We recently published a big thank you to our volunteers at New Larchwood. Student volunteer Leila, has been with us for a while now, on a placement working with older people as a part of her Social Policy studies. She has made an amazing contribution and has been running loads of activities for the residents during her time with us, here she tells us a bit more about the activities she gets involved in…
“Volunteering at New Larchwood is not just rewarding but entertaining as well, as each week is different from the others. My week starts off on a Tuesday where I help run the coffee morning, this is an opportunity for residents and the outside community to come together and relax. Every month there is a specific coffee morning aimed at helping people who live with dementia. Everyone comes together and reminisces of their fond memories from their childhood, and this is normally assisted with talks from the Alzheimer’s society or an entertainer who sings songs from the 1950’s onwards. This week there was a singer who performed a mixture of songs which the residents love and all sang along. There were around 15 residents who came. Some with family members and some by themselves but everyone joined in. Not only does this run on a Tuesday but a gentle exercise class also takes place in the afternoon. This aims at helping people who have little mobility to get their joints moving, all the exercises are chair based to accommodate everyone. Overall there are 5 residents who regularly attend but also 2 members from the community who come to socialise and learn more about exercises that can be done within the group and at home.
On a Wednesday afternoon there is a boccia class. This is run by a volunteer who was originally a placement student but loved this group so much she decided to stay for over a year. This activity involves sitting down and rolling a ball into a target section which is based on points, there are two teams which can often get very competitive but all for fun. After this activity the residents and volunteers like to have tea and biscuits before the next activity starts which is a cheese board game, this game is loved by everyone as it is good fun and always makes residents laugh.
New Larchwood residents getting involved in some of the activities.
My week ends on a Thursday, with helping organise gardening in the morning. This is a loved activity as it is a way to keep the outside of New Larchwood looking amazing and gives the residents a sense of achievement as they have got to decide what is being planted. Due to the cold weather the gardening had to stop but now it is getting warmer the residents are keen to keep the upkeep of the plants going. The last bit of my week involves helping another volunteer with musical bingo, this is always well attended by not just residents but members of the community. Everyone loves hearing songs that are not played on the radio and this helps with their memory stimulation. At the end of the bingo there is always a raffle in which people who have attended have a chance to win some prizes.
All the activities that are run at New Larchwood, benefit each resident differently. The sessions help the residents with their memory as they are enjoying the activities and socialising with different people each week. For a volunteer, working within New Larchwood helps you have a different aspect to life and would get you to socialise with a group of people that you would not necessarily meet within society.”
On Saturday 3rd March the Portslade community came together at Portslade Town Hall to showcase some of the great initiatives available in the area.
The Portslade Community Forum (PCF) along with a number of voluntary groups, business and charities came to show off what they had on offer to local residents.
Portslade Bowls Club and Mile Oak Football Club explained the activities they run, in a drive for new members, whilst the local Country Dancing group encouraged residents to get involved and attend one of the local barn dances. Fresh Start, based at Easthill Park, launched their Portslade History trail, with the Brighton and Hove Heritage Group adding further historical flavour. Local churches were represented and the White Watch service from Hove Community Fire Station brought one of their fire engines along, and urged people to take up their Home Fire Safety Visits and have smoke alarms fitted. Other organisations were welcome guests and included
Volunteering Matters, who are offering activities to people aged 50+ in Portslade
Brighton Soup and
BHESCo, who help residents improve their energy savings and efficiency
Local businesses like the Mile Oak branch of the Co-op were in attendance too as well as the local foodbank, The Purple People Kitchen, who provided drinks and a free buffet.
Mark Drayton, our Community Development Worker for the area, supported PCF in organising the event and was there to represent TDC on the day. He said “I’m here today promoting the Neighbourhood Plan for Portslade which will gives local residents a say in the aspirations for their community going forward to 2020”.
Join TDC at A Way A Day – our multicultural health and wellbeing event open to everyone from minority ethnic backgrounds in Brighton and Hove.
