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Home What is Walsall's New Deal? Themes Area Map Newsletter Media Releases Staff Events New Deal Documentation Links Job Vacancies Contact Site Map |
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'ChTitt-ChTatt' is the monthly e-letter that aims to keep board members and stakeholders up to date on projects. 1. Employment, Skills and Business Two good news stories of New Deal area residents who have found employment through Work on the Horizons........ Blaine had been out of work for over a year and had been on a 13 week job search programme at Steps to Work. He recently achieved the National Pool Lifeguard Award and hoped to find employment in this area. Job Matchers at Steps had luckily found him a placement at Oak Park Leisure as a Pool Attendant and with the help of funding from New Deal for Communities accessed through Work on the Horizon he secured a 26 week placement. Whilst there Blaine proved himself to be a reliable member of staff and with the experience he had gained applied for a permanent vacancy with Walsall Council as a Casual Lifeguard which he was successful in gaining. Stacey is a qualified Nursery Assistant, however, she was unable to find work in a job that she really enjoyed. After being out of work for up to a year Stacey was referred to Steps to Work for help in finding employment. Luckily a placement was soon found for her at The Honey Pot Nursery and with the help of New Deal for Communities funding accessed through Work on the Horizon, Stacey was supported for 26 weeks with a wage subsidy. She started as a Nursery Assistant working with babies and toddlers. Stacey enjoyed her job so much she was always there first every morning and built up a great rapport with the children. At the end of her placement the Nursery did not want to lose Stacey as she had become an extremely valued and reliable member of staff. She soon became a great favourite with the parents and children. At the end of her placement the nursery were more than happy to make her a permanent member of staff. Work on the Horizons is funded by Walsall's New Deal for Communities to help residents to overcome barriers to employment by working with them to explore every possible avenue. More information contact Bob Crundwell 01922 712858 2. Education & Learning On Thursday 7th February the Education Theme display boards were on show as the back-drop to a launch at the Blakenall info Centre. Mick Taylor the Theme Chair was there, as were some line-dancers and staff from the College of Continuing Education and ContinYou. Why Line-dancers? Well, learning can be fun (and to see Bob trying to count the steps and remember the moves - well there was at least some learning!). The last Education Theme was well attended, not least by a number of young people and parents from the Homework Club. We heard how much the young people enjoy the club and how well they are doing. It was agreed that there is nothing like a first hand account of things! The young people spoke up really well, as did their parents and they responded positively to a number of questions. A presentation from Education Walsall regarding the student and school performance for 2007 was very informative. Although some of the numbers are a cause for further understanding, the trends are good. It is also difficult with Key Stage 3 and Key Stage 4 (GCSE) when we are unable to gain any figures from the Academy. It is thought that the disappointing numbers achieving Key Stage 3 results may be as a result of the number of students at the Academy, who do achieve Key Stage 3 but whose figures are not available to us. We continue to pursue this issue. Mick Taylor and Bob Marsh, accompanied by David Taylor of Education Walsall, attended a National Evaluation Seminar in London at which the Data Project was case-studied. Colleagues were impressed by our partnership working and the information that was gained from this project. Other New Deals took copies and contact details. We continue to discuss how we might bring wireless internet access to the area. Discussions with suppliers and with Education Walsall and Walsall Council are continuing to explore the means and the costs involved. We aim to stay at the cutting edge! More information contact Bob Marsh on 01922 712858 3. Housing and Environment The final 4 loans under the Homebuy Scheme are currently being processed and will result in the full take up of the £1 million loan fund. Work is currently being undertaken with Mercian and Bellways to look at options to provide further funding to the loan fund. Work has commenced on sites in both Blakenall & Leamore Local Centres as part of the phase 2 improvements. The work will continue into the summer. More information from Steve Pooni 01922 712858 4. Crime and Community Safety
