AGENDA ITEM

COMMITTEE: AREA COMMITTEE NORTH

DATE: 8TH JANUARY 2007

SUBJECT: YOUTH SERVICE

REPORT BY: MICK FORSHAW

CONTACT OFFICER: MICK FORSHAW

IMPLICATIONS:

LEGAL 9 COMMUNITY SAFETY

EQUALITIES ENVIRONMENT

FINANCIAL CONSULTATIONS

STAFFING OTHER

WARDS AFFECTED: ALL

PURPOSE

1. To inform members of the developments within the Youth Service in relation to the Area served by the Committee.

RECOMMENDATION(S)

2. Committee is recommended to note the report.

REPORT

3. The Children and Learning Department which contains the Youth Service now operates across 3 areas of the town. These areas have been especially selected to maximise the opportunity for young people to have access to consistent names personnel throughout their school life. This should enable good working relationships to be established and ensure continuity of support. In relation to this Area Committee, the wards contained within the Education area are , , and Northwell along with some parts of Saints and .

LEA MANOR YOUTH CENTRE.

4. The Youth Club has recently celebrated receiving a Philip Lawrence award for outstanding achievement in the community. The award was made on Tuesday 5 December at the Bloomsbury Theatre in London and was in recognition of the Truancy Awareness Programme which was devised and delivered through partnership between the Lea Manor High School and Lea Manor Youth Club.

5. Sir Trevor McDonald and the Right Honorable John Reid MP (Home Secretary) presented the award along with a cheque for £1000 to the students in recognition of their hard work and achievement in raising awareness about the long-term consequences of truancy and non school attendance. The project took the form of an interactive drama that combined being humorous with giving a serious message

6. The project is now in its third year and is supported by Linda Farmer (Head of the Youth Centre) and Paul James (Education Welfare Officer). To date more than 20 infant, junior, primary and high schools have enjoyed performances. The content is, of course, altered to reflect the age profile of the audiences.

7. The winning of the award is a fine achievement and demonstrates that, with the appropriate support and encouragement, young people can and do make a very positive contribution to the community.

8. The Head of Centre is currently working with two Year 11 groups to address under-achievement. This involves a close partnership that maximises the support given to pupils through their coursework and GCSE examinations. Some students find it hard to concentrate within the classroom setting and the groups aim to address issues that the students may have and assist them through their final school journey through Year 11. The ultimate aim is to focus on the attainment of good grades.

9. 15 young people took part in a Health and Beauty night delivered by . They enjoyed learning new skills in nail art as well as the health and hygiene side. A second, follow up session will be held on make up

10. 10 young people participated in a fitness challenge evening supported by Active Luton. They took part in a variety of activities focusing on health and fitness. These challenges encouraged them to work as a team and also had a competitive edge to the project.

11. A Co-ordinator has now been appointed with the support of the Development Trust for the TLC (Teen Learning Centre). The appointee will commence work soon and will allow the project to develop and offer a more extensive service to young people. Building work is taking place in the Centre to adapt the TLC rooms for more individual use.

12. Andrew Bahadoor has recently joined the staff team as a worker in training and currently divides his time between the Centre and his training at the University of Bedforshire. Philip Moore has been appointed to a 9 hours per week Youth Support Worker post following 8 months of voluntary work at the Centre and Tracey Cilla has been appointed in a similar position.

SUNDON PARK YOUTH CENTRE

13. The Centre is developing joint working arrangements with . This will involve Year 11 pupils using the Centre to gain extra support during the period of preparation for GCSE Examinations.

14. The Duke of Edinburgh Award scheme is to be established in conjunction with the School’s Sports Academy team

15. The Lunch Club has attracted huge numbers of pupils and promotion of the evening youth provision is taking place. A review of lunch time provision is going ahead early this year to focus on the adoption of a healthy approach and new ways of eating for the membership. This is in conjunction with the Healthy Schools agenda.

16. An after school arts project is commencing this in January with skilled tutors offering learning in Brazilian martial arts and dance forms.

