Old rusty iron mailbox with blank paper and letter.
“Are you like me? You hear the sound of the letter box and you go to retrieve the mail, hoping there might be something more than the usual junk mail?”
Lockdown has increased loneliness. Two groups that we know have really been feeling the effects, are young people -- who can’t see their friends as easily -- and older people who are often isolated. With the end in sight, but still not quite here, TDC’s Ageing Well project and TDC’s Youth Team have recently got together to try and combat Lockdown’s isolation by creating an Intergenerational Penpals project.
Some of the young people that TDC are supporting are writing letters, producing artwork or sending cards to residents who live at Downlands Court, Peacehaven and Deans Wood, Woodingdean, as well as individuals who live in Woodingdean, East Brighton and Saltdean. They are looking forward to getting interesting replies from the people they are paired up with; discovering what they have in common and learning about each other’s lives.
The young and older people are exchanging communications over 6 weeks, building up a relationship. There are also be small craft tasks set by the project coordinator.
Once covid restrictions ease TDC is hoping to hold an event where all the penpals can meet safely.
As we all got used to being locked down again, TDC's Youth Team got busy with a range of ways that we could stay in touch with young people in Brighton and Hove.
Online Support
The team are reaching out to young people to just check on how they are doing and offer support if it's needed. This may be a call, text, or online message, whatever the young person has said is okay with them. If additional support needs are identified we can offer this over the phone, through text or online. We may be able to offer a walk and talk session too.
We are also offering online Youth Sessions during the week which include chat, playing games, quizzes, lyric writing, competitions, bingo and anything else that the young people come up with.
Current sessions are: Tuesdays, 5.30-6.30pm: Zoom Youth Session with Evie and Agostina. Contact [email protected] for log in details
Tuesdays and Fridays , 6.30-8pm : Zoom Youth Session with the Woodingdean Youth Team. Contact [email protected] for log in details
Our partners the Saltdean and Rottingdean Youth Project launched Active8 online on Friday 29th January. There will be competitions, wellbeing tips, youth club news and more over the next 8 weeks. And hopefully an interactive online session too. The page is available here
Street Based Work
And of course, our ever resilient Detached Youth Workers from the Brighton Streets Project are out in neighbourhoods and parks around Brighton and Hove doing welfare checks on any young people who are out and about.
We will be wearing masks so might not be so easily recognisable, but we have ID badges on and also our trademark hoodies.
For more information about TDC Youth Work, contact our Director of Youth [email protected]
Just before Christmas our Youth Team and Albion in the Community launched our Youth Action Project in Whitehawk. The project was created with young people in the summer of 2020 and received Youth Led Grant Funding to pay for training, resources and an end of project celebration.
The project offers young people the chance to feel part of the solution to issues in their community and get involved by giving up their time to volunteer to help out with local needs. It is also part of the 5 ways to wellbeing initiative as helping others is a great way of looking after your own wellbeing. Six young people went to an introduction evening and we were able to offer two opportunities for them to get involved with before Christmas.
A couple of young people took on the job of delivering the Due East newsletters in Whitehawk, Manor Farm and on the Bristol Estate. The newsletter contains important information for local residents so having some young volunteers helping to get it delivered was just brilliant. Tony from AITC went out with them to give them support and take the obligatory selfie!
The other opportunity was to support the new Give Street Project with a donation drop off event at the Hanover Community Centre on the last Sunday before Christmas. The project wanted food and clothes donations that would then be distributed to the Vale and Brighton Food Banks, the Hanover Homeless Project and Off the Fence.
Young people helped out with greeting donators and sorting out the goods offered. There was a fantastic response from the community so they were kept busy.
‘They were so helpful on the day and kept everyone’s spirits up with their energy and enthusiasm. They had a great time and are keen to get involved in the next event.’
Caroline, Youth Manager
‘We did well! All them people will be really thankful! Especially the people that need them most! Well done team till next time’.
Lauran, Project Participant
“On our first donation drop-off, we were delighted to welcome and work alongside Randy and Lauran, whose appliance, attitude and organisation were exemplary! We were proud to have them both representing Give Street Project to the general public on such an important occasion for us.”
Darren, Give Street Project
With the current lockdown we are holding back from sending young people out on volunteering opportunities. However, we are looking at offering an intergenerational pen pal project so watch this space
Youth Work Week 2020 took place last week and gave us the chance to celebrate our awesome Youth Team and raise awareness of the phenomenal Youth Work that they deliver.