The Rapid Deployment CCTV System project commenced with the purchase of 3 Dome hawk Cameras – these have been used to target Anti Social Behaviour and crime hotspots. Following on from the impact that these cameras have had during the last year the project is being extended with an additional 2 cameras and 50 new placement areas are to be brought into the scheme. This addition will extend the coverage across the area and will allow for the project to now cover environmental crime, and issues such as Criminal Damage, Graffiti and littering / fly tipping. More information contact David Benbow on 01922 712858 5. Health and Well Being The Drugs & Alcohol Aftercare Project had a number of successful Christmas events including a "Coping with Christmas and New Year" session which celebrated client achievements to date, and gave tips to ensure they had an enjoyable but safe holiday, avoiding relapse into problematic drug or Alcohol use. Research completed into SMART, (Sedation, Motivation, Anxiety, Restraint & Temptation) recovery, included a visit from a SMART recovery worker and professionals from other drug and alcohol treatment services in Walsall were invited. Evaluation of this work in Scotland has been requested to assess if this could be introduced as part of our programme. Visit from Narcotics Anonymous: staff learned about support available to clients in the area once treatment is completed on our programme. A very successful Project Advisory Committee meeting was held. New membership of the group included representatives from Lantern House, Addaction town centre service, Domestic Violence project, Rivers House hostel and a community member who has previously used services. The meeting resulted in many useful ideas and agreements made for referrals and partnership working. A programme of activity for clients was introduced on January 7th including: weekly gardening sessions at Leamore park, two weekly sports / fitness sessions and "Weighing up, Way Out" a weekly session that focuses on client encouraging each other to make positive choices about what to do next. New police recruits spent a day at the project to gain awareness and understanding of our work, of the 9 who attended 4 will be based at H2 in Bloxwich; the others will be based at H1 the town centre Station. 3 new volunteers started the training scheme and Press coverage has led to over 40 enquiries to date, from across Walsall for volunteering. Individual client achievements -
New Deal's Older Persons project worker has been working to develop the Over 50's Database which continues to grow. The Older Persons Development Worker now has access to the Community Empowerment Team’s database of voluntary sector organisations and the client database of Walsall Community Transport. We have now appointed an administrative assistant to collate information for the development of an over '50s Directory' with the support of the Community Empowerment Team and by working with Sally Gamston who will assist us in designing a cover, we aim to complete the directory shortly. U3A (University of the Third Age) have been successful in getting Accorn funding to deliver Silver Screen Events for 2008, a programme of six films. The first film was a launch event for the new programme with over 100 people attending; at least 60% of the audience came from the New Deal area. The events are supported by free transport for local residents. Through working in partnership with Walsall Community Transport and Ring 'n' Ride, we have provided transport for all our events, activities and forum meetings for over 50s. With 55 using the transport to attend the silver screen events and a further 3 people for forum meeting's and the link line Drop Ins. The 'One Stop Information' event held in January at the Forest Arts Centre had 22 key agencies providing information and advice on their service provision, which included College of Continuing Education, Trading Standards, Walsall tPCT, and West Midlands Police. Walsall Senior Citizen link - line are to have Drop In's at Christchurch church hall on Thursday mornings 10.00 -12.00, for the benefit of local residents for a chat and access to information in a friendly relaxed atmosphere with free soup and drinks available. Age Concern's Advocacy surgery with also be attending. "Spring into Action" a networking event for organisations and individuals over 50, took place in March. The event was organised by Bloxwich Community Partnership and Walsall's Age Concern at the Forest Arts Centre, and lunch and free transport was provided. 50+ Coffee & Information events are held every first Wednesday at Blakenall Library, 10.00 - 12.00; Blakenall Library staff are organising a 2008 programme of activities and trips. For more information please contact Tracey Gould on 01922 682228 / 07980 614847 Denise Clifft, Young Persons Sexual Health Project Worker started with the team in January. Denise is currently working with 5 families who are all new referrals. Denise is planning to run a 6-week programme for the young parents in the spring around food hygiene and nutrition. The young parents will gain a qualification if they attend all 6 sessions and go away with the knowledge of how to prepare and cook food that is nutritionally balanced for themselves and their children. "What's Growing On Project". The delivery of the project to Leamore, Green Rock and Little Bloxwich is now complete. Any issues that can not be dealt with by the Personal Health and Social Education lead within the schools can be picked up by Clare Bird (a Young Persons Health Adviser, whose background is as a children's nurse). Clare has close links