Tag: Young people

What’s The Matter?

Well, The Matter is a new way for young people to tell their councils and governments what they think about issues that concern them and a group of local teenagers unveiled the first edition of a new publication and presented their findings at West Pilton Neighbourhood Centre last night.

Commissioned by the Total Craigroyston initiative, six young people from North Edinburgh Young People’s Forum spent six manic weeks researching, consulting, interviewing, writing and producing their very own newspaper – The Matter – to articulate younger people’s views on how their voices can be heard in the Forth community planning process.

And what were their findings? Well, you’ll have to wait for those – the young people have clearly developed a taste for journalism so they are going to write an article about The Matter themselves for the NEN. Watch this space!

The Matter is supported by design agency Snook in partnership with Young Scot and Firstport, who support new and emerging social entrepreneurs in Scotland.

Vicki says goodbye to Granton

Vicki Ridley is to leave Granton Youth Centre. Vicki, who has managed the youth centre since 2003, is taking up a new post with Canongate Youth Project.

Granton Youth Centre opened on West Granton Road in 2003 in a building shared with the Pilton Partnership. The new Centre did not have the most successful of starts, however, and it was only with the arrival of Vicki as new manager that the Centre started to live up to it’s potential.

Ten years on, under Vicki’s drive and leadership, Granton Youth Centre has gone from strength to strength: constantly building and developing to offer a comprehensive range of services in a programme that’s always been planned with, and centred around, the needs and requirements of the young people themselves.

Vicki said: “Ten years is a long time to be involved in any organisation, and it’s certainly the longest that I’ve been involved with an organisation.  Granton Youth Centre has been an amazing place to work, often challenging, but never a dull moment and occasionally loads of fun! I have lots of fond memories to take away with me, and I have met some truly amazing people whose courage and resilience, kindness and positivity have blown me away, and kept me, the service and everyone else at GYC going when things got tough.

“Although the choppy waters of local community politics don’t always help with plain sailing, some of the partnerships, networks and local organisations we have worked with have been really valuable.  I hope young people throughout Forth continue to benefit from a range and diversity of provision which meets their needs, and that all the organisations in the area have a sustainable and prosperous future.

“It’s great to see how GYC has become a viable and valued resource for young people where once there was none.  My favourite memories are largely concerning situations where young people do well – they receive certificates, awards, or make a small/medium/large breakthrough.  My least favourite memories will be collated and written up in small novella format for publication at a later date!

I look forward to working with friends and colleagues in my new role as Manager of Canongate Youth Project.”

When advertising for a replacement, Granton Youth Centre’s voluntary Board of Management said they were seeking ‘an exceptional candidate to lead our organisation and take our plans forward’. Interviews take place this month, but Vicki will indeed be a hard act to follow.

Community Safety in Forth

Community Safety and young people were the themes of Wednesday’s Forth Neighbourhood Partnership meeting held in Royston Wardieburn Community Centre. Local youth agencies and police officers from the area’s Safer Neighbourhood Team ensured a lively and informative discussion at the teatime event.

The event opened with an excerpt from a drama currently being devised by Forth Youth Theatre. ‘Kieran’s Story’ tells a young local man’s true story and it promises to be a ‘must see’ when it’s performed at North Edinburgh Arts next month.

Pilton Youth & Children Project’s Daniel Rutherford gave a brief presentation on the one-to-one service provided through the local project, and this was followed by a short presentation by young people from Muirhouse Youth Development Group who described – despite a serious collective bout of the giggles – the wide variety of activities they are involved in!

A session of ‘breakout’ workshops in small groups was then scheduled, but Forth Neighbourhood Partnership convener Councillor Steve Cardownie decided instead to invite officers from the local Safer Neighbourhood Team to take questions and comments from the floor. This more informal forum proved to be very successful, with questions and contributions on a wide range of issues both from young people and from members of the wider community.

Neighbourhood Partnership member George Gordon chairs Forth’s Clean, Green and Safe action group. Summing up the event, he said: “The young people’s presentations were first class and we have had a very successful debate. Some specific issues have been flagged up – lighting at the Millennium Park, for example – and we have taken note of these. There have been changes to community policing and it takes a while for these changes to bed in and new faces to get known, but police officers continue to play a very active role in our communities.  Communications need to be improved, but that’s an issue not just for the police but also for Neighbourhood Partnership and the action groups”.

There was only one item of formal business decided by the meeting. Neighbourhood Partnerships allocate Neighbourhood Environmental Project funding, but registered tenants groups are unable to submit applications or propose NEP projects directly. Councillor Cammy Day’s motion to amend the criteria to open this process up to registered tenants organisations was agreed without dissent.

