in January, young people from across the County were invited to nominate themselves and others for seats.During the election week candidates were supported by the V&I team to visit schools and Centres where they engaged with their electorate and tried to secure text votes. In order to promote diversity and access the team ensured that one such visit was to a residential school for young people with a range of physical, emotional and behavioural disabilities. This challenged the young candidates to consider how they were going to represent a more diverse constituency of young people whose needs, interest and life experiences may be very different from their own. Due to number of candidates involved this year, all were lucky enough to be elected onto WAY, although the total number of votes this year’s was a record high of 4,625. The young person with the most votes from each area was elected to UKYP with the second highest young person from each area being elected as deputy to UKYP. This gave the candidates a credible mandate and Wiltshire a glimpse of its future politicians! North Wilts
East Wilts
West Wilts
Being Healthy
Staying Safe
Enjoying & Achieving
Making a positive contribution
Economic wellbeing
March Bradford on Avon / Oxenwood As part of their Bronze and Silver Duke of Edinburgh’s Award, young people spent a weekend away at Oxenwood learning the various skills they would need to successfully complete their
28
Expedition
Section.
This
DoE
Pre-expedition
Training
Weekend
at
Oxenwood included: how to set up and break camp; survive in relative cold; cook on camping
equipment and use maps to navigate day and night time hikes. Two groups were involved, one from Bradford on Avon and the other from Atworth Youth Club. Both groups mixed together really well and demonstrated a clear commitment to working in teams - a prerequisite for nearly all of the tasks. Because the experience was so positive they have subsequently elected to face the future challenges of their actual expedition together as one group. The Duke of Edinburgh’s Award has always been highly valued by employers, not least because it also harnesses young people’s willingness to make a positive contribution to their community. Being Healthy
Staying Safe
Enjoying & Achieving
Making a positive contribution
Economic wellbeing
Trowbridge
During the course of 2008 the media ran many reports about young people on the Longfield estate focused on anti-social behavior. Recognizing the need to assess this issue for real the street based youth work team committed to spend time on the streets getting to know the young people and listening to what they themselves had to say. Initially young people complained that they had no where to go, although most attended the voluntary after school provision run by Maranatha from the Community Centre on a Friday afternoon. As sessions continued the team started to work with young people in preparation for them taking part in a series of meetings with other members of the Anti-social Behavior Pannel’s Longfield Steering Group - Rob Dewsbury; Maranatha and Sergeant Steve McGlynn. Once given a voice, the young people became so enthusiastic about having their say and expressing themselves, that it led to the setting up of the new Longfield Youth Council. This was officially launched on Friday 6th March by the Mayor of Trowbridge (with other Councillors in attendance) and was jointly chaired from the outset by two young people elected to the office by their peers. The whole process has not only raised the young people’s self esteem and aspirations, but it has served to demonstrate the diversionary and preventative value of good youth work. This group of nearly 20 young people has since gone on to be represented on the Trowbridge CAYPIG, and reports of anti-social behaviour are down by 60%. All feel this has been a positive intervention, and that young people have been effectively enabled to challenge their long standing bad press. Being Healthy
Staying Safe
Enjoying & Achieving
Making a positive contribution
Warminster
Economic wellbeing
12 young people involved in the Drama Group wrote and rehearsed a 20 minute piece which they performed for the entertainment of others in the community.