with Personal Health and Social Education/Social and Emotional Aspects of Learning and has been working with the Arts team since last November. The anger management sessions have now been completed and were successful with 5 young people attending. There are now plans to do some sessions around personal safety, alcohol, drugs, contraception and STI's. The Chlamydia screening has been taken up with young people accessing it regularly. It is also being offered to everyone who enquires and signs up to the condom scheme. Referrals are coming from the young people themselves through Electric Palace, Walsall Academy, New Deal Youth Team and Young Persons information Centre staff. For more information on the Young Persons Sexual Health Project, ring Sarah Lindsey (Project Manager) on 01922 443940. FA UEFA HAT-Trick Programme Update The Girls and Women's Centre is now thriving on Wednesday evenings 5.00 - 6.00pm at Shelfield Sports College. A bus picks up from Green Rock School; the club attracts 12 girls on a regular basis with numbers growing weekly. Dates have been set for a Level 1 Coaching course to be held at Forest Community Centre. It is hoped that most of the places will be filled by local residents or from the surrounding area. A Monday Football Club has been set up at the Young Persons information Centre and Leamore Park for young people. The club incorporates playing football with learning other skills and information. It is hoped this project can link with the police and other agencies. For more information please call Neil Harding (Football Development Officer) on 07966 188313. Sports Strategy Update During the winter months, the Netball Club was relocated to Croft Primary. The club will return to Leamore Park in May. There have been advertisements and press coverage in both the Advertiser and Express and Star; the initiative is a joint venture with Walsall Council. The second Club's Forum and Training meeting took place in January. This provides local clubs and coaches with cut-price training opportunities that are local to the area; including FA Level 1 Coaching / First Aid / Child Protection / Equity in your Coaching / Football Refereeing course. The booklet of training opportunities is available on request for people not on the Sports Strategy sub-group. Through the Awards for All grant gained there is now two Badminton Clubs running in the area: Tuesday 7.00 - 8.00pm at Bloxwich Leisure Centre and Friday 4.45 - 5.45pm at Shelfield Sports College. These are community clubs which any under 16's can join; cost is minimal. A Badminton for Teachers course was held in February which we hope will lead to increased badminton activity within local schools that will act as 'feeders' to community clubs. Five people have now completed the theory side of the Community Sports Leaders Awards course and are currently undertaking their 10 hours voluntary work in order to gain the award. Three of the group were 'hard to reach' young people who have really engaged with this project and are now getting qualified in a range of sports through the training opportunities the sports development team offered including orienteering and football. They can then become active, coaching at some of our community clubs. A Community Cheerleading Club started in February at Shelfield Sports College. The club is open to all ages and abilities with the hope that an adult class will be added soon. The Sports Development Team is working with the Communications Team, on their Website pages. Once completed the website address will then be advertised to all local schools to allow access to what we offer. Holiday scheme registration forms will also be downloadable. Up and coming courses over the next few months: FA Level 1 Coaching / CSLA / Orienteering Level 1 / First Aid / Child Protection / Badminton for Teachers / Equity in your Coaching The Street Games Volunteering Programme will be giving grants to volunteering projects over the next few months. A project designed by the Sports Development Team has been ear marked for some of this funding. For more information ring Beth Alvey - Sports Strategy Manager on 01922 686825 / 07725702936 Long Term Conditions Project organised a well attended New Year Health Fair in January in the Blakenall Village Centre Atrium. A number of organisations attended the event including
Yvonne Presley the Health Trainer for the area is now based at the Blakenall Village Centre. She is currently seeing clients at the Blakenall Village Centre and the Blakenall info Centre. In a bid to tackle the issues of obesity, she is also seeing people referred from the obesity register at the Blakenall Meadow Practice. As part of a wider tPCT initiative all weight management referrals are being given the opportunity to attend Weight Watchers or Slimming World with vouchers provided by the tPCT. The Expert Patient Co-ordinator (EPP) Database has been reviewed, and 18 people from the New Deal area have completed a course since April 2007. We are still looking to recruit tutors from the area. A recent project has been reviewing Nursing Home patients who reside within the New Deal area. These are often a neglected population when it comes to review but are often Long Term Condition