Scheme to promote community responsibility
A group of young people have been rewarded for their
involvement in a pilot scheme in the Vale of Glamorgan, which aims
to positively promote their individual roles and community
awareness by educating them to take responsibility for themselves
and their actions.
It is hoped that by promoting greater responsibility in young
people it will reduce the risk of anti-social behaviour and youth
offending in the Vale of Glamorgan.
Seven youngsters, aged 12 to 17, took part in the nine-week
'Prevention Programme', run by the Vale of Glamorgan Council's
youth offending service with help from the Council's Youth Service
and the NCH.
Weekly workshops, designed to equip the attendees with valuable
life skills, covered topics including community awareness,
communication skills, consequential thinking, and the promotion of
good health. Parenting groups and young people’s groups were also
offered as part of the programme.
The Vale Council's youth offending service secured funding from
the Youth Justice Board to support the project. Jane Hoey, from the
youth offending service, said: “This scheme has enabled the youth
offending service to address the needs of parents and young people
by working together to ensure the best outcomes for both the young
people and their families. The young people have enthusiastically
worked extremely hard to achieve the certificates presented to
them. Their families commented to me how proud they were of their
son or daughter and were keen for them to continue to contribute to
this programme by helping other young people through peer led
facilitation.”
The hard work undertaken by the young people was marked at a
presentation evening at the Hub in Barry, with certificates
presented by the Vale Council's Cabinet Member for Visible
Services, Cllr Rob Curtis.
Cllr Curtis said: “I was pleased to see that the young people
and parents had achieved so much in so little time. As a Council it
is vital that we invest in our young people because they are our
future. Schemes like this can make a real difference to the lives
of real people. Once again I would like to thank the staff, the
parents and especially the young people who took part in this
ground breaking project."
Caption: The hard work undertaken by the young
people involved in the scheme was marked at a presentation evening
at the Hub in Barry, with certificates presented by Cllr Rob Curtis
(centre).