Off The Street
Welcome To Off The Streets Community Youth Initiative.

Off the Street Community Youth Initiative was formed in March 1996 out of concerns from local parents, local City Council politicians and youth workers regarding the growing numbers of young people on the streets of the Greater Shantallow Area increasingly engaging in ‘anti-social’ and risk-taking behaviour including the abuse and misuse of alcohol and drugs as well as engaging in behaviours that create a climate of fear within the community.

It is one of the few existing Street Work Projects in Northern Ireland and until recently the only detached project operating in the Derry City Council area. It has developed a range of work and practice that combines outreach, centre based, referral and group work. It attempts to address alienation felt by young adults (of both genders) but primarily young men who have effectively been ‘lost’ or at risk of being lost to all mainstream community / youth provision and educational providers.

Vision
Young People are respected as equal members of the Community and are viewed as a Resource with a positive contribution to make to the life of the Greater Shantallow Area

Mission Statement
We aim to address the negative perception of young people in the Greater Shantallow area, by providing positive experiences and learning opportunities through a range a holistic, inclusive approaches.

Aims

• Identify issues relating to the negative culture of young people in the Greater Shantallow area.
• Create a safe environment for young people to realise their full potential
• Minimise the opportunity for young people to be involved in risk taking behaviour, by offering/providing a range of learning opportunities

Key Objectives

• Provide a service that is seen by young people to listen, support, enable, educate and help make a difference to their own and the lives of others and in doing so helps to increase their self-esteem, awareness and confidence
• Establish, maintain and continue to build relationships with young people and their families throughout the Greater Shantallow Area through first and foremost maintaining a visible Street Work presence across the Greater Shantallow area and developing a range of approaches so as to sustain contact with young people
• Addressing negative behaviour by actively recruiting and involving young people in programmes from areas identified as suffering from high levels of antisocial and risk-taking behaviour
• Increase awareness of a range of options available to young people as an alternative to engaging negative behaviour
• Increase young people's involvement in a range of programmes and projects that acts as a catalyst for further participation in mainstream provision and services
• Together with young people, the community and services within the area address issues of risk behaviour and risk management and develop mechanisms to support young people who are deemed 'at risk'
• To focus on addressing the sense of alienation felt by young males across the Greater Shantallow area by focusing on developing leadership capacity through the provision of genuine opportunities to play a more constructive role within their communities
• Identify gaps in existing provision and work with young people, the community and agencies to address those gaps
• Advocate on behalf of young people when necessary in an effort to alter the negative perception of young people