Wednesday 18th April 2018
10.30am – 2.30pm
BMECP, 10A Fleet Street, Brighton, BN1 4ZE
A family friendly event with FREE lunch, refreshments, creative activities, board games, music, practical advice and information. Come and discover what’s happening locally and where you can go for help and support to improve your health and wellbeing. No booking required.
Arabic, Bengali, Cantonese, Portuguese, Russian and Turkish interpreters will be available at the event. If you would like to attend and need an interpreter, call Sussex Interpreting Services on 01273 234825 after 3pm. Leave your name, phone number and a message with your language need.
Brighton & Hove City Council has pledged an additional £90,000 investment in youth services in the coming financial year under proposals agreed last Thursday.
TDC will be one of a collective of local youth work providers who are expected to receive extra funds to deliver programmes of youth work across the city.
With youth services funding subject to drastic shrinkage across the entire country over the past few years, cuts were announced in Brighton & Hove towards the end of 2016. But following a passionate campaign by young people to protect youth services, city Councillors listened to concerns and decided against the initially proposed reductions in funding.
This forward-thinking approach showed an understanding of the importance of youth work and the impact it can make on the lives of young people, and now funding for youth services across the city has been made a priority for extra investment in this coming financial year.
A “cross party youth work steering group” has been set up to decide how youth funds are spent. The group includes representatives from all three political parties and from youth groups across the city who participated in the discussion on Thursday about how best to distribute the funds.
The £90,000 extra spend on youth work is part of a package of additional funding, worth £460,000, to improve support for young people in Brighton and Hove. This includes:
£90,000 for short breaks and day support for young people with learning disabilities
£40,000 to support young people struggling with or at risk of substance misuse
An extra £70,000 for a mental health support scheme for secondary school children to extend its reach into further education colleges to support 16- to 19-year-olds
£156,000 to tackle the exploitation of children and vulnerable young people through so-called “county lines” crime. Part of this money will be spent on targeted youth work.
Adam Muirhead, TDC youth team Project Manager and Chair of the Institute for Youth Work, welcomed the decision: “Local politicians from across different parties in Brighton and Hove have really tried to listen to young people,” he said. “They have then put their money where their mouth is by being supportive of young people, empowering them and being protective of youth services.”
We look forward to working with our partners and the Council to deliver the extra youth activities this funding will allow, and positively impacting even more young people across Brighton & Hove.
On Thursday 22nd February, TDC hosted a number of workshops at the Community Works 2018 Equality Symposium “Thriving, not (just) surviving” – which this year focused on hardships as experienced by members of the local BAME & D/deaf communities.
TDC Community Development Worker Terry Adams arranged for two women from BAME backgrounds to attend the symposium and talk to service providers from Brighton, Hove and further afield about their personal experiences.
Maha and Mish share their experiences with Equality Symposium participants
Maha, originally from Sudan and a mother of 5 now living in East Brighton, spoke of the challenges in raising a family between two cultures, the racism she has experienced since she moved to Brighton, and how she motivated herself to learn English and study at the Open University. Following completion of an MA in Child Studies, Maha says “I now understand how to support my children, how to build communication and trust. And all this information helped me to settle in to life in the UK”. She told workshop participants about the coffee mornings she has set up at Moulsecoomb School where local people can regularly get together to discuss and share information on subjects as diverse as cyberbullying, english courses, housing and education. One of her proudest achievements has been to link up parents with AMAZE, a charity which supports the families of disabled children. Maha enjoyed attending the symposium, and the chance to share her experience with others. She said “Being involved today has made me feel even more a part of the community”.
Mish was born and brought up in Brighton, and in her words “couldn’t live anywhere else”. She talked about the people that make up our city “If you look down my road, there’s an interesting mix of ethnicities.” And again, the important role she plays as a parent “As a mum of 2 girls, both in high school, making sure they accept and respect both cultures can sometimes be a challenge”.
