Projects

Youth Diversion

In Wellington:

Ignite
Grant:            £4,000

Due to very activities on offer for teenagers in the rural town of Wellington, nine professional youth worker volunteers decided to provide weekly activity sessions in music, dance and video production.  The project attracts about sixty-five young people every Wednesday and since it began the attendance for other youth clubs held at the same venue has increased.   Attitudes to young people in the area have improved, with a notable decrease in negative youth-related articles in the local press.

Kick Start
Grant:            £4,000

To help young people to ride mini-motorbikes legally and in a safe place, a group of twelve parents planned to build a race track and provide maintenance, personal safety and riding training.  The project has attracted an average of twenty-five young people twice-weekly, and forty-eight members have signed up in total.  Police have been referring young people to the project and have noticed a dramatic drop in anti-social use of mini-motorbikes; In fact the team have been engaging with some young people on Acceptable Behaviour Contracts (ABCs).  Its positive impact has also been noted amongst the Local Action Team and also the Town Council, who has decided to contribute funding so the project can continue.

In Yeovil:

Broad Reach
Grant:            £4,000

To turnaround the behaviour of young residents on an estate suffering high levels of crime and anti-social behaviour, family breakdown and deprivation, the Broad Reach project worked to introduce them to sailing, an activity previously unavailable to them.  When the weather prevented sailing, the sparkplugs kept the 11 youngsters stimulated through other activities, such as learning about navigation, ropes and treasure hunts.  Their film of a dinghy sailing trip in February shows evidence of change in the expectations and self-confidence of the young people, and spurred on by these positive outcomes, the project hopes to continue.  Prior to the project, one young person had been excluded from school several times, had low self esteem, disliked working in teams and a tendency towards violent behaviour.  However, according to one volunteer:
“He described a day on Alan’s boat as the best thing he had ever done.  As a result of the two-day sailing course he is now desperate to take up sailing in the future…He made enormous strides towards integrating with the other young people, being able to chat easily with them in a new way.  It was also possible to tease him about having to wear a suit to the celebration evening and tap into his sense of humour which I have not been able to do before.”

In Salisbury:

Cool Sport Harnham
Grant:            £4,000

This project has set up CoolSport Harnham, which provides a range of sporting activities to divert otherwise bored youngsters and cut down on the amount of vandalism and loitering by young people in the area.  Lead sparkplug Mike Halpin has recruited twenty-two volunteers, and over 500 young people attended the first three events.  Mike’s managed to form partnerships with local bodies (schools, places of worship, police, fire service)and get sponsorship from local businesses. The project’s created greater community integration and nitiated public meetings regarding sport and leisure for young people in Harnham, chaired by local resident, Professor Al Aynsley-Green (Children’s Commissioner for England).

Bemerton Heath’s Field of Fun
Grant:            £4,000

To reduce problems of litter and vandalism caused by bored youth, Bemerton Heath was turned into a ‘field of fun’ to provide facilities for sport and team games and a BMX track, primarily for 9-15 year olds.  Despite bureaucracy hindering the development of the project, all sparkplugs are committed to the project until it is completed. 

What’s been most striking about this project has been the personal development of the lead sparkplug, Stan Spreadbury, who became increasingly confident during the course of the projects with support from his mentor.  This is evident from the amount of free manpower and materials he negotiated, which he may not have been skilled enough to do before.

In Bournemouth:

West Howe Young Citizens
Grant:            £3,015

To reduce anti-social behaviou, graffiti and vandalism in the West Howe area, this project created two diversionary activities: a maintenance workshop for old bikes donated by police, and a graffiti wall where budding street artists could have a real and dedicated outlet for their work.  In total, sixteen young people have participated in both projects, and of those interviewed, all said that they would no longer graffiti in places where it was not permitted, and that they felt both projects has benefited the area and given greater pride and confidence.