patients who use more medication than comparable patients at home. This has been done in collaboration with Blakenall Meadow Practice. A new Long Term Conditions Pharmacist employed by the PCT has joined the medicines management department full time. Bob Saunders has the remit for the whole borough but will also be available to assist in matters affecting the project and will be involved in our meetings. For more information on the project please call Hannah Griffiths (Long Term Conditions Co-ordinator) on 01922 443929. More information contact Harjinder Singh 01922 712858 6. Community Empowerment Community Development Workers Report Pauline Merrick Memorial Fund: Young People have been involved in delivering training to board members and the chair of the Community Empowerment Theme chair, both of which are involved on the panels. The training was enjoyed by all those who attended and a positive step towards intergenerational work. Millfields, Smith House and Thomas House Residents Association meetings take place on a monthly basis and continue to be well attended, with residents raising concerns and views. Support is provided to the committee/residents who are actively involved with the developments within the area and attending various training courses to develop their capacity as a group. Committee members have attended two day training at Trafford Hall. A steering group consisting of officers and committee members meet monthly to monitor the works and take part in discussions and decision making. Refurbishment work by WHG has been completed and the environmental work by Walsall Council's Regeneration Team has commenced. The committee has produced a newsletter to raise awareness as to what is happening in the area and to promote the Residents Association. The residents will be planning a fun day during the summer holidays to celebrate the completion of the works. New Deal's Youth Council has had its AGM and the relevant roles have been filled. They are now updating their action plan and re-allocating roles/tasks. Following the event where members of the youth council asked young people 'what are the top 3 issues affecting young people' (those being drugs, alcohol and bully and theft (joint 3rd)). They are now looking at organising workshops around these themes. Members of the youth council are working towards an Arts Award, which is an accredited award through the Youth Service, for their work on the photography project looking at culture and diversity. WHG invited members of the youth council to their YES Oscars evening, where a member was given an award for their hard work and commitment. The evening was enjoyed by all members and was a fantastic opportunity to network with other young people and organisations but also for young people to share their talents. WHG have asked if their youth panel could meet with the youth council to find out what we do and to access the training being delivered. The youth council is planning a training session for young people involved with WHG. Following positive feedback from last years Summer Play Schemes for 8-12 year olds, we are organising one for this summer. Members of the youth council will be involved in the planning, organising and discussions with the art workers. Personal Effectiveness Training: A small working group consisting of officers and women from the community planned an event to celebrate International Women's Week and to encourage women to be more active within their community. The event took place on the 19th March and was very successful. The theme was health and well being and was open to all women in the community. Women were able to access information, try some taster sessions aimed at relaxation and exercise and received goodie bags. The group will be meeting to evaluate the event and to then plan the next steps. At the Community & Voluntary Sector Forum meeting held on Wednesday 5th March, a presentation was made by Julia Morris seeking support from the forum for the Blakenall in Bloom 2008 event (the forum could be the "sponsor" agent for urban community category). It was agreed at the forum that groups should be invited to nominate a representative to be part of a steering group to oversee and promote this year's event. Volunteer's Week is due to run from the 1st to 6th of June 2008. The forum is keen to promote some of the work volunteers through the groups they represent. They are proposing to hold an event on the 4th June at the Blakenall Village Centre where groups will be invited to share and promote the work they do this will be a day long event and will be promoted extensively prior to the event taking place. More nominees are being sought from the Community & Voluntary Sector to serve on the Accorn Fund panel. The process starts now and will be aligned to be received at the next meeting on the 21st May; a report will then be submitted to the 28th May Board meeting. The forum agreed to hold a number of meetings during 2008 that will allow a greater range of attendance and will introduce breakfast and evening meetings to go with the regular lunch time schedule. Further meetings about the Boxing Club & Green River Development continue to take place with representatives from Pleck Boxing