An initiative of the National Youth Agency, the theme of Youth Work Week 2020 was "Ambitious for Youth Work!".
Our team used this theme to talk about their own careers and ambitions as well as their ambitions for the young people they work with and for the future of Youth Work.
Here is some of what they shared on social media:
On facebook, Caroline answered the question “What exactly does a youth worker do?” and described her ambitions for youth work in the future:
"This week we have been celebrating Youth Work Week. Having been a youth worker for over 20 years now I have been asked many times 'what exactly does a youth worker do?'
Youth workers sometimes run sessions in youth centres - these can include arts, cooking, pool, sports, games and other activities.
However sometimes we work from cafes, parks, on the beach, bus stops, mini buses and schools
We work with groups of young people, individuals giving 1-1 support and we support their families
We organise trips and residentials
We laugh, worry, talk, stay silent, cry.
We empower young people and encourage them to think about the choices they have and make in their lives
We challenge behaviour sometimes
It's one of the best jobs ever and I love it when I meet adults who used to come to youth club years ago and talk about how they were helped or share a funny memory.
My Ambition for Youth Work is that it gets reliable funding in the future, that it evolves with the needs of young people, that it continues to attract amazing youth workers and that it is recognised as an essential service #YWW2020"
Focusing on this year’s theme of “Ambitious” Evie described on facebook how she found a career in Youth Work:
"It's National Youth Work Week! This years theme is ‘Ambitious’ so us Youth Workers at TDC are going to share some of our Youth Work stories online with you guys.
At 18, I had a career change from working as a nanny and play worker. I started volunteering with a charity called The CALMzone at events speaking to young people about the importance of mental health awareness. I realised how much i enjoyed working with teenagers and decided this is what i wanted to do. I booked onto an introduction to Youth Work course and started volunteering at a Youth Centre in Bournemouth. I loved what I was doing and decided that I wanted to take the step to study Youth Work at the University of Brighton in 2018. I was introduced to Adam (now my boss) the director of Youth Work at TDC who gave me the opportunity to volunteer with the charity. Two years down the line I now work for TDC as a Youth Worker whilst studying my Youth Work Degree part time. I absolutely love what I do and I am so glad that I made the decision to follow my dreams. I am so grateful to TDC for giving me an opportunity to achieve my ambitions. We as a Youth Team are here to support you to discover your dreams and goals and help you along the way. Lockdown has just begun for the second time, please do reach out to any of our team for support or perhaps just a chat. - Evie Youth Worker #YYW2020#YouthWorkWeek#Ambitious"
TDC's Director of Youth Work Adam filmed an incredibly moving video about the impact Youth Work has had on him:
As well as these posts by our team, Youth Work Week 2020 was also a great opportunity for us to share some youth work related content, such as the letter which footballer and food poverty campaigner Marcus Rashford wrote to his 10 year-old self in which he talks about how important youth clubs were to him.
We also wanted to remind everyone of this film we released earlier this year about detached youth work in Brighton:
To find out more about our Youth Team, follow them on facebook and check them out on instagram:
In July 2020, TDC and five partners: Sussex Interpreting Services, Hangleton & Knoll Project, Voices in Exile, Network of International Women and Fresh Youth Perspectives, surveyed 310 people from Black, Asian, minoritised ethnic, refugee and migrant communities in Brighton and Hove to find out about their experiences of the NHS, Covid-19 and lockdown.
Dr Anusree Biswas Sasidharan led the research which was funded by Sussex NHS Commissioners.
You can download a summary here or the full report here.
Key findings included:
13% of respondents had had a positive covid-19 test
21% of BAMER key workers in this research felt they were expected to take more risk compared to white colleagues
Only 5% of respondents were uncertain about symptoms
There were high levels of trust for the NHS (70%) although many had negative experiences (49%)
Negative experiences included communication and language difficulties, cancellation of appointments often leading to poor health outcomes and perception of discriminatory treatment
Lack of knowledge and information was more likely for those with language needs
In total, three reports were commissioned by Sussex NHS, as well as Brighton & Hove, research was also carried out in Crawley by the Citizens Advice Bureau and in Hastings by Hastings Voluntary Action.
In each of four areas across the city, TDC and our partners hold regular sessions for service providers to meet one another, share information and find ways to support community members by working collaboratively.
