How to work with and get young, black people genuinely involved in your projects and initiatives
One of your most important challenges - tackled at an entirely new workshop
Gangs, guns, graffiti – is this really all young people growing up in towns, cities and on council estates across the UK can look forward to? If so, what can we do to improve their lives?
This important day addresses one of the most, challenging and intractable problems we face. Newspaper headlines and crime statistics tell an alarming story, and there are no easy answers. In the first three months of 2008 eleven young people met violent deaths in London alone, compared with 27 in the entire previous year.
It’s all very well talking about promoting active citizenship and community cohesion. But if you work on the front line as a community, tenant participation or youth worker you will be only too aware of the very real challenges you’re up against.
So how can you help young people – especially young black people – to overcome the disaffection many of them feel? How can you encourage and motivate them to achieve and improve their own lives? And what kinds of projects and initiatives will promote self-esteem and encourage young people to adopt a more positive mindset? These and other related problems are the focus of this entirely new one day course.
Participants will have the opportunity to share the challenges of working with young people from different minority ethnic communities and to explore successful projects and resources that have genuinely made a difference, and from which important lessons can be learnt. They include:
- The Visual Realities project, which used poetry, drama and multi-media to develop young people’s capacity to challenge and confront racism in their lives and their local community
- The achievements of the Bede Detached Youth Work Project, which successfully worked with young Somalis who felt socially excluded
- Multi-media resources like Homebeats and Trial & Error, which include a wealth of activities to help built young people’s awareness and self-esteem
The day addresses a number of key issues, including:
- How to come up with projects that involve hard-to-reach groups
- How to develop initiatives that will capture the imagination of young people from very different communities – and keep their interest
- How to engage and empower black young people from diverse communities
- How to secure their genuine interest in your projects and ensure that they “own” them
- Ways of gaining their respect and ensuring your own credibility - especially if you are from a different religion, gender or ethnic group
- How to get them to challenge negatives ways of seeing themselves
- How to promote self awareness and self-esteem
- How to promote respect amongst young, black people who may be tempted by the lure of gangs, territorialism or gun culture
- Ways to promote active citizenship
- How to evaluate the progress and results of your projects outcomes in the context of Every Child Matters
Your tutor
Your tutor, Stella Dadzie has many years of experience in this field. She has been round the blocks of youth work and tackling race issues for over 20 years now. Known as one of the UK’s most experienced trainers in this field, her aim is not just to inform delegates, but to motivate and inspire them.
What delegates say about this course
"Stella, as always , was excellent! She was one of the main 'attractions' in attending this course."
Nicky Younosi, West Kent Advisor, Kent County Council
"Unique approach to working with young people informally and formally."
Joy Burnett, Community Involvement Officer, Lewisham Homes