Archived decisions

Contact: Sal Thirlway, Senior Youth Worker, Tel:01329 829819

1 Summary

1.1 This report provides information about Youth Service work in the Fareham District, with reference to the key issues being addressed. Information is included on current work and planned developments. A list of current youth service projects and networks is attached as a series of appendices.

2 Fareham District

2.1 Fareham town is the administrative and commercial centre of a borough with a population of around 108,000, approximately 10,000 of whom are young people between the ages of 13 and 19.

2.2 The Fareham district benefits from low unemployment, and young people from the area attend six secondary schools and one further education college.

2.3 In addition to the Senior Youth Worker, the Youth Service team in the Fareham District is made up of four full time and 23 part-time youth work staff. At present, each of the four full-time staff has a responsibility for a geographical area, including a building based provision and a detached team. Work is also undertaken in some of the secondary schools and in other community venues.

2.4 The relevant issues and needs of young people in the District, identified through consultation with young people, the wider community and other agencies and organisations include:

_ safe places for young people to meet

_ the development of detached youth work teams

_ the development of further methods of consulting young people in the Fareham district

_ implementation of the Connexions strategy

_ a review and development of the Community Safety Strategy and the Fareham Youth Strategy for the next three years.

2.6 It is intended that these needs, along with those identified as national and County priority areas, will be addressed throughout the forthcoming year in the Fareham district.

Summary review of Fareham District work

3. Curriculum

3.1 Healthy living

3.1.1 Fareham currently has a street based project supported by the Youth Service, Fareham Borough Council and funded by Communities Against Drugs. The main emphasis for this project is to build relationships with young people throughout the Fareham district who find it difficult to access youth provision and increase their awareness of the dangers of drug misuse. The focus is on preventative work.

3.2 Social Inclusion

3.2.1 A project for young parents, funded by Adult and Community Learning, takes place on a Wednesday afternoon at the X-perience Young Persons' Centre. A nearby crèche facility is linked to the project.

3.2.2 Working with four secondary schools across the district, the mentoring project works with young people at risk of exclusion. Working in partnership with Education Other Than At School (EOTAS) staff, the project aims to work with individual students to address behavioural difficulties through informal social educational opportunities.

3.3 Democracy and decision making

3.3.1 Fareham Youth Forum is an exciting project aimed at introducing democracy and decision making in a fun and exciting way to young people aged 13 to 20. This project endeavours to increase young people's awareness of political processes, develop their communication skills and enhance their understanding of citizenship.

3.3.2 Relatively new developments are the project forums at both X-perience and Genesis. These forums offer young people the opportunity to meet with centre staff and be involved in the design of the programmes delivered through the centres. The aim is to extend participation by young people in decision making by involving them fully in the management and advisory committees of these centres.

3.4 Personal and social skills

3.4.1 `HYPO' is an after-school provision for 10 to 13 year olds. Based within Genesis Young Persons' Centre, the provision was piloted during the latter end of 2002 and went live in January. The session has been developed alongside young people to incorporate homework support for the first hour of the session, followed by a structured activity programme including a variety of games exploring issues identified by young people. Links are made with local primary schools to deliver activity based sessions to introduce individuals to a wide range of new experiences.

3.4.2 The young workers project in Fareham is a district wide initiative that runs throughout the academic year. Young workers are young people aged between 14 - 16, who are supported to participate in a district wide personal development training programme that enables them to explore and develop existing and new skills. Young workers also plan, deliver and evaluate an open access session for young people who attend school years 6, 7 and 8.

3.5 New and challenging experiences

3.5.1 The Youth Service district team recently ran "Fareham's Youth Challenge," an activity day based at Neville Lovett school. This exciting event aimed to bring together different groups of young people from across the district and get them involved in new experiences. The challenging activities on offer included indoor caving, archery and first aid. Almost 60 young people attended the event, and it is planned to enhance and enlarge the event next year.

3.5.2 The Duke of Edinburgh's Award runs across Fareham District, both within Youth Service provision, in local schools and at Fareham College. Currently there are 85 young people undertaking the award at different levels (bronze, Silver and Gold) in the district. The Youth Service district has recently become an Award Access Organisation in its own right. This enables the youth work team to accredit the learning of young people for their participation in activities and events, and to support young people to complete the Award.

3.6 Partnerships

3.6.1 It is a credit to the district that all Hampshire County Youth Service provision in Fareham is now working in partnership with other agencies and organisations. Partners include Fareham Borough Council, Connexions, Hampshire Police Authority, Hampshire Social Services, Fareham Youth Concern, Southern Careers, EOTAS, local secondary schools and college, and voluntary organisations.

3.6.2 These partnerships have raised approximately £65,000 for Youth Service work in 2002-2003 with a similar, if not increased, amount expected for the 2003-2004 financial year.

4. Buildings

4.1 There have been some issues relating to the use of the Genesis Centre in Locks Heath. The Centre is owned by Fareham Borough Council whilst managed and operated by the Youth Service. A partnership agreement with Fareham Borough Council and the Western Wards Community Campus is currently being developed. A new full-time Arts Development Worker post has been advertised recently. The person appointed to this post will manage the Genesis centre and its programme.

4.2 X-perience Youth Centre is currently used by a variety of user groups including Connexions, and agreements concerning the management and operation of the provision are being formalised.

5 Staff development

5.1 There are presently two members of staff being supported to train for their national qualification in youth work. Five staff are undertaking the local qualification and two members of staff have been identified to undertake the Connexions diploma. All staff have completed child protection training and the majority of staff have completed tier one of drug education training.

5.2 The recruitment process is underway for an area inclusion worker, to support the social inclusion of young people in Fareham and an arts development worker to develop arts and music work within the district).

6 Resources

6.1 The Youth Service's delegated budget for the Fareham District in 2002-2003 is £123,800

6.2 External funding secured 2002-2003 is £65,122

6.3 Breakdown of external funding secured for revenue costs in 2002-2003;

	£
Fareham Borough Council	12,302
Health Authority	10,052
Schools	18,436
Social Services	12,996
External Sources	9,487
Other Income	1,849
Total	65,122

7 Recommendations

7.1 That the current developments in youth work in Fareham District be welcomed.

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The following documents disclose facts or matters on which this report, or an important part of it, is based and has been relied upon to a material extent in the preparation of this report.

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