 |
I am originally from Bletchley and grew up in Milton Keynes so I have an understanding of many of the issues facing young people in the area. I have been involved with youth work since my days at school, firstly volunteering before studying for my degree in Youth and Community Development in Leicester where I continued to work. I'm currently loving being back in Milton Keynes and enjoying the challenge of this new job.
My aims are to find out what young people want in their area and to work with them to get it. I am currently looking to open youth sessions in the Parish on a number of different nights, along with finding sports access, and providing support via a detached youth work team.
One of my main tasks is getting out and about talking to young people asking their views and assessing the current activities, or lack of, for young people. I have been liaising with other agencies in the area and working towards combating some instances of antisocial behaviour.
I am looking for ideas, views, wants, needs, and recommendations from all young people and residents in the Parish to help direct my work and provide some fun activities. So feel free to contact me using the information below, or via the Parish office, with any suggestions, and keep an eye out for me in your area. Why not say hello?
Mobile 07970 902570
E-mail: youthleader@shenleybrookend-pc.gov.uk for more information,
Youth Work Team Report for June 2010
1. Senior Youth Work Sessions
The Furzton youth club has continued to attract new members and many of these are coming back week after week. We have had a number of enquiries from parents following our advert in the Community News and hopefully we will see a steady increase continue through the summer months. Our community garden idea is also going very well and we now have pumpkins, peppers, little gem lettuces, and carrots growing in a small patch adjacent to the sports pavilion. We have continued to include the group in this patch and the fact that they have been planted in the open ground for a few weeks now suggests that they should survive without damage from pacers by.
'Games in the Park' has been attracting over 20 young people each week and is looking very promising for continuing into the new pavilion once the building is fully completed (end of this month). We are continuing to meet new faces each week and this session is now starting to become well know among residents of Westcroft. As long as our luck with the nice weather continues I think that this session will continue to work well all summer.
2. Sports Youth Work Sessions
The Tattenhoe football session is continuing using the grass fields while the Astroturf fence is being replaced and we are still see good numbers turning up to enjoy our session. We have decided to continue the session using our Samba goals so that the numbers of young people don’t drop off too much but also as it gives us a chance to be around and see if the pavilion is still having problems while the Astroturf is unprotected. So far all looks to be going ok but we will keep an eye on the area along with the warden team.
Hopefully this will only take two more weeks and as planned the fence will be up by the start of the school holidays and we can continue to support Hertsmere in keeping groups who have not paid to use the pitches off of them. Especially as these seem to be the ones who are causing the most problems up there.
We are currently waiting for the leaflets to be printed for our secret sports sessions that are running every Monday of the holidays, again using the Astroturf at Tattenhoe. The group of boys in year 9 at
3. Detached Youth Work
Even with the increased good weather and greater use by residents the Parish is really looking very good. Our detached youth work sessions are finding very few problems at the moments and issues with graffiti and criminal damage seem to have been reduced. We have adapted some of our routes around the Parish to cover the more common problems such as youth swimming in Furzton lake and increased litter in fields and open spaces due to picnics.4. Community Work
We are now only three weeks away from our Family Fun and Information Day over at Tattenhoe (Wednesday 28th July). We have had over twenty agencies register an interest in having a table and providing an activity so this looks promising for a very useful and interesting day.
We will be providing activities in the main hall, on the back field, and also on the Astroturf give us the space and opportunity to provide a varied and different range of activities. As with our previous sessions we will be providing fun for the full range of ages and hopefully also helping them keep themselves entertained for the rest of the summer by advertising other events.
5. Other Business
We have booked the Play Association for four sessions each week for the six week school summer holiday providing fun and play for younger children on Furzton,
I have continued to attend
I have had some information passed on to me with regards to a FPM Management Development Programme which looks as if it can be a very interesting and worthwhile course. I will be contacting Milton Keynes Council to book my place and look forward to starting the training in October.