Agenda item

This report introduces the discussion topic for the meeting Young People The future of the Inner North West.

The discussion topic for the meeting was Young People the Future of the Inner North West.

Several organisations and projects working with young people in the area had been invited to the meeting to lead a discussion on their work with the involvement from young people.

Hyde Park Football Club.

·  This club had been formed 8 years ago for young people to join in football training and matches and other sporting activities. It was noted that everyone is welcome, and nobody was ever turned away.

·  The Committee heard from several of the young people who attend the club to play football and from volunteers at the club. Some of their comments included:

o  The club has helped them make friends.

o  Has built confidence.

o  Provided somewhere to gain experience in refereeing.

o  Get involved with the community.

·  The club is run by volunteers, and they would welcome more volunteers especially those with sporting skill sets such as trainers and referees.

·  The club has recently been able to secure a pitch so that they can hold training sessions and matches.

·  The Committee heard that at a recent presentation event around 300 young people and their parents had attended.

·  The club had won trophies and had been runners up in nominated awards for the last 2 years. It was the view that the club had helped put Hyde Park on the map.

Youth Service

·  Two youth workers attended the meeting and explained the difficulties that they had when first organising youth sessions in the area. They told of the wariness that the young people had about authority figures at first and how they had managed to overcome that mistrust.

·  They told of the links that they had made with other groups in the area and how they had challenged the inappropriate behaviour of the young people and explained the difference that it had made to addressing anti-social behaviour in the area.

·  They now had around 68 young people coming to the Cardigan Centre youth club and provided different activities for them with examples given of trips undertaken to the West Leeds Activity Centre and a visit to the Kirkstall Fire Station.

·  Members were told of a situation when there had been no canteen support to offer snacks for the attendees at Cardigan Centre and some of the young people had stepped up and offered to assist. They had enjoyed the experience, and the service was now looking to see if there were any food hygiene courses for them to attend.

·  Activities provided by the Cardigan Centre ranged from discussions, sports, and music. There had also been a 4-week programme delivered by an outside organisation on the ‘Glorification of Gangs’ this had been paid for by the Community Committee and the Youth Service thanked the Committee for their support to deliver this programme.

·  The Youth Workers said that over the summer the numbers of people attending had dropped off, but many were now coming back.

·  The Youth Service provision had helped to reduce anti-social behaviour in the area by making the young people aware of the consequence of their actions. The Youth Workers said they would be out on bonfire night to speak to young people who were involved in anti-social behaviour involving fireworks, as this was of particular concern for people living in the area.

Gateway Youth Club

·  The Gateway Youth Club is run by volunteer staff from the Gateway Church. It is a small club but have 7 regular attendees. It is located close to the Leeds City Academy and has capacity for 20 young people.

·  It is a safe space that young people can come to twice a week to play sports, board games, and talk and the club always put the young people first. They have had positive feedback from the parents of children who attend.

·  The youth club have offered trips to the Lazerzone and the Gravity Trampoline Park. These have been subsidised as the club is in a location where families are unable to afford these types of trips.

·  The club helps build friendships, provides a safe space, gives support and good guidance and discussion topics are open and honest.

Leeds United Foundation

·  They offer training sessions for team building.

·  Discussions on different topics.

·  Work with young people between the ages of 8-16 years.

·  The Foundation currently have sessions running in Woodhouse and Ireland Wood.

·  There are opportunities to go to watch matches.

·  Should a young person show potential for football there is also the opportunity to be invited to the Leeds United Academy.

The Chair thanked all those for attending and speaking at the Committee and for the work the volunteers do. All those who had attended and spoken were given a round of applause.

The Committee recognised that there was a need in the Inner North West area for spaces to play football and other sports, but these were often costly and residents of the area had to travel to access leisure centre facilities. It was suggested that the facilities at Leeds University, and Headingley Stadium and local academies could be made available for the local clubs and groups to use out of season and school hours.

It was noted that Yorkshire Cricket Club had provided some sessions for the Community in the past.

The Multi Use Games Area (MUGA) near Brudenell was due to open soon. 

It was acknowledged that there was a desire to invest in the young people of the Inner North West and more discussions were required for facilities and support for the organisations and clubs in the area.