James has had a wonderful year at work. I felt a lot less pressure than last year as I handed on the teenagers and didn’t have the stress of wedding, house and overseas family holidays! I continue in my role as team leader at Youth Alive Trust and honestly feel that I’m in my perfect job. It is my church’s community youth work organisation. My key roles are managing, inspiring and training staff and volunteers, fund raising, general admin, networking and practical youthwork in school, club night, holiday programmes and events. James & Amy started a new club together called WAVE for children Years 5 & 6 (aged 8-10) which has been a success. We have just produced a 27 page Annual Report which some of you could be interested in reading (it’s too big to email). If not, here is a brief of what we do:Youth Alive Trust was established in 1989 to meet the need
s of children and young people in Brighton and surrounding suburbs. We aim to support the young person socially, emotionally, mentally and spiritually through our programmes and our dedicated staff and volunteers. This project has grown and adapted to meet changing community needs and currently we do this through 7 different areas;1) Safer Streets Programmes. These are all our after school and evening programmes, ran by many volunteers and staff. Including Cheeky Monkeys (weekly club for Years 1 - 4), WAVE (weekly club for Years 5 & 6), Rock Solid (weekly club for Year 7 & 8), Unity East (weekly club for Years 9 - 13), and Sodium (larger events for teenagers on a fortnightly or monthly basis).
2) In-School Programmes. Supporting the students in their classrooms, on lunchtimes, and through extra curricula activities. Offering mentoring, one on one support, sports coaching, lunchtime activities and being positive role models. Our key schools in 2007 are Central New Brighton and Aranui High School.
3) Holiday Programmes. These fun filled programmes run 4 times a year for two different age categories, 5 – 8’s and 9 – 12’s, for one week in every school holidays. These are CYF’s approved and we are contracted to the MSD.4) Camps. We also take teenagers on trips, camps and weekends away throughout the year, such as Phatcamp, Rock Solid Camp, Eastercamp and sleep-overs.
5) Library Support. We have a contract with Christchurch City Council to place youth leaders in New Brighton Library on weekends and in school holidays.
6) Community Events. We support Christchurch City Council events such as the Beach
Blasts, Skate Jam and other youth initiatives. We organise an annual Family Fun Night and also host dance groups and bands, such as Y-ONE.7) Youth Leader training and Support. Attracting and training volunteers to work in their community. Placing them on different Safer Street Projects and organising training events throughout the year. We also host Praxis students, offering them experience, support and a structure for their practical work.
To see a 4 minute video of one of our community events held in Nov '07, click on this link to open the You Tube window:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2_uet12fa_s