Over the past year or so we have seen these sessions, formerly known as “hub networking”, grow in popularity and these sessions have typically been held in community locations across the city. Fuelled by coffee & croissants, and facilitated by TDC, (or by our partner The Hangleton & Knoll Project in the West), the sessions have given service providers the chance to meet each other and discuss how to support communities and each other in their area.
Evolving over time to address the needs of the participants, sessions in 2019 saw the Moulsecoomb & Bevendean group take a trip to learn about community activity in Hollingdean, and one East Brighton session took place on a basketball court, as participants took part in a wheelchair basketball game to challenge them to come out of their comfort zone.
Since the outbreak of Covid-19 brought a halt to face-to-face events, our networking events have moved online. After a number of sessions held via the video conferencing platform Zoom, we’ve had some great feedback from participants, with one saying of our first online session in the Central area: “Thanks Emma, it was a great session and lovely to see/meet everyone. I found it really useful to hear challenges and successes, think everyone’s doing so brilliantly, it’s incredible what strength and resourcefulness everyone has when faced with challenges from all directions. Look forward to catching up again in June“. Another attendee said “These meetings are the best on Zoom I have been to professionally since lockdown!”.
People providing a service role have quickly had to adapt to new ways of working. Most people are working from home where they can, fitting work in with family life and care commitments, plus finding new ways to communicate with colleagues and engage with people who need the services. Many essential services have been quickly redesigned to fit the unusual circumstances and it has been useful for participants in the meetings to discuss these with each other. Other positive effects we’ve seen have been members of the sessions learning new online skills, different people able to attend the sessions who couldn’t make it in person before, and reaching new people through online connections.
As lockdown eases and the transition to social distancing becomes the “new normal”, it is essential that service providers continue to communicate with each other to deal with the next challenges that arise. Some of these might be how to restart activities and encourage people to attend, respecting people’s legitimate concerns about gatherings and using public transport.
Community Development Worker Emma Reeves says “For those working pretty much in silo these sessions have been a bit of a life-line to work and a catch-up with familiar faces. The Zoom sessions have maintained the dialogue between workers reducing the gap when we do eventually meet in person. It has meant already people are agreeing to work in partnership as a result of the meetings which may not have happened otherwise. In East there are lots of creative ideas to bring community members together to celebrate their resilience and emergence from lock-down”.
If you would like to join a session you can find upcoming dates and details of how to join on our networking page.
East Brighton Park is a beautiful part of our city next to the Sheepcote Valley nature reserve. The park café was recently taken over by Stephen and Marilyn, a couple with years of cooking experience between them and a shared love of food.
After renovating and reopening the café at the start of 2020, their new business plans were scuppered when just 5 weeks after their launch they had to shut their doors due to the Covid-19 pandemic and national lockdown.
Having been looking forward to becoming a bustling community venue, they were disappointed to have to close before many local residents had even found out they had opened!
Despite the difficult situation, Stephen and Marilyn didn’t lose hope “We had to improvise and we started doing a takeout every Saturday from our home. This consisted of a three-course meal featuring a South African-Indian menu. We kept ourselves busy by cooking weekly meals for the infectious disease team at the Royal Sussex Hospital. This brought us joy as the staff really appreciated the food during a difficult time.”
During the lockdown, Stephen attended our area networking for the East Brighton area which we’d moved online and were hosting via Zoom. Through this he met Claire Burchell, our citywide manager, who subsequently went along to the café to meet the pair, offer support and try their delicious samosas. It turned out to be great timing – through relationships she’d built up in the area, Claire connected the café with the trustees of the local Due East neighbourhood council. They invited the café to write an article for their community newsletter, the perfect opportunity to introduce themselves to local people and announce when they would be open again. The well-read newsletter was delivered to households right across the East Brighton area, telling hundreds of potential customers about the café.
Since lockdown measures lifted, the café is now back open seven days a week from ten till five. Their menu features a fusion of classic breakfast/brunch dishes alongside some tasty Indian delights as well as a selection of ice creams and delicious local organic coffee. The café continues to operate a takeaway menu after their Saturday takeaway offer during lockdown was so well received. For the month of August the takeaway menu, known as the Durban Curry Club, will be available on Mondays, Tuesdays and Wednesdays and on these days customers dining in the café will also be able to take advantage of the government Eat Out to Help Out scheme for 50% off their meals.