29
Combined with the giving out of awards – including Bronze DoE to one volunteer who had been working towards it for the past 10 years – the event served as a of all that young people had achieved. Being Healthy
Staying Safe
Enjoying & Achieving
Dramatic Celebration
Making a positive contribution
Economic wellbeing
Devizes
The needs of the young people who attend the Bridging Project are complex and varied, although one all have in common is the chance for positive social interaction with peers. In line with other Bridging Projects across the service – and indeed youth work generally - the emphasis is on personal and social education with delivery being tailored to meet individual needs where necessary. Inevitably this can sometimes require 1 to 1 attention (for example in the case of one young man who has Aspergers and is Dyspraxic which is why staffing ratios need to be generally higher than in some other youth work sessions. Where ever possible, young people who attend the Bridging Project are supported and encouraged to access other mainstream sessions – hence the concept of ‘bridging’. This is not always possible, but in the case of one young man who is statmented and on the Devizes School SEN register, the transition has been permanent. He now feels the open access sessions better meet his needs and enjoys attending the CAYPIG. Central to the concept of Bridging Projects is the fostering of mutual partnerships between Disabled and non-disabled young people. In Devizes 5 young people from year 10 who are completing their DoE award at the school have been assisting their disabled peers to also gain ASDAN Activities Award. In total the Devizes Bridging Project has been benefiting 35 young people 25 who are registered as having a disability or additional needs and 10 who are not. Being Healthy
Staying Safe
Enjoying & Achieving
Making a positive contribution
Economic wellbeing
Purton, Cricklade and Wooten Bassett. Back in March a Combined CAYPIG was used to ramp up activity in relation young peoples voice and influence. Young people who had attended from across all 3 centres were joined by others who were representing school councils and adults from housing associations, Councils, Police and Development Service. The meeting got off to a positive start by reviewing the things that had been achieved over the past year including: work with skaters and developing Purton skate park; and a substantive survey into the needs and interests of young people in the area which had guided the development of future programmes. During the meeting, the opportunity was taken to provide young people with information about the change to One Council – and what this could mean for them – as well as to discuss with them where their local funds should be held -
30
at Community Area or Locality Level. Their enthusiasm for it being held at Community Area level, with all that this means in terms of additional decision-making was taken as a positive indication of their enthusiasm for remaining involved in such processes Being Healthy
Staying Safe
Enjoying & Achieving
Making a positive contribution
Economic wellbeing
Salisbury
Young people put forward 2 project bids under Participatory Budgeting which were the next step in the development of further transitional activities of the Salisbury Bridging project. The projects were a Youth Café - which will run 1 lunchtime per week in the city centre and be staffed by young people, providing them with the opportunity to learn a range of skills in catering as well as relating to the wider public – and the Go Bananas Night Club, which will run once per month in the City Centre and be open to young people with disabilities and their young carers as well as other groups of vulnerable young people who currently are unable to access this kind of provision Being Healthy
Staying Safe
Enjoying & Achieving
Making a positive contribution
Economic wellbeing
Tidworth & Ludgershall This year effort has gone into working with young people to upgrade their facilities and equipment. In Ludgershall a group of young women were inspire by what they had seen on a visit to the Shak in Pewsey. They committed time and effort to putting in a successful bid to WYPOF which, when matched by money from the Trustees of the Building, raised over £10k. Following a period of closure for the revamp the centre has reopened with a total repaint and new kitchen/coffee bar area that incorporates the young people’s chosen designs and furniture. The group are now working with the team on a strategy to extend its use and take up by other local young people. Similarly, a breakthrough came in Tidworth when 2 young men - previously hard to engage became enthusiastic about the prospect of turning the computer room into a new music studio with mixing decks and live music recording facilities. Like the young women above, these young men gave up their time to write a WYPOF bid that resulted in the project being granted £8K. Needless to say the original computer facilities were not lost but relocated to the open coffee bar area where their use was more accessible to young people and easier for staff to monitor. Because youth work outcomes can only ever be achieved with young people’s voluntary involvement it’s important for us to be able to offer credible environments and facilities that young people will choose to want to use. Engaging them in the process not only increases their sense of stakeholder-ship, but provides a focus for the development of wider transferable skills and attitudes. In this case, setting and achieving goals to benefit themselves and others and learning how raise and manage project funds.