club, Green Rivers Community Association, Walsall Council, New Deal and the architects regarding the re-development of the centre. New Deal is committed in working with the partners to ensure the development is kept on schedule and to ensure people from the New Deal area have the opportunity to access the new building. The plan has been formally agreed and the architect is at the early stage of submitting a planning application to the Council. It's envisaged that this process will take around 6 weeks and consultation with local residents will need to happen during this time. Abbotts Street Residents Group has held a number of meetings where residents have had the opportunity to attend and to discuss issues that have affected them and to find out about developments within their area. New Deal approached Abbotts Street Residents group about a consultation exercise that needed to be carried out as part of a planning application requirement for the re-development of the Stan Ball centre. Abbotts Street residents will be directly affected by this development New Deal requested a slot on their agenda during the March 2008 meeting, Abbotts Street Residents group suggested that the whole meeting should be dedicated to the Stan Ball development. The meeting was well attended with representation from BCP and ND: NH. Local residents had a further opportunity to ask questions about this exciting project at Stan Ball Centre on the evening of 4th April and the morning of 5th April. Representatives from Bloxwich Community Partnership, Walsall Council & New Deal were in attendance along with plans & visuals that local residents were able to see. This was an opportunity for Abbotts Street Residents to raise their profile and an opportunity for residents to find out about the development and encourage new residents onto the group into the new Centre. The group has invited representatives from Green Rivers, New Deal, the Boxing Club and the Council to their next meeting to learn more about the proposals at Green Rivers. New Deal and the Compact: Walsall Local Compact is an agreement between Walsall Council, the local NHS, Walsall Borough Strategic Partnership and the Voluntary and Community Sector. It is a framework that will help improve effective joint working and the way we work together towards common goals and visions. The action plan is constantly updated and has been recently recognised with a "commendation award" from Walsall Voluntary Action (WVA). Regular committee and summer planning meetings continue to take place with the Friends of Leamore Park. A Car boot event in March was a huge success. The Friends volunteers managed and organised the site extremely well. The Friends Group are now turning their attention to the summer event on Sunday 22nd June, but before this they will be meeting up with another "Friends" of a group from Dudley which this will be an ideal opportunity to share good practice and new ideas. Lancaster Place Residents Group continues to meet on a regular basis. Community Workers Report Community Fishing Club is going from strength to strength and has recently been successful with a bid to the Accorn fund. Committee members with the help and support of the Community Involvement Team are now looking into training courses that will help committee members improve their meeting and finance skills. The club will be investigating options to work with young people via the Young Persons information Centre. A number of competitions are earmarked to happen over the next few months. Pre-Board Meeting Drop-in Session in Horizons Restaurant, Blakenall Village Centre continues to run. The aim of the session is to attempt to assist Board Members with any queries which may arise from Board Papers, and are an informal opportunity to clarify any issues which may emerge. Community Workers are available in the restaurant from 5.00pm to 6.30pm on Board Meeting dates. The Walsall Gypsy and Travellers Forum has made great strides in becoming a dynamic forum and there has a lot of activity that members have been involved in. Two forum members supported by a Community Involvement Team staff member attended a Pacesetter Conference in London. The conference focused on the work of the Pacesetter programme which is delivered by the strategic health authority to combat inequalities faced by Black Minority & Ethnic groups (BME). The conference was an opportunity for projects to share good practice and to discuss how the Pacesetter programme is progressing. A forum member attended a Government briefing session in Westminster (London) about new legislation that will affect the Gypsy & Traveller community. Forum members recently attended a Midland Regional meeting held in Leicester. These meetings are co-ordinated through the European Dialogue, a charitable organisation, and allow the sharing of good practice between different groups and organisations. At the last forum meeting a representative from the Irish Traveller movement attended. The representative shared information around training opportunities and support that could be offered by the Irish Traveller movement. Training & volunteer opportunities will be investigated in the near future. The Community Notice Boards are now in