After the lockdown having had such an impact on this small, independent start-up business, the local neighbourhood council was able to support the café to stay afloat by raising awareness and helping them to integrate with the local community. East Brighton Park is a beautiful outdoor space and as people begun to spend more time out of their homes the footfall to the café has increased. The café is easy for Whitehawk residents to get to and perfectly placed for people enjoying the park and getting some exercise and fresh air. Local people now have the chance to spend their money at a family-run café providing vital facilities to those spending time in their local green space.
Stephen and Marilyn, who run the East Brighton cafe
Community Development is a relational tool and is largely about getting the right people in the room talking to each other. The recent Covid-19 crisis saw us finding different ways to do this, using online and telephone communication, but also linking up with new people and groups that were emerging out of people’s desire to help.
In Hollingdean, TDC works closely with a local anchor organisation that runs the Hollingdean community centre and other neighbourhood projects: The Hollingdean Development Trust (HDT).
In the first few weeks after the lockdown was announced the HDT had to adapt to the centre closing and staff working remotely. In this respect we were able to link them into the Community Buildings Network for advice on grants and government guidance. They also had a strong desire to help where they could so Ceza da Luz, our community development worker for the area, was able to support them and ensured they were linked in with other stakeholders and coordinating responses.
Most activity groups had to stop during lockdown, but the meal groups swiftly moved to a collection service to ensure people could access cooked food and be linked into the local mutual aid group, which could offer delivery for people with mobility issues.
Then there was a call out from the Brighton & Hove Food Partnership to plug a gap on the emergency food supply network. HDT immediately offered their venue and we worked with them to recruit local volunteer teams using all our networks. The food hub was able to take on the needs of people from Saunders Park & Bates Estate to help alleviate the massive demand on the Moulsecoomb & Bevendean foodbank which had over 150 people referred. The changing situation of lockdown and people on furlough or losing work meant we had new volunteers that we hadn’t worked with before and they brought with them their own networks and community knowledge, thereby broadening our reach.
As a result of this positive experience of community action:
Vulnerable residents now know about the centre and feel comfortable using it
Vulnerable residents are linked into other social prescribing and wellbeing services
Local projects know more about each other and share resources and peer support more readily
Local volunteers are better networked and keen to work together again going forward on local projects
Local volunteers are better aware of citywide opportunities for development
One recipient of emergency food and local volunteer said “It’s good to know about the centre and you guys. Please let me know about anything else you are doing.”
The collaborative work that has taken place during the pandemic has meant that Hollingdean Development Trust has linked as an anchor organisation with a number of new creative projects, looking at how to document the period in which Covid-19 so greatly affected lives and how people are moving on afterwards. TDC along with the HDT, Hollingdean COVID-19 Mutual Aid and Hollingdean News have supported an initial survey to see how people in Hollingdean responded to the pandemic and this has evolved into The Hollingdean Story project - an archive of stories and artefacts demonstrating local people’s experiences.
Volunteer Ruth Bradley is leading on this project, collecting as many stories as possible from local people which will be made into a book of people’s experiences. If you would like to submit your story or be involved with the project group to put it all together, get in touch with Ruth at [email protected]
Below you can see some photos of the World Food Project in Hollingdean, courtesy of their facebook page.
Communication has been crucial during the Covid-19 pandemic as normal channels have been disrupted and people have needed to swiftly find new ways of interacting with each other. Our teams across the city have worked with Brighton & Hove City Council as well as local services in each of their areas to create local community newsletters directing people to services which meet whatever needs they might have.
One challenge they have been dealing with since the Covid-19 outbreak is in delivering newsletters across political wards totalling almost 15,000 addresses. This piece of work has been essential in making sure that individuals and families are able to connect with vital services. Prior to receiving the newsletter this may not have been the case especially if residents had no computer access.
Along with the Community Engagement Team at BHCC, Mark has been supporting the newsletter team by organising the volunteers to deliver across the two wards in Portslade. This has been a huge undertaking to liaise with them and council colleagues to make sure streets/flats, etc weren’t duplicated or missed. Once the newsletters were received Mark allocated them across the volunteer base to be delivered to individual households. The work all volunteers did distributing across their area of the city was outstanding. Their hard work has meant that food aid and advice during the Covid-19 lockdown has reached many isolated residents. TDC’s Cal Chester has also been able to support residents with their enquiries and the Extra Time Food hub has been distributing food parcels every week after residents contacted the council for emergency food using the contact details listed in the newsletter. Going forward these residents will continue to be supported where before they may have been missed.