Mish told attendees about the difficulties in finding work that fits in with school hours and how intimidating the job centre can be. On racism, she says “In Brighton, people are very respectful of each other. We do get the odd comment here and there but when it happened to the kids in school it was handled very well”. Mish is a member of the local Bangladeshi Women’s Group, which was initially very reliant on support from TDC but has now grown in independence with the help of people like Mish. She arranges an all-women swimming group which is subsidised by grants to make sure those on lower incomes can take part, and managed to liaise with the pool staff to find swimwear that is acceptable to both the women in the group and the swimming pool. Following in the footsteps of her father, Mish is also a member of the local Racial Harassment Forum, which carries out surveys to find out what local people need and also shares information, for example highlighting that the Community Safety Team can help with incidents, meaning it is not always necessary to go to the police. Mish shared a wealth of information from her own personal experience… On answering her mother’s query on why she should fill in those diversity questionnaires “if we can’t inform the system of our needs, they can’t do anything about them” and how it’s essential for the care system to diversify “There’s a huge need for carers from BAME backgrounds, with different language skills. It’s a trust issue for many elderly people”.
Ratna Jan Bibi, anouther of our Community Development team, whose work focuses specifically on the well-being of people from Ethnic Minority groups was also at the symposium. She spoke briefly to attendees of how she interacts with the groups Maha and Mish were talking about “Our role is to listen to the individuals and build relationships, then do whatever we can to help. It’s actually Maha and Mish doing all the work, and I support them wherever I can”.
The Symposium also gave participants a chance to understand the challenges that local D/deaf people face, with interpreter and trainer Marcel Hirschman delivering a workshop on Deaf awareness. He gave a presentation which was jam-packed with facts and plenty of anecdotal evidence of the struggles that D/deaf people experience on a daily basis.
Throughout the day, attendees were challenged to think about their own experiences of prejudice and discuss ideas on how their own services can work to make life easier for people experiencing hardship.
Many thanks to Community Works for organising such an insightful day and for inviting TDC to be a part of it.
Since last Spring, TDC have been supporting a Mens’ (+ now Women’s) Discussion Group which meets at the Vallance Community Centre in Hove. The group has hosted guest speakers from the ‘Argus’ Archive, British Legion and the Co-Op Estates Management Service and now have a sub-group, studying the world of breadmaking at the nearby Stoneham Bakehouse under the leadership of Bakehouse founder Simon Cobb.
TDC’s Community Development Worker Mark Drayton says “Baking Bread has never been such fun for this Over 50’s discussion group. They are nearing the end of a 6 week course supported by the Healthy Neighbourhood Fund. They have learnt new skills and made new friends, and one thing is for sure; whether it’s bloomers, plaited breads or cinnamon buns the results are very tasty!”
By Sue Sayers, Senior Community Participation Worker.
Last month I started to cover the post of Older People’s Worker for the North/Central area of Brighton. I am now based at New Larchwood, Coldean on Mondays – in the little office downstairs in the café area.
The Café, called The Larches, is run by Impact Initiatives, and serves both New Larchwood residents and the wider community of Coldean. Activities run within the café, such as art groups and knitting: so it is always busy with people coming and going.
Part of my role is to support the many volunteers who help support the many and varied activities that are organised throughout New Larchwood. There is an on-going scheme which enables university students to volunteer and at present there are 9 in place. There is also a volunteer supporting the Boccia sessions, who came as a university student and loved it so much, she stayed once her placement was complete!
This term there are also two Occupational Therapy students who spend 7 weeks on a practice placement. In this time they meet New Larchwood residents and work with them to design new activities around their suggestions: this year focusing on board games, films and reminiscing. They are also helping to encourage residents who have not been taking part, to join in. This has been particularly successful with weekly musical bingo sessions so that a mixed group of 12 are now attending regularly.
Last, but definitely not least, we have community members who volunteer, leading activities such as the monthly Dementia Café, Gentle Chair-based exercise and an Intergenerational Supper Club and who sit on committees to help manage finances etc.