operation and are located at the Blakenall Village Centre; Leamore Park; Selmans Parade, Selmans Hill and the Pinfold Centre, Woodall Street. The boards will contain information on New Deal; however community and voluntary sector groups are also invited to display their information. If anyone would like to post a notice on any of the boards please contact Victoria or Jo on 01922 711228. During the spring and summer of 2007 many of the New Deal Board Members carried out Patch Surgeries. It was an opportunity for residents to come along and have a chat with their Board member and find out about activities and projects New Deal is working on, as well as a chance for residents to give feedback. We are currently in the process of designing a new programme of surgeries. We are also organising the delivery of Patch leaflets to households so again residents can get feedback to their Board Members. Children's Forums is an exciting new project which works with children aged between 6-10 years in making decisions on how to spend an allocated budget. Through the school councils of our local primary schools we will be working to equip the children with the skills they need to make informed decisions on where and how to spend this money. Workshops are being designed for the school councils which will be fun and practical as well as being informative. These will include sessions on working as a team, communication skills, making decisions as well as getting the children to think about the implications and impact of what this money is spent on. The final decisions on allocation of monies would hopefully include children representing all of the schools within the New Deal area. This is part of a pilot project linking to the Participatory Budgeting Unit, which is an organisation working alongside the government to involve communities in the allocation of public money. A celebration of International Women's Week took place at St. Johns Methodist Church, Victoria Avenue, Bloxwich on Wednesday 19th March. Local women took an hour or so out of their day for themselves to take advantage of free beauty treatments including manicures, Indian Head Massage and facials. The event was an opportunity for Women to get advice and information on healthy living, education and employment. International Women's Week marks a celebration of the achievements of women across the world socially, politically and economically. However its not just about famous women and celebrities it's a celebration of ordinary women going about their day to day lives and the difference they make. From this event a number of women expressed an interest in being involved in future activities so we are hoping to develop other initiatives on an informal basis that may include training, advice and information sessions. A group of our board members have been rolling up their sleeves and getting involved with our Cookery Project. Each week Chef Steve Carrol of the Horizons Restaurant, Blakenall Village Centre demonstrates different dishes and then our Board members 'have a go'. Feedback from both Steve and Board members is that the course has been enjoyable for all concerned. Future sessions are planned. If you are interested please contact the Blakenall info Centre. Last year children and young people from schools and community organisations completed a questionnaire to gauge interest in organising Performing Arts Workshops. The response was fantastic and identified that people wanted to get involved in these activities. From this we have been working with representatives from the youth council to develop a series of workshops that would incorporate the findings of the consultation. Beginning on Saturday 19th April at Green Rock Primary School children and young people will be able to join in for five weeks trying out a variety of dance, drama and music sessions. After this we are then asking any of the children and young people who are interested to sign up to a further twelve weeks of rehearsal towards a final performance. This performance will be shaped by the children and young people and their interests. Young Persons Liaison Team Report The youth team projects have been reviewed to see if they give value for money and to look at ways of moving the projects forward to include partnership working. Meetings have taken place with the sports development team who have assisted in the delivery of the Dance and Bike Club. The Youth Team took away a group of twelve young people from New Deals Youth Council on a five day residential to Outward Bound in Aberdovey Wales. The young people participated in different activities which including rock climbing, raft building, high ropes course, hill walking, team building and problem solving. New members have joined increasing the attendance for the Dance Troop as numbers were dropping. The girls are now working on a show which is going to be performed at Shelfield School on the 1st and 2nd May. A small group of young people have been writing articles for Youth ChTatt about attending the gym. These young people are also interested in being part of the editorial group. Members of the youth council held their AGM this month to elect Chair, Vice Chair and Secretary positions, these were very