This photo shows Mark delivering the COVID 19 Community Support newsletter to Becky Wigzell of the Purple People Kitchen in Portslade. Becky said “this newsletter has proved really useful to many of our vulnerable clients who are facing financial hardship and food poverty. It contains contact details of over 40 useful services that offer support to those who need it. It helps us sign post the people we serve and pair them up with the right agencies”.
In the period before the lockdown TDC’s Cal Chester had been working with residents of the Ravensbourne Court housing scheme in Woodingdean to tackle what’s known as digital isolation - a term used to describe when individuals can't access the internet or digital devices as much as other people.
Through his Ageing Well work, Cal had supported Alex, a resident, with using a laptop that had been gathering dust – over several sessions and fuelled by numerous cups of tea and Penguin biscuits they worked together to get Alex safely online. Cal says “After very patiently working our way through what was possible, Alex was finally able to use his printer and to connect with the online world. This included grocery shopping, hot meal deliveries, paying bills, e-bay shopping, banking, staying in touch with friends and family via e-mail and most importantly following the football and racing.
"Having learnt these new skills on his laptop Alex has been able to remain connected to the outside world during the lockdown and even secure regular online shopping deliveries! Of course, we haven’t been able to meet in person recently, but we have remained in touch via e-mail and I have continued to offer support to Alex and made him aware of local services and resources available around Covid-19. We are now setting up regular online ‘Zoom’ meetings to better keep in touch and further expand Alex’s horizons under such challenging circumstances.”
In Alex’s words: “Before I started, I didn’t have a clue how to switch a PC on, now after several one to one session with Cal I have really got the gist of it.
I don’t get out as much as I might because of medical conditions, and this has given me the support encouragement and skills I needed to shop and to manage my accounts.
I can now send e-mails, log on to various sites and online accounts using the chrome browser. I do online Asda grocery shopping, banking, Parsley meal delivery and manage my EDF energy and o2 phone accounts. I also now do e-bay shopping and get up to date with all the news. I now feel like I have more control over my day to day business and all my accounts.
I would like to say thank you to Cal and TDC for giving me this support - It has really given me a purpose”
Over the past few weeks we’ve been sharing stories about some of the inspiring community initiatives that have surfaced from the Covid-19 crisis. This week we focus on some of the work being done to reduce isolation and loneliness. According to a government report released early this year, loneliness can have a hugely negative impact on our health, wellbeing and self-esteem, as well as being linked to early deaths and an increased risk of illnesses such as coronary heart disease, stroke, depression, cognitive decline and Alzheimer’s.
In April we launched our new digital hub “Covid Brighton & Hove” - a coronavirus help directory for the city providing vital information through one trusted site. The site links people with a range of services and provides hundreds of signposts to help address many needs. From food shopping to financial assistance the site reminds visitors “You’re not alone. We’ll get through this together”.
After emergency food provision and housing information, the pages relating to loneliness have received the third highest number of visitors, demonstrating the high demand for services addressing loneliness and isolation. The pages on the Covid Brighton & Hove site contain many useful links to organisations tackling loneliness, such as Together co, LGBT Switchboard and Samaritans.
During the Covid-19 pandemic, we have built on our existing work, using a variety of approaches to reduce and prevent isolation. These include:
Proactive outreach to identify and support vulnerable people and helping them to access appropriate pathways to statutory services, befriending, Mutual Aid and support networks.
New Digital Hub. Covid Brighton & Hove new Digital Hub providing vital information through one trusted site and linking people with services.
Off-line Support. Targeting those without Wi-fi, computer or mobile access - through phone support, phone trees, postal packs and hand delivered local CV-19 newsletters.
Proactive social prescribing and getting crucial, up to date, CCG info to excluded people. Delivering specialist mental health support with BAME communities.
Youth Work. Coordinating online YW programme keeping young people connected and supported.
Here are some of the stories which show this work in action
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PPE for care workers
The lack of PPE for care home workers since the Covid-19 outbreak has been well documented in the media, particularly in the early days of the outbreak and lockdown.
Ageing Well is a city partnership for the over 50’s led by Impact Initiatives and TDC is a partner in the East of the City. We use an asset based community development approach in which older volunteers are supported to develop their own groups and activities.
Our Ageing Well Project Manager and Participation Worker Sue Sayers supports older people to recognise their own skills and develop their capacity as volunteers. She also works just outside of our city boundaries in Peacehaven thanks to establishing a group at Downlands Court that is now self-financing and can buy in her support as necessary. Downlands court is a retirement scheme made up of one and two-bedroom apartments plus shared areas for residents which include a lounge, dining areas and a courtyard garden.
