Whether it's stewarding at a festival, writing for a magazine, or producing works of art, volunteering for creative projects is bound to get those juices flowing.

All | Carl | Catherine | Rhiannon | Mei | Gaby | Enlight Youth Group | Centrepoint

Monday Apr 26, 2010

Time to get creative

I was right about Sheila - she has utmost respect from the young people on the estate. Last week she was telling me how the young residents call out her name as she's crossing the quad at night. They recognise her in the dark and always announce her arrival in some way. One of the boys has recently taken to singing her name when he sees her. Just at that moment, there's a yell from outside the door: "Sheeiiillla!" We all laugh, and she shouts back at him: "You'd better be careful – people will think you've got a girlfriend called Sheila!" she's a real legend, and her commitment to the club is endless.

I went to the centre last week to chat more with her about what I can do there, and to meet Helen, another of the volunteers. It was a really productive meeting and the good news is that a local group that runs creative workshops, Rolling Sound, have agreed to hold sessions for the next ten weeks. Tomorrow is the first day, and I'm going to help facilitate.

I'm really pleased about this as I've been a bit unsure about what to do with the whole arts idea. It's difficult to plan something when you don't know your audience and aren't a trained youth worker. I love working with words and exploring texts, but I know that doesn't appeal to everyone. The last thing I want to do is lose the young people's interest from day one.

I chatted through these thoughts with Sheila and Helen and they agreed that by starting off with the Rolling Sound project, I can get to know the young people better and plan sessions for the future with more insight. They told me that the members had responded really well to drama in the past and that, probably, was the best sort of session to do. I still don't know what sort of drama to choose, but now I've got ten weeks to watch, learn, and create.

So, from tomorrow the centre should get a big injection of enthusiasm. We'll be filming, editing, making animations...all sorts of fun and useful activities. When I arrived the meeting last week, some of the younger members were busy doing circuit training outside. Now that summer's here, we can use all the outdoor space - which is green and plentiful. It's going to be great for filming. 

It's been a difficult few weeks at Wilton as a couple of incidents in the area led the police to advise the centre be closed. I don't know much about why, but it was a shame that over Easter there was nowhere for the young people to go. I don't know if this sort of thing happens often, or how it affects the young residents. It's not something I had to deal with growing up, but maybe for them it's more common and they don't take it so badly? I'm just hoping that it can all be forgotten now the centre is open again and everyone can start having fun. I've met a few of the members and am feeling more involved. I'm really looking forward to tomorrow.

Posted by GabyJ ( 12:00 AM )
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