successful. Young people from the youth council have now been trained for the Pauline Merrick Memorial Fund Panel and will be working with the team to promote the fund in the community. The team continues to work in partnership with Walsall Youth Service at Dolphin House to engage with young people to work on life skills. Sessions include cooking, health and money management. The members are working on a young people's cook book that the team will duplicate with young people at the Young Persons information Centre. The Work Experience scheme is ongoing throughout the year with new young people attending from the Walsall Academy, Shelfield and Frank F. Harrison. Young people work with the CIT team so they can gain experience of youth and community work which gives them an insight into employment. A number of the young people who attend are interested in completing a youth awareness course which will help them to gain employment as a trainee youth worker. One young person from a previous course has successfully been interviewed and is working as a sessional youth worker at the Young Persons information Centre. The team took a group of young people to Bloxwich Leisure Centre for induction to the gym. The young people will be joining the project that will enable them to safely take part in an exercise and fitness project that the team is setting up. The team are continues to support the Government sponsored scheme, the Young Advisers. New Deal has eight young people involved in the project. The young people will be working with different organisations such as WHG and West Midlands Police to give a young persons view on their policies and procedures. The young advisers meet every week to work on their action plan and they attended a conference in April with staff and New Deal board members. Relationships have been built with 'harder to reach' young people who access the Young Persons information Centre. One to one sessions and group work sessions with young people have enabled the team to identify issues that some of these young people face. The team is then able to devise a session plan around a particular issue and work with young people in a fun and educational way. These group work sessions include using educational tools to assist in the delivery of a topic such as bullying or racism. From the one to one sessions, the team have been able to refer young people to the other services that are available at the centre such as the health information worker and the counsellor. Through working with young people at the centre, they have shown an interest in healthy eating and fitness and a fitness programme is being devised to incorporate gym sessions and a healthy eating programme. A personal development plan is being used to work with young people who are showing challenging behaviour. This plan includes working with young people on a one to one basis allowing them to identify ways of changing their behaviour and acting in a more positive way. Young people will then attend workshops that are put on specifically to work with challenging issues such as anger management. A group of young girls successfully completed the Baby think it over project that was held over a week. The project uses a variety of workshops that include the effects of drugs and alcohol on the mother and foetus, money management and contraception. These workshops are delivered over three days and then young people take home a virtual baby for the weekend. When the baby is returned, information is down loaded on how the baby has been treated. This shows if the baby has been mistreated during the time spent with the young person. Young people's views on having a real baby have generally changed on returning the virtual baby! The team have worked in partnership with the sports development team to provide a daytime Football session for young people who attend the centre during the day. Young people meet at 10.00am on Monday mornings to walk to Leamore Park to play football before walking back to the centre. This encourages young people who are in the NEET group to participate in a constructive activity. More information contact Michelle Parry 01922 711228 Communications Diary Dates 'ChTatter' edition 27 is hot off the press with distribution taking place anytime. The Atrium now has two display cases available for local artists / craftspeople and local manufacturers to show their work. Please contact the Communications Team if you are interested in showing what you do. Forthcoming Events:-
For more information or if you can help at any of the above events or your organisation would like to get involved please give Sally a call on 01922 712858 If you know of an organisation or individual that would like to receive 'ChTitt - ChTatt' please forward their email address to Andy Bradley on bradleya@walsall.gov.uk or Sally Gamston on gamstons@walsall.gov.uk Walsall's New Deal for Communities, New Deal : New Horizons is registered as a company limited by guarantee with Companies House registration number 04582937 and as a charity with the Charity Commissioners for England and Wales registration number 1098036. 'serving the areas of Blakenall, Bloxwich and Leamore' |
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