As we are celebrating Student Volunteering Week this month, I would like to take this opportunity to give a big thank you all those who volunteer at New Larchwood – you all contribute to make it a vibrant, active and supportive community hub.
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Student Volunteering Week takes place this year between 19-25th February and celebrates the contribution of student volunteers around the UK, aiming to encourage more meaningful and innovative student engagement.
Get in touch with Sue by email at [email protected] to enquire out about volunteering at New Larchwood and check out the other volunteering opportunities we have currently open at TDC.
The Brighton & Hove Small Groups Network aims to bring together community groups from across Brighton and Hove to give them the help and support they need to run their group.
Barbara and Mandy, two members of the Small Groups Network
The network meets regularly in different neighbourhoods across the city and is the place for members of small groups to meet other people doing similar things, to reflect on some of the challenges and to support each other to move forward. There is also a members’ e-list so people can contact each other outside of the meetings to ask for advice and information.
TDC works with The Resource Centre & Community Works to support this network of community and voluntary groups. It is open and membership is free to any group with an income less than £35,000 each year.
The network meets 3 times in the year and tries to reach different parts of the City. In February they met in the North at The Bridge Community Education Centre. They looked at what help and ideas they could share about getting funding and recruiting more volunteers.
One network participant said of the group “It is great to know that there are others in the city doing such amazing work and that collectively we are stronger to tackle the problems we are facing. It is good to know that there are people / organisations out there willing and able to support the work we are doing. That in itself is empowering.”
The next meeting will take place in June. To join the network, contact Lisa Mytton [email protected] 01273 234031 or you can find further info on the Community Works website.
There was cause for celebration at the most recent Friends of Downlands Court committee meeting because earlier that week, Sue Sayers, their community participation worker, had been informed that the group had been chosen for the second time, to be one of three chosen local charities to receive a share of the Peacehaven Co-op Community Fund.
1% of any spending on Co-op branded items at either of the Peacehaven Co-op food stores or at Peacehaven Funeralcare, together with money raised from the sale of carrier bags, goes into the Community Fund. This will then be divided between the three chosen charities: Friends of Downlands Court, the ABC Fund and the Cats Afterschool Club. Customers who are Co-op members can nominate one of the charities to receive their percentage if they wish, by calling 0800 023 4708 and selecting option 3.
Downlands Court is an extra care retirement home in Peacehaven which TDC’s community participation worker Sue, has been supporting since September 2009. The Friends of Downlands Court group helps people aged 50+ to organise activities which offer opportunities to have fun, keep healthy and combat loneliness. They recruit volunteers of all ages to facilitate and develop these activities and to support the people that participate, many of whom have chronic health needs or disabilities including dementia.
The first time Downlands Court were chosen for the Co-op Community Fund they received over £5,000 which has been used to provide outings for older people who do not get out and about much. These outings have been supported by our part-time worker, Sue Sayers, and the funding helped to keep her in post. This second lot of funding which we will receive in 2018 will help us promote gentle exercise and social activity among older people.
If you would like more information about her work with Older People at Downlands Court, please contact Sue on 07412 709 310 or [email protected]
What a year for TDC! It’s been a busy time, full of exciting activity in the neighbourhoods we work with and across the city. We’ve had a chance to work with lots of new people as well as with many of our long-term partners and collaborators.
We asked our staff for their highlights of the year and here’s what they said…
“This year has been jam packed with fantastic youth focused events, from Tarner Festival in July with over 400+ people in attendance being led and curated by young people. It was brilliant and the young people loved it! Then we kicked off autumn with a youth jam in Tarner park! With skateboarding, graffiti, dancing and rapping. Oh and lovely baked potatoes and lots of munch to keep their tums full. This event was then followed with a BME Engagement event, encouraging participation from Black, Asian and minority ethnic young people in the area. This event was fun with dancing, lyric writing and drama. The young people even cooked up some lovely jerk chicken, rice and peas. Yummy!
Looking forward to next year’s string of events with other partners like south east dance who will have a dance space in 2019 in the area, we have lots planned, so watch this space!”
