Young people in the region are to being invited to participate in two new projects being rolled out across Dumfries.
The first, the Red Door Project, is a new project developed at the Oasis Youth Centre to offer young people aged 16+ a safe space to access support on a range of topics including jobs, benefits, housing, training and employment. They will also be able to gain access to community laundrette facilities and a supply of fresh fruit and veg. The Project runs Monday to Friday from 10am to 4pm and is ran by experienced youth work staff. In this instance agencies will be able to refer young people to this service or young people can just turn up.
This project started running in April 2015 in response to the high demand for support that youth workers where seeing within the Oasis Youth Centre from young people who needed support, or just someone to talk to about the issues they were facing in the daily lives. The service is already having a positive impact on young people and around 12 young people per week are receiving some form of support from The Red Door Project.
A key part is the offering of crisis support which runs within the Red Door Project and is offered on Monday mornings from 10-1pm. This is about offering more intense 1-2-1 support for young people. It could be more about accompanying them to the Jobcentre or to appointments, and making referrals where appropriate.
Councillor Tom McAughtrie, Chair of the Community and Customer Services Committee recently paid a visit to the Oasis Youth Centre to learn more about the new projects. He said: “It is reassuring to hear of the excellent work being carried out in our region. This project is about providing better support the most vulnerable young people in our community. Through this venture we are addressing our priority of ensuring early intervention, in particular to keep our region’s most vulnerable children safe.
The second of the projects which are being introduced is the Youth Engagement Project – North West Dumfries. This project is forging close links with other community groups and services which are working in the area and is designed to enhance the work which other youth services are carrying out, being careful not to duplicate other services. This service has seen youth workers out on the streets engaging with young people in sunshine and rain. The project has engaged with over 400 young people since May 2015 and is being funded by a grant from Nithsdale Area Committee.
The purpose of the Youth Engagement Project is to work alongside young people who may not previously have had access to local youth services for one reason or another.
This type of youth work means that the youth engagement workers connect with young people in the space where they are; for example, on pavements, in streets or on park benches. This can be seen as providing informal and positive engagement with young people away from the ’normal’, centre based, provision, which many young people, for various reasons, may not chose to attend or may only do so at specific times. The youth engagement workers are using a detached youth work model: this is not a project which attempts to get young people off the streets, unless that is what they wish, neither is it one that promotes any one particular centre or agency.
Over time, the youth engagement workers will attempt to establish relationships with young people and their communities. Where appropriate, they may develop informal educational projects that address young people’s needs.
The youth engagement workers are out on a Tuesday and Thursday in Lochside from 7.30pm-10pm, on a Wednesday in Lincluden from 7.30pm-10pm and on a Friday in Sandside/Summerville from 7.30pm-10pm. The staff are also using Lochside Library as a base, so they have an area within the local community. The project will initially run for 1 year and the impact will be measured after that period.
Councillor McAughtrie said: “This is a very worthwhile project which will allow the Council to engage with young people who may not take part in other consultations, particularly around areas of work such as Dumfries Learning Town and our Anti-Poverty Work. Through this project, and others of its kind, we will endeavour to raise ambition and attainment, in particular to address inequalities which will, in turn help to tackle the causes and effects of inequality and poverty.”
“During Challenge Poverty Week, and into the future, we are keen to involve people of all ages in our work. Challenging poverty, and the issues surrounding it, from an early age, helps to address the future for young people in our area, hopefully ensuring a more positive outcome”.
Challenge Poverty Week, 17 – 23 October.
Photo shows, left to right:
Service Users Jamie McCormick, Jordin McHallam and Councillor Tom McAughtrie, Chairman of Community and Customer Services Committee
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