Last Friday evening, The Trouville Hotel in Sandown played host to a celebration of the achievements of young people who have, for the last 18 months, been involved with the Bay Area Youth Project.
The project is the brainchild of Julian Wadsworth, the Community Resilience Coordinator for the Bay area, and Youth Intervention Development Officer with IW Community Action (listen to our podcast with Julian).
Offering new avenues
Julian could see things heading in a bad direction for young people in the area, so made sure they had a voice by choosing the types of activities they could access, such as boxing, cricket and basketball, as well as arts and creative projects.
As well as offering medals and certificates throughout the year, the Bay Area Youth Project also provides training and leadership opportunities. The awards event saw young people being recognised for their achievements, and celebrated for the leadership skills they’ve developed whilst going on to become mentors to other young people.
Lifechanging activities
The evening, hosted by Joe Plumb, was also a chance for the young people to share their experiences, as well as showcase their new skills.
Dean Kempster, who was up on stage at least three times to collect certificates, talked about his aspiration to become a gym manager. He explained how the Project has enabled him to grow in confidence and develop coaching skills for a future career.
Skyla Barnes talked about how getting involved with the Project when she first moved to the Island gave her the confidence she didn’t think she would ever have. She’s got stuck into basket ball and cricket, tennis, golf and boxing, as well as taking part with the Bay Youth Forum.
Keira Joy has gained the confidence and necessary leadership skills to support other young people through sport in the future. Like others, she’s taken on all the opportunities on the table, with a view to ensuring she has something meaningful to add to her CV, bolstering future career prospects.
“Nothing about us, without us”
There are two Youth Forums as part of the Project: one for juniors and the other for seniors. They run every fortnight and are a vital part of the programme, ensuring the voices of young people are heard locally and wider.
The motto of the Youth Forums is “Nothing about us without us”. A simple, but very strong message, which appears to have made a huge difference to engagement in the area.
“We wanted to change people’s attitudes towards young people”
With local filmmaker, Bruce Webb, many of the young people worked for twelve months on the inspiring short film, Do Something Different (watch on YouTube).
Oliver McClean spoke about the total freedom they were given to make the film. He explained how the young people wanted to make film appreciating all that’s good about the local area, as well as highlighting what was bad.
“We wanted to change people’s attitudes towards young people and address the reasons why. And we got a result!”
Thanks to a £3m grant, renovations are now underway on Sandown Town Hall, where a young centre used to exist.
Because of his home schooled background, Jaeden Staley spoke about the Bay Area Youth Project being somewhere to go and mix with other young people. “It’s been a fantastic experience,” he explained.
Jaeden added,
“Sometimes, if you want something to exist you have to make it yourself.”
Big up the youth workers
A special thanks was given to the youth workers involved with the project. Olivia Padina-Gray acknowledged those who had helped her on the journey,
“They are wonderful people who make every experience magical. They’ve given us a platform to be heard and allowed us the opportunity of exploring new avenues.
“I feel like I have been heard. I feel my involvement has enabled my confidence to grow and feel safer in the community. I’ve learned to love the place I live in.”
Interviewing new council Director
The evening also heard from two young women, Tamsin Jackson and Angel Taylor, who had been given the opportunity to sit on the interview panel for the new Director of Children’s Services, Ashley Whittaker.
Kudos to Isle of Wight council for providing this opportunity and also to Julian Wadsworth for ensuring the girls can return six months after Ashley joins the council, to find out how effective he has been.
A shining star
However, the star of the evening was 17-year-old Maria Thacker. She’d been invited on to the stage under the guise of presenting the Spirit of Bay Award. Little did she know that in fact, the award was being presented to her.
Hearing Maria’s inspiring story brought a tear to the eyes of many in the audience,
“This programme has impacted my life massively.”
Like others, Maria was asked what activities she’d like to get involved with. She suggested female boxing with female instructors.
“It worked out perfectly, after training, they put me on a leaders course where I was the only young person and I’m now a boxing tutor.”
After losing her father, Maria said she needed to find something to be passionate about and getting involved with the Bay Area Youth Project opened up a world of opportunities.
Maria has been accepted into the Royal Navy and starts basic training next year.
“This project has helped me get where I am and changed me for the better.”
After thanking everyone along the way for their help she ended with these wise words,
“If you start from nothing and do something, somewhere is better is nowhere .”
Shows what youth work can achieve
Julian returned to the stage for a closing speech, thanking the parent and carers community for their support, as well as the IWC voluntary sector and importantly, funders.
“This evening goes to show what youth work can achieve.”
Congratulations to all those involved in the project, the young people, the staff, leaders and anyone who has supported it along the way.
Here’s to many more evenings like this.