Kalishia Davey, Community Development Worker, Tarner
Tarner festival in Tarner Park
“This year, I have particularly enjoyed working with partners on the Brighton and Hove Green Spaces Forum which was officially launch at the end of October.
A highlight for me has been working with the West Hove Forum and supporting their responses to various planning development issues covering their area.
Finally I am especially proud of the work the volunteers do at The Purple People Kitchen. This Portslade foodbank provides a hot meal every Friday and distributes much needed food parcels to dozens of those in need every week”.
Mark Drayton, Community Development Worker – Portslade & Portland Road
“Earlier this year TDC worked with Brighton Digital Festival (BDF) to research what young people from ethnically and culturally diverse (BAME) backgrounds feel about the general representation and portrayal of people like them on the internet. The young participants were asked for their comments, views and perspectives on the extent to which they believe online content images, references, stories, news and features etc. typically present them (or people they identify with) in a manner they believe is fair, accurate and diverse.”
Terry Adams, Community Development Worker with BME Communities.
“This year, a real highlight was Dr William Bird attending our AGM. He was a very inspirational speaker and the messages in his great presentation about the challenges that modern life bring to our physical and mental health have stayed with me.”
Katharine Trevelyan, Central Services Manager
Young People at Brighton Digital Festival and Dr William Bird at our AGM in October
“I’ve really enjoyed getting to know the Hollingdean Knitting Group (HKG) this year. The group provides a safe space for women to come together, every week, to support each other, share and learn new skills. It also aims to encourage/support women in the group to become more involved in the weekly running of the group.”
Ceza Da Luz, Community Development Worker, Hollingdean and Saunders Park
“My highlight this year was supporting so many lunch clubs for older residents in Moulsecoomb and Bevendean, such as the Young at Heart Club at the Bridge and the Friday Friends at the Bevy, but most importantly the revival of a new community lunch club at St George’s Hall in North Moulsecoomb.”
Anke Thurm, Community Development Worker, Moulsecoomb & Bevendean
The Friday Friends arriving at The Bevy and tucking into their lunch.
“This year I have particularly enjoyed working with two quite different groups. Firstly, the Brighton and Hove Community Buildings Network (CBN) – who launched their new website in February after a great deal of hard work and effort. I also have had the opportunity to work with the amazing ‘ADHD Aware’ group which provides invaluable support to adults with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder in and around Brighton and Hove.
I am especially proud of helping to support the development and launch of the CBN website and welcoming new and lapsed members in to the group. Another satisfying aspect of my work this year has been learning more about ADHD and the challenges that adults in particular face in dealing with it. Supporting the group in developing and promoting their incredible work has been a real privilege
Another real highlight of the year has been working with a member of the Community Buildings Network to film a short video piece for the Older Peoples Festival in October. This formed part of a brilliant longer feature about the work of older people in communities all around Brighton and Hove”
Cal Chester, Community Development Support Worker
The Community Buildings Network in session and our film being shown at an event for the Older People’s Festival
“The start of the year saw us support young people to be part of the #ProtectYouthServices campaign, which helped the City Council make a decision to continue funding youth work. This incredible piece of campaigning engaged thousands of local people in speaking up for services they believe in and need.”
Adam Muirhead, Projects Manager – Youth Team
“As well as the regular youth clubs we have been on the Tech Trail, had a play with Halloween make up, filled up on an all you can eat buffet, and linked with the Brighton and Hove Black History Project to run Black History Event at the 67 centre. There’s always something or someone new to get to know.”
Caroline Vitta, Community Worker with Young People
The #ProtectYouthServices protest, the TDC Youth Team and PCSO Josh attending the 67 Centre Black History event in November
“Joining TDC in October, I have had the opportunity to learn about all the fantastic work third sector organisations do to celebrate, support and empower BAME communities across Brighton and Hove. One such organisation is Rise, an award winning charity, helping professionals and people affected by domestic abuse. In 2018, I am looking forward to continuing working with colleagues at Rise, and raising awareness of domestic abuse within BAME communities.”