17. The Youth Centre has recently began to operate a specialist provision for young people with disabilities. A regular group of attenders has formed and it is hoped that this will develop as it is such a much needed facility. The members take part in sports and arts activities. Some of the senior members have requested dance and circuit training as part of the programme and staff are working with the membership to build this into the programme. Thirty young people attended the midnight Ice Skating at the Alexandra Palace and all enjoyed a late night on ice alongside other young people from across the south east.

18. Outreach work is scheduled to take place this term to encourage those young people who are not accessing the Centre to come along, especially on Friday evenings. This will involve finding out from them what kinds of things they would like to do in the Club. It is planned to undertake some partnership work with the Community Safety Team to offer centre based activities

19. A Junior Club continues to offer a wide variety of weekly youth club provision. This includes the arts, sports and social interaction opportunities.

20. Jackie Moore, who was head of Centre has transferred to Youth Club. This is a career development move and it is hoped that the change will prove successful. The good wishes of the local youth service and young people go to Jackie.

21. The new Head of Centre commenced work on 11 December. Geoff Morris, who lives locally, is an experienced youth worker who has specialist skills in working with disadvantaged young people. He also has a wide knowledge of accreditation opportunities for young people Geoff has already shown a keen interest in youth provision and opportunities for young people in Sundon Park

22. Jason Royce has joined the staff team as the Worker in Training. Jason used to be employed by Connexions and brings a range of skills from that work as well as a great deal of community knowledge. He is keen to encourage members to be more involved in decision making and plans to establish a Youth Forum for the Centre.

23. OTHER PROVISIONS

24. The Meads Youth Club continues to meet in the main hall of the school. Over the last term, sessions have been held on Black History month, bullying and homophobia. These have been well received and feedback from the young people indicates that they have learned a great deal from them. A members’ committee is being formed early in the year to enable the young people to have more influence on the club. Again, this can only be positive for both the Youth Service and the young people themselves.

25. There are currently 3 sessions of youth work provision at Saints Community Centre. On Tuesdays and Fridays, there is an open youth club that currently has almost 40 members. The membership reflects the area very well in terms of race and background. The young people organised their own pool competition recently had a really enjoyable evening. Additionally, 4 members successfully undertook a cycling proficiency course during October half term, one of whom was rewarded by being given a bicycle as she did not have one already. A members’ committee is being formed at Saints Youth Club.

26. The Girls’ Group meets every Wednesday and members have taken part in sports, arts and indoor games. A four week course organised with the Luton and Hospital has only recently finished. A dietician from the hospital came along to demonstrate healthy food and healthy cooking. The girls participated fully and undertook cooking themselves which was of a very high quality.

27. A question was raised at the last Area Committee about Youth Service provision for young people with disabilities. Both Sundon Park and Lea Manor Youth Centres have had extensive work carried out in line with the requirements of Disability Discrimination Act and both offer special provision. Additionally, Lea Manor Youth Club operates its own friendship scheme during some of the school holidays. This scheme pairs a young person with a disability alongside a young person who is not disabled and they work together on fun activities in the way 2 friends might. All youth service provision welcomes young people with a disability.

28. Following the last meeting of the Area Committee at which some young people presented a petition regarding the lack of BMX facilities in the area, Sonia Blackett has met with them to look more closely at what they require. As a result, meetings are scheduled between the young people, youth service, community safety team and parks to look at both the requirements and appropriate venues. Additional verbal information will be provided at the Area Committee meeting

29. Young people from across Luton have received training to enable them to participate fully in the Youth Reference Groups. The training took place over the last October half term over 3 days at Graffam Water. Young people from the north and central area of the town were there and showed tremendous enthusiasm for shouldering the responsibility involved in this project. The work of these local Youth Reference Groups will be starting early in the year.

LEGAL IMPLICATIONS

30. There are no legal implications to this report as agreed with the relevant solicitor on the 15th December 2006.

APPENDIX

There are no appendices to this report.

LIST OF BACKGROUND PAPERS LOCAL GOVERNMENT ACT 1972, SECTION 100D

There are no background papers to this report.