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Examples
of Good Practice
ACCORD
Thomas was a 16 year-old boy referred to Off the Streets by St. Brigidís
High School through the local Education Welfare Office. He came on the
ACCORD Programme with very little confidence and had difficulties reading
and writing. Over time, Thomas gained certificates in Essential Skills
and IT. Whilst completing his IT course he developed a great interest
in computers and found he had a flair for the subject. He even went
as far as developing his own Website. As a result Thomas is much more
confident and has gone on to attend the NWIFHE where he is currently
completing an Access Course.
Dusk
2 Dawn
Dusk 2 Dawn was a pilot project set up in response to the issue of young
people exhibiting unruly or anti-social behaviour in the Moss Park area
of Galliagh. It also served to fulfil a need identified in the Galliagh
Community Safety Task Force Plan, i.e., reduce the frequency with which
young people gather in public places were they are likely to cause a
nuisance. Much of the behaviour centred around the Electric Generator
located in the area. The project was based on the simple principle that
if young people are not present in a particular location at a certain
time they are unable engage in negative behaviour.
Using designated hours from the NWIFHE we set up a 6 week Outdoor Pursuits
Programme averaging 3-4 hours per session. The programme normally ran
on a Friday night between the hours of 10pm and 2am. NIACRO carried
out an evaluation of the programme with both young people and residents.
Although the programme was only short-term the impact was immediate
and demonstrates not only the effect that responding directly to an
identified need can make but if resources are channelled toward this
type of work.
Some of the responses from young peoples included the following "...it
was exciting because we did not know what we were going to do"......"It
was great on Monday morning when you had something different to tell
your friends"...."It brought us closer together"....."the
leaders treated us like young adults not children"....."I
overcame my fears.....my friends were very supportive, when we all came
together for teamwork.."
Views from residents included "...I think it worked excellently,
I was able to sleep for the first time in a while, I hope they run another
one soon.....I feel it went very well it was a lot quieter at least
one of the weekend nights but it should be run a lot longer as they
will probably be all back next week....It was very good, a lot less
drinking going on.....I have been talking to some of the young people
who were on it and they seemed to have really enjoyed it and it did
improve things around here so I am delighted....They should run these
projects"
It should be noted that most of the group if not all went on to take
part in a Youth Action Drama Project, again demonstrating that if young
people are effectively engaged from the beginning they are likely to
return.
Photography
Project
Off the Streets in partnership with Context Gallery ran a 12-week Photography
course in the year 2003. To promote personal and social development
and participation the five young female participants decided on the
theme of the project and lead the project from conception.
The young women chose alcohol and teenagers experiences of alcohol as
their theme. They then decided to show a typical night out for many
teenagers by using photography and outlining a storyboard. The young
people involved in this project learnt how to use a camera and develop
pictures in a dark room, they were responsible for first drawing a story
board and then staging the camera shots to ensure a natural and realistic
story. It was crucial to the success of the project that the participants
had an input at all stages of the project and had ownership. The young
people enjoyed the process and had fun at all the stages outlined above.
Their final work was showcased at an exhibition in the Context Gallery
with other groups who took part in the Arts programme.
The young people developed new skills and developed new interests as
a result of the project. Of the group of five, two members are active
Millennium Volunteers and placed in Youthfirst to deliver 200 hours
of volunteering. Through leaders evaluations it was obvious that young
people built up self-esteem and confidence and improved social skills.
The work of the young people is now exhibited in the offices of Off
the Streets Initiative. They are patiently awaiting the second photography
project, which is scheduled to commence in January 2004.
Education for Citizenship
Off the Streets in partnership with St Columb's Park House
ran a six month Citizenship project in the year 2003. To develop communication,
social skills and participation the three young female participants
chose the issue they wanted to highlight and were involved in the decision-making
of the project throughout.
The young women chose the topic of joyriding as their theme. They wanted
to highlight the problem of joyriding and try to do something about
it in their area. The best way they believed to accomplish their aims
was to design and distribute a poster. The young people had to research
the problem of joyriding, meet with professionals who are targeting
the problem, meet printers, design a poster and draw up a list of people
to send their poster to. This project demonstrated that Off the Streets
Initiative respects and promotes young people's rights to become involved
in making decisions and choice. In this programme we assisted young
people to understand the community in which they live and recognise
their roles, rights and responsibilities and asses their potential for
influence within their own community. The young people enjoyed the process
although commented on the length of time that it took to accomplish
their goal.
Hip
Hop
Off the Streets Initiative planned and organised an Intercultural Exchange
with Austria and France in 2003. The process involved a planning visit
with two members of staff going to Vienna in December 2002 and a planning
visit with one member of staff and a young person in May 2003. The week
long exchange happened in August 2003 when 7 young people from the area
and two staff members went to Vienna for the Hip Hop programme.
The preparation programme in Derry started in April 2003 and involved
10 young people. To determine the group, Off the Streets consulted our
local Galliagh Youth Forum to ask them for their advice on the selection
process. They felt that applications and an interview process would
be best and so this is how we recruited. Although we only had eight
places for the trip, we had ten young people taking part in the preparation
process, there progress, attendance and behaviour was noted and the
eight became ten. One participant was unable to attend the trip due
to personal reasons.
Whilst
in Derry the young people attended rap, Breakdancing, introduction to
German, web design, video production, DJing, Outdoor Pursuits, and cultural
diversity workshops. These sessions were to prepare the young people
and bond them as a team, staff members supervised the sessions to get
to know the young people better. The group also went on an over night
Residential prior to the trip.
Whilst in Vienna the group interacted with young people from Vienna
and France, took part in workshops and exhibited their work. The programme
was long and demanding but the evaluations from the young people show
this to be a worthwhile, exciting and successful programme.
Community Leadership Programme Video Project
Off the Streets received funding through the Community Leadership Programme
(funded by the International Fund for Ireland) to do a project to better
the group. It was felt by staff and Management Committee that there
is a lot of negative publicity about the area and that we could get
young people to make a video to show a more positive Galliagh.
We recruited six young people after placing a press release in the local
newspaper and they have been busy writing a script, practising drama
sketches, holding focus groups, interviewing community leaders and collecting
footage of the area. They are now at the editing stage and will show
the finished video at our annual Presentation / Celebration evening.
This is one of many projects that Off the Streets run in which young
people have leadership, ownership and a way to express themselves.
Galliagh
Youth Forum
The Galliagh Youth Forum was set up in February 2002 in a direct response
to the work of Off the Streets Initiative. In 2003/4 the Youth Forum
undertook a suicide awareness poster campaign (S.E.R.I.O.S - Some Educational
Relevant Information On Suicide).The group applied to YouthBank for
£1000 funding and when succesful they designed and distributed
6 suicide awareness posters throughtout the City and continue to distribute
these. If you would like copies of the poster please do not hesitate
to contact us at Off the Streets.
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