Kerry, the Care Manager wanted to organise activities for the residents but was unable to do so due to insufficient PPE – specifically face masks for staff. Through her work building relationships in the community over the years, TDC’s Sue has built up a network of volunteers. She was able to reach out through this network with a call out for PPE, to which Margaret, a craft volunteer, responded. Margaret passed the request on to Julie and Beryl who very quickly made 60 cotton, washable, double-layer, close-weave masks - enough for workers to have 3 each so they can wash and reuse their masks after each wear. This meant that activities could run safely with staff knowing they were doing all they could to protect the older residents in their homes.
Not only did this solve the problem but the care staff reported the masks “were much more comfortable than the ones they are usually supplied with and because they were made from pretty fabrics they were far nicer for the residents to see on the carers, particularly for those with dementia.”
And to sum up, Sue says “It was a win-win situation for all involved. Carers and residents were protected, residents’ day-to-day lives were brightened and our volunteers got the satisfaction of knowing they had made a real difference. We have learned that it is often the local solutions to a situation that produce the most appropriate answer”.
These photos show some of the face masks made by volunteers, Julie and Beryl, for carers at Downlands Court, and Kerry the care manager with one of her team.
The TDC Youth team works primarily in the North and East of Brighton & Hove. Our varied youth work programme normally includes regular youth clubs, detached youth work, youth-specific consultations and participation work as well as dedicated one-to-one support on health and wellbeing issues.
Young people can talk to their youth workers in their own environment about a range of issues they might be facing. Our youth team are professionals trained in addressing mental health and sexual health concerns, knife usage, substance misuse – able to affect a lot of positive work, or refer to specialists if needed helping young people channel their strengths and interests into positive outcomes.
When the lockdown began, the TDC Youth team took swift action to create an online programme of youth work, providing a weekly schedule of events such as facebook chats, zoom youth clubs and other live streams plus daily challenges and quizzes.
Caroline Vitta, our Youth Work Manager for the East of the city said:
“The TDC youth team have been the heroes for me at this time with their ability to just get on with the job, especially as some are quite new to the team still.
The team thrives on the face to face contact they have with young people. So when we went into lockdown as a country there was an immediate focus from the team on how we could keep in touch with our groups.
They quickly put together an online programme with youth workers available every day to chat, share information and suggest fun activities. Everyone has stepped up to make this work with creative ideas, trying out new technology and actively finding ways to reach out to young people.”
Georgina and Abi who run Look Sussex led the way in organising fun sessions on Zoom for young people and their families. They have done quizzes, talent shows, a sensory Scavenger Hunt and just had fun.
Tara who is one of the Founders of Look Sussex, and also a mum to one of the members fed this back: “Georgina is doing a brilliant job of keeping our much-needed group connected through this very difficult time. Huge praises for her professionalism throughout all – we love you Georgie & of course the Abi’s x2! We look forward to seeing you all ‘properly’ very soon 👏👏👏👍😜😊XXX”
Caroline continues, “At the end of May the Youth Work team were assigned Key Worker status by Brighton and Hove City Council which meant we were able to resume our Street Based Youth Work. This means we have been able to talk to any young people that are out and about with their friends and check on how they’ve been feeling, that they understand the latest guidelines on socialising and offer support and guidance where needed. All youth workers now carry PPE and are mindful of social distancing to keep ourselves and young people safe. We have up to 6 sessions a week covering Patcham, Whitehawk, Woodingdean, Preston Park, Saltdean and Rottingdean as well as keeping an eye on any emerging areas that we are notified of.
And a last piece of good news is that the team worked hard with young people to write applications for the Brighton & Hove City Council Youth-Led Grants scheme. These applications focused on funding for activities that young people want to do once we are able to get youth groups running again. As always, the young people had great ideas and we were granted funding for a summer activity programme, a social action project, a Travellers’ drama project, Moulsecoomb Young Men’s Group, a new Whitehawk young women’s project, a substance awareness piece of work, a young person’s football event and Look Sussex will be running a wellness project. We hope that as UK restrictions continue to ease we will be able to plan some great things for young people to get involved with”.
A couple of young people took on the job of delivering the Due East newsletters in Whitehawk, Manor Farm and on the Bristol Estate. The newsletter contains important information for local residents so having some young volunteers helping to get it delivered was just brilliant. Tony from AITC went out with them to give them support and take the obligatory selfie! 