Ratna Jan Bibi, Community Development Worker, Black & Minority Ethnic Communities (Wellbeing)
“I’ve been working for TDC for over 11 years now and for the past 8 years my work has mainly involved older people.
2017 was a fantastic year with Friends of Downlands Court being awarded over £5,300 from the Co-op community Fund for an outings project: this has meant that frail elderly people can enjoy getting out and about and in their words ‘escape the four walls.’ I would like to thank my dedicated team of buddies and wheelchair pushers that make this possible.
The year had ended with us hearing that we have been selected for a second time to receive Co-op funding for 2018. I look forward to involving our participants in developing a programme of activities that they would like to take part in.”
Sue Sayers, Senior Community Participation & Development Worker
“I am always impressed by the diversity of projects funded through Healthy Neighbourhood Funding, which reaches people who might not otherwise get the support they need to make the first step onto a healthier lifestyle. Moulsecoomb had 17 projects apply this year.”
Kirsty Walker, Projects Manager
Moulsecoomb Chomp, the School Holiday Meal Group for families on low incomes which received Healthy Neighbourhood Funding
“A highlight this year for me has been the development of our work with ethnically and culturally diverse communities. I am pleased and excited to have welcomed Ratna on to the team who, along with her work with BME communities on wellbeing, has been working in partnership with RISE to support and promote their new targeted BME work. Terry has been working with Brighton Digital Festival to explore the inclusion of BME young people in online spaces through a series of workshops which culminated in a presentation at the Digital Festival this autumn and Ceza, TDC’s Community Development worker for Hollingdean, has joined the team to carry out some consultation work for Impetus on their Neighbourhood Care Scheme, exploring how they can tailor their services for BME people and volunteer befrienders.
I was also really proud of the amazing film we made to celebrate the contribution older people make in our communities which we showed at our Older People’s Festival event in October”
Lyndsay Macadam, Projects Manager
“I’m really proud of the impact we made with the TDC Tech Trail this year. It was the first year TDC had ever run an event with local businesses and we had a phenomenal response to the idea of connecting young people to tech businesses, helping to inspire them into STEM subjects but also encouraging growth in the tech talent pool. It led to some eye-opening discussions with businesses who had no idea of the challenges faced by the communities we work with and some wonderful opportunities for young people who were offered work experience or had follow-up tech sessions in their youth clubs.
Aside from the relationships formed with local businesses, the TDC Tech Trail enabled us to build connections with networks across the city. We were invited to be part of the discussions about future career pathways and opportunities for young people as part of Our Future City and we built a strong relationship with Brighton Digital Festival, who championed the project and invited us to talk about it at the closing conference. A chance to get on the stage and share our story with over 200 people.”
Ruth Chapman, Business Development Manager
The TDC Tech Trail inspiring young people to choose a career in tech
“I’m especially proud of all the learners who completed our community development training course Working in Community – Organisations, Development and Engagement, or Working in C-ODE for short. Everyone worked exceptionally hard and I’m so pleased that they achieved their accreditations.
Highlights for me were the forest of evaluation trees we created and the delicious end of course lunch Raminder’s Mum cooked for us during her visit from Singapore. Well done everyone.”
Kaye Duerdoth, Training co-ordinator
C-ODE graduates hard at work and after receiving their certificates at our AGM in October
By Terry Adams, TDC Community Development Worker with BME Communities.
Earlier this year TDC worked with Brighton Digital Festival (BDF) to explore notions of how the digital world deals with identity and representation.
The Brighton Digital Festival (BDF) is an annual month-long programme of events that explore digital culture and celebrate Brighton’s creativity. BDF seeks to be a vehicle for social change, connecting people from communities across the city with opportunities for expressing their creativity, for exploration of digital culture and understanding how digital culture is shaping the future. As part of this commitment BDF in partnership with TDC and community champions conducted qualitative research amongst young people from a section of the City’s culturally and ethnically diverse communities (BAME).