31
Being Healthy
Staying Safe
Enjoying & Achieving
Making a positive contribution
Economic wellbeing
Pewsey There is a history of young people in Pewsey actively shaping their own programmes and coming up with ideas for projects. In March a mixed group of core members decided they
wanted to give up some of their time to do some fundraising for Comic Relief. Their idea centered around a Bands Night Event that they and other local young music makers could play at. The event was a real success. It attracted an audience of 60 young people with 4 bands each playing a set - including one called ‘Everyday Gosts’. At the end of the day they managed to raise over £150 for Comic Relief; although the benefit did not stop here! During the process they had been on a steep learning curve which included: 1) how to achieve a more professional standard of publicity than their initial marker drawn posters 2) how use a sound desk 3) how to properly stage manage the event and 4) how to properly manage and pass on the funds they had raised. These things were discussed at length during their project evaluation session along with how much they had enjoyed the event and how proud they felt at being able to send off the money. Being Healthy
Staying Safe
Enjoying & Achieving
Making a positive contribution
Economic wellbeing
Pewsey For the past 3 years, I PWZ (I Pewsey) has been running from the PACT centre in the middle of town as a partnership project between Pewsy Area Community Trust and Development Service. Its purpose has been to increase young people’s access to IT and the Internet. Last year, it was recognized that there was an opportunity to extend and develop young people’s use of this provision still further by brining it into the more young-personfriendly environment of the Shak Youth Centre. The kit was moved across in March and since, it has attracted more use as anticipated. The initiative remains a good example of Service collaboration with a local community group to jointly fund & deliver a project of real benefit to young people. ‘”Thanks” to Lee Grafton (one of the Founding members) and Hallen, who has been working alongside the youth work team.
32
Being Healthy
Staying Safe
Enjoying & Achieving
Making a positive contribution
33
Economic wellbeing
Index April
(Page 4)
WYAP Evolving Landscapes Durrington Community Area Young Parents group Westbury Young Women’s Relaxation Workshop May
(Page 5)
Wootten Bassett Lyneham Street based Youth Work Wiltshire-wide Looked After Young Men’s Group Wiltshire-wide WYPOF on ICE June
(Page 7)
Wilton Barford Fete Tisbury Football Project Marlborough Recruitment & Selection process July
(Page 8)
Wiltshire-wide Roots n Motion Dance Express Wiltshire-wide The Great Green Debate Purton & Cricklade Go-karting August Bradford On Avon Partnership Fishing Comp Mere & Tisbury Single Gender Project Locality ‘A’ International Exchange Corsham Womens Body Combat Course
34
(Page 10)
September
(Page 12)
Wootten Bassett Kick Start Corsham CASE Studley Green Trowbridge Carnival Chippenham Bridge Centre Activity Night Purton & Cricklade Fitness Project October
(Page 15)
Wiltshire-wide Spark Re-launch Wootten Bassett Sports & Short Course Wiltshire-wide Roots n Motion Sparking Out Bradford on Avon Alternative Sports Project Malmesbury Internal Mural Arts Project Wiltshire-wide Open Access Westbury Young Leaders Team
November Wiltshire-wide Childrens Service Consultation Chippenham WAYS Indoor Climbing at Harden Huish Durrington Inclusive Garden Project Devizes CAYPIG Wiltshire-wide 11 Million Take Over Day Wiltshire-wide Red Ladder ‘Forgotten Things’ Wiltshire-wide Wiltshire Awards Evening Marlborough Young People & ‘The Law’
35
(Page 18)
December
(Page 22)
Mere & Tisbury Lanterns 4 Salisbury Project Salisbury Bass Connections Rock Awards Durrington Bridging Project Wilton Dance Project
January
(Page 23)
Melksham Friday Night Project Downton WAYS Power kiting & Mountain-boarding Locality A Assistant Youth Worker Interviews Wiltshire-wide Roots n Motion Sport Unlimited Wilton Barford St Martin Rural Credits.
February Bradford On Avon WYAP Young Arts Leaders. Bradford On Avon Mad Girls On Boards. Melksham Half Term Extravaganza Warminster Pilot Area Board Westbury Youth Shelter Project Devizes Alternative Sports Project Wiltshire-wide WAY & UKYP Elections
36
(Page 25)
March Bradford on Avon & Oxenwood DoE expedition Training Trowbridge Longford Youth Council 19 yp. Warminster Dramatic Celebration Devizes Bridging Project Purton & Cricklade Combined CAYPIG Salisbury Participatory Budgeting Tidworth & Ludgershall Upgrading facilities & equipment. Pewsey fundraising for Comic Relief Pewsey IPWZ
37
(Page 29)