For further information on Community Safety in Forth, telephone 529 7050.

Local Youth Work Praised

Local youth work in North Edinburgh was today praised as being Outstanding and Sector Leading according to a government report which was published today following the inspection on the Broughton High School Learning Community by HMIe earlier this year.

The report has concluded that the Voluntary Sector and Community Learning & Development (CLD) scored an excellent in the section Impact On Young People. 

HMIe inspectors spent a week visiting local projects and meeting with various activists and community representatives to gather evidence about the services that are being offered in the local community not only on Youth Work but on Adult Work, Capacity Building, Improving Services and Improvements in Performance.

In the other areas of their work the HMIe has graded them as  Very Good. The report has highlighted certain areas of work as good practice and and in particular mention to the wide range of activities and opportunities available to young people as well ensuring that young people are involved in the local decision making process. Local project Stepping Stones was mentioned for the excellent and vital support they offer to young parents. Fet Lor Youth Centre was also highlighted for its excellent work in delivering the Duke of Edinburgh Award Scheme to local young people who attend their youth clubs and also within the Broughton high School.

The work that Pilton Equalities Project  does with adults with additional support needs and assisting them to mange their money independently was also praised by the Inspectors. Pilton Community Health Project are making life-changing differences to the health, wellbeing and resilience of vulnerable women and their families said the report.

The HMIe have agreed that CLD and the local service providers need to improve the following areas:

Clarify and simplify the roles and functions of strategic and operational partnerships.

Further develop accredited learning opportunities for adults.

Develop use of Experiences and Outcomes within youth work practice.

Overall this was an excellent report for the Learning Community and highlights some of the excellent work that is being carried out in the Broughton Learning Community area.

You can get a copy of the report here: http://tinyurl.com/3kaxujb

Plans For New Youth Centre In Inverleith Ward

Fet Lor Youth Club is set to be demolished rebuilt as a purpose build state-of-the-art facility which has been designed with the help of local young people.

The club works with youngsters between the ages of eight and 18 in the local area, offering them a wide range of activities, opportunities and experiences they may not otherwise come across such as the Duke of Edinburgh Award Scheme, Outdoor Education programmes and various other worthwhile initiatives. The existing much-loved and well-used centre inNorth Edinburghis a wooden building which was built in the early 1960s. It has been looked after well over the years but it won’t last forever and it has been a dream of the club for some years to replace the building.

Architects began work on the plans four years ago after which Fet Lor launched their ‘Big Project’ to raise the projected £1.5 million cost for the rebuild. A figure that the club cites as a “significant challenge” on their website. Centre manager, Mark Foster is enthusiastic about the proposed new building. He said: “It is potentially a huge step up from the facilities we have at the moment and will offer new variety for the members. The current centre has been struggling on for 40 to 50 years and it has reached the end of its useful life, now we have the opportunity to get a brand new facility. Having it purpose-built will be a significant advantage. We don’t have a whole lot of space here that is not for sport. There is not much room for small group work and the new building will hopefully tackle that.

“The area tends to be dominated by the boys playing football, but there will now be a dance area which the girls were keen on having in the new facility. It will also give us designated areas for the more messy activities like bike maintenance and it means we do not have to constantly tidy up areas so these can be used for different activities. Within the plans for the new centre there will also be a low-level climbing wall in the corner of the sports hall. This again will allow us offer new experiences to the young people who attend the provision”

Architect, James Robertson worked collaboratively with Pippa Swan to design the new building. He said: “We spent time talking with the members of the club asking them what they liked about the current building, what they didn’t like and what they would like to see in the new place. We had thought that they would want to have lots of light flooding in and for it to look really futuristic in style. But they didn’t want people to be able to see in, they wanted it to be their space so we worked on the concept of a fort to protect. The whole design was driven by this and once we had that, the rest of it just fell into place.

“The new design will offer various different spaces, at the moment there is really only one main hall and if the boys are playing football then it is hard for Mark and the other leaders to be heard. The exterior will be made up of jigsaw cladding which will allow light in from different angles throughout the day this will mean that the space will always be changing with different shadows inside the building. The lighting on the outside of the building can also vary meaning that it is always changing. They wanted to have their jewel and that’s what we have tried to do.”

The proposed plans which have been submitted to the City ofEdinburgh Councilinclude the demolition of the existing youth club structure and the removal of the existing nursery structure. The new youth club would be built on the same site along with the relocation of the nursery building. The plans are currently pending consideration by the City ofEdinburgh Councilplanning department.[slideshow]