Young people taking part in research at the Brighton Digital Festival
The research
The purpose of the research was to explore what young people from ethnically and culturally diverse (BAME) backgrounds feel about the general representation and portrayal of people like them on the internet. The broader questions and issues explored related to ‘digital otherness/identities’ and the colonisation of online spaces.
For the research the young participants were asked for their comments, views and perspectives on the extent to which they believe online content images, references, stories, news and features etc. typically present them (or people they identify with) in a manner they believe is fair, accurate and diverse.
The Brighton Digital Festival Director, Laurence Hill, oversaw the project. The lead researcher was Irene Fabara-Manuel, a post-gradual student at Brighton University. Overall, 14 young people age 10 – 18 years took part in the focus group sessions.
The TDC used our community contacts and relationships with people, communities and groups from ethnically and culturally diverse communities to recruit the young people to the research. We helped shape the context and format in which the research was undertaken. We also assisted in the facilitation of the research and contributed to the analysis of the data and findings.
The findings
The findings were presented at the BDF Conference held to explore the frontiers of digital culture. The conference featured a mix of presentation, discussions, speakers and artistic work.
The findings highlighted concerns young respondents had in what they saw as casual bias in how images and stories reflecting their identities are portrayed and reported. It also revealed high levels of engagement with digital technology as well as challenging stereotypes and commonly held perceptions of how young people from their cultural and ethnic backgrounds use the internet.
The findings also revealed the need for more research in this area. To this end, discussions are being held to explore conducting further similar research next year. This new research will expand on existing findings and seek to shape the way people engage with the internet.
As 2017 draws to a close, two member of our youth team share their thoughts on what has happened this year.
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By Adam Muirhead, TDC Projects Manager – Youth Team.
This year has been a bit of a whirlwind for the youth team! The start of the year saw us support young people to be part of the #ProtectYouthServices campaign, which helped the City Council make a decision to continue funding youth work. This incredible piece of campaigning engaged thousands of local people in speaking up for services they believe in and need.
Following the decision to fund youth work in February the TDC then needed to work with partners to submit bids to the new grants programme for the end of June. Furious writing, phone calls, emails ensued (all the while still delivering our regular sessions to local young people) with the outcome being announced in August – SUCCESS! The funding programme that we received meant that from October 2017 the TDC would have 2.5 years funding from the Council and now manage and/or deliver youth work for over half of the city! We will continue to operate as part of the Brighton & Hove Youth Collective with our citywide partners and contract leads, the Hangleton & Knoll Project (HKP) and Brighton Youth Centre (BYC).
Our new remit has meant that we have taken on new staff too. Huge welcome in 2017 to Caroline Vitta, Chloe Thomas and Rosie Johnson!
It feels as though the Youth Work at TDC is going from strength to strength and this has largely been possible due to the huge amounts of support we have had from our Trustees, the wider membership, partners, all TDC staff and the wider communities. Of course, a massive thank you too to our enabling funders and sponsors.
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By Caroline Vitta, TDC Community Worker with Young People.
As we approach the end of 2017 I can look back on my first 3 months as a Community Worker with Young People for the Trust for Developing Communities. Some days I feel like I have been in this role for a long time – and other days I still realise I’m on an undulating learning path. Does that ever change? I hope not really, there’s always something or someone new to get to know.
My first 3 months have been busy with getting to know my immediate team, TDC colleagues and most of all the young people who use the youth clubs we run.
This first term has offered a varied programme of different things for them to do. As well as the regular youth clubs we have been on the Tech Trail, had a play with Halloween make up, filled up on an all you can eat buffet, and linked with the Brighton and Hove Black History Project to run Black History Event at the 67 centre – a great day of arts, exotic fruit, drumming, music and people getting to know each other. And to finish the term off we are going to make some lanterns with Same Sky and take part in the Burning of the Clocks parade on the 21st December.
PCSO Josh pops along to the Black History Event in Moulescoomb to have a cuppa and get to know members of the BAME community.
