18 March 2010Who?
The Project Team are small groups of young people who work together on a project they have come up with themselves. They can be age 8-18 and can either be a group who are all members of a local school, club or forum or a group of friends with similar interests or who all live in the same place.
What is it all about?
The project can be about places to go or things to do in your local area, or it can address an important issue close to you, like personal safety, being green or challenging people's ideas about a particular subject.
It can be an awareness raising project to get people thinking, a review or inspection project where you can visit and report on clubs, services and facilities for children and young people or it can be a action led project, where you go out and get things done in your local area.
What help will I get?
The Council will work with each group of young people to assess and develop their idea, provide training where needed and support them to deliver their project.
We have an Action Plan for young people, which gives details of what projects are happening in the area and what is still to be done to address what young people said is important during our consultation in 2008. Follow this link to find out more about the Young People's Action Plan and the consultation with children and young people.
To make sure the rest of the community is aware of the good work being done by young people, we will share your successes by adding your story to this page and sending it to local newspapers. We will also tell people at the meetings we go to with local Town and Parish Councils, Police, health teams, schools and youth workers and you will have the opportunity to come to some of these too. It will also be fed back to our Councillors through the Young People's Action Plan and using any other ideas you may have for getting the word out!
Some projects that have been completed already include photo storyboards of young people's experiences at youth clubs, interviews with staff and young people to find out what works and what doesn't in children's services and games to encourage groups of young people to get talking about what matters to them in their local area.
What have we found out so far?
The different Project Teams have found out about the types of clubs available for children and young people and about some of the activities available.
There are a lot of positive activities happening across the district and more and more young people feel that they have a say in the planning of activities and events and how the club is run. They get on well with staff and like that they have freedom to have their say about issues that are important to them.
Some groups have opportunities to learn new skills and achieve qualifications - young people attending these clubs like that they can do something they enjoy while also gaining new skills.
Activities are varied and sport is popular across all groups, especially football for boys. Young people enjoy a challenge and being able to do things they are not able to do at home.
People working with young people are working hard to encourage the involvement of children and young people in their services. There are a number of youth forums, committees and panels running in different towns and villages and at youth clubs across the District.
What next?
If you would like to become the next Project Team with other members of your youth group or a group of friends, or to find out more information, send an email to youthmail@sevenoaks.gov.uk.
We will get back to you to talk about your idea and see if we can make it happen together.
This sort of project can help build your confidence by talking to people, asking questions and presenting your ideas.
Rewards are available to young people who sign up to be the next Project Team. A contribution of £50 will be awarded to the group at the end of the project, which can be spent at their youth club on an item or activity of their choice.
