Investing in Communities - making the difference
The aim of the Investing in Communities (IiC) programme is to tackle deprivation by encouraging economic participation.
IiC identifies three broad strategic themes to address through the programme: skills, employment and enterprise.
One of the projects supported by IiC is the Open Youth Trust (OYT) which is a UK company limited by guarantee and without a share capital. Formed in December 2004 it aims to;
• Improve the lives of young people in Norfolk and enhance their opportunities during the transition from adolescence to adulthood, especially with disadvantaged groups.
• Work in partnership with key statutory, voluntary and community groups to make available information, advice and guidance alongside a range of constructive leisure activities.
• Enhance education and skills development.
The OPEN Youth Venue is a multi-faceted project and as such this relates to improving the life chances of young people through the enhancement of provision around key support services with young people in Norfolk between 13-25 years old, by collocation and collaboration of statutory, voluntary and community groups at the OPEN Youth Venue, Norwich. Working in synergy with the Venue will be a strategic outreach programme targeting young people in the deprived communities throughout the county. This element of the project is focused towards addressing deprivation present in Norwich and Norfolk.
The Open facility provides young people in Norwich and Norfolk with a wide variety of leisure, cultural and educational activities. It will also increase young people's access to a range of services offering a welcoming, appropriate and non-stigmatising approach.
As well as providing free access to comfortable and vibrant spaces for young people, the venue offers state of the art training and leisure facilities, a growing programme of activities and events and easy access to information on health issues, careers, training and personal development, provided by a range of voluntary and statutory agencies.
Testimonial from a team member at Open:
My name is Ally and I am a team member at open. In my job I have a lot of interaction with young people and have seen great changes in some of them after accessing some of the services which are located in the venue.
One young female has made such a positive change since the venue opened. When she first came in she had a lot of personal problems with alcohol brought about due to an unsettled up brings. She found out what services were in the building and has made such progress with the help of the Matthew Project, Connexions and Children Services. She is now a lot happier in herself; her confidence has grown and has now made new friendship groups.
Young people come in the venue as a place to hang out and meet with friends but more and more are coming in finding out about the services that are in the venue and accessing them. We have young parents who now go to the young parent club on a Wednesday with Children Services. Young people who talk about getting a job are now going to Connexions and getting help with CV writing and what jobs are available.
The Matthew Project has started holding an open drop in our cafe area on a Monday and Thursday afternoon and is getting a good response from them. They have also been help a young lad who comes in the venue and has been receiving information to help his situation which he would not normally had been about to find out on his own.
It is great to have these services in the venue from a team member point of view because if we get anything we are unsure on we can always point them to one of the services in the venue so the young people can get the most out of the Open as a whole.