Description (EN): Strive is an intensive youth work programme for young people aged 14 to 24 led by Include Youth in partnership with Youth Initiatives, Newstart Education Centre, Northern Ireland Alternatives and Lifford Clonleigh Resource Centre. The cross-community and cross-border programme will engage 1000 young people in a transformative good relations, citizenship and personal development programme between September 2017 and September 2021. As a youth-led programme young people who are ‘Expert by Experience (EBE)’ having come through similar situations will use this experience to lead on design and delivery across the programme sites. They will work in partnership with skilled and experienced youth workers to support and encourage programme participants to take the lead in setting the agenda for the programme.
Strive will be based in locations throughout Northern Ireland and Donegal, with outreach to surrounding areas, delivered in both urban and rural settings. In the North West Strive will be delivered in partnership between Lifford Clonleigh Resource Centre and Include Youth with programming in Lifford, Castlefinn, St Johnston and Milford, and in Derry-Londonderry delivered by Youth Initiatives in the Waterside with outreach to Galliagh. In the North East, Northern Ireland Alternatives will run Strive in the Newtownabbey area with outreach to Carrickfergus. The South East area will be covered by Youth Initiatives from Downpatrick with outreach to Ballynahinch. Newstart Education Centre will run Strive from their base in Lower Falls with a range of outreach provision to other alternative education providers and schools in areas of high social need across Belfast. Finally Youth Initiatives will operate two bases in Belfast in the East and Colin areas of the city.
Expert by Experience volunteers will work with staff in each of the locations to devise recruitment plans based on their local knowledge of the area, hot spots where young people congregate, what their needs are and how these should be met, and come up with a strategy to recruit those who need Strive most. We will target young people who are 14 to 24 years, who are disadvantaged and marginalised, have deep social and emotional needs, and are at risk of becoming involved in violent paramilitary or dissident activity, who may be involved or are on the edge of becoming involved with the care and/or youth justice systems. Many of the participants will be in need of education, training or employment or at risk of becoming early school leavers. As well as detached street work Strive will use social media campaigns and engagement with local youth and community groups, alternative education providers and schools to identify potential participants.
Throughout the programme young people will be involved in a ‘co-design’ process with support from their EBE volunteers and youth workers, to develop plans in relation to the 3 programme outcome areas and how they would like to approach each one so that they can get a sense of ownership, create meaningful change for themselves, their community and wider society and ultimately leading to higher retention rates and a sense of ownership for a programme that they see as being of their own making. Those with a particular interest in co-design will be offered the opportunity to take part in a young leaders group to lead on the design of all cross-community and cross-border programme wide activity.
Once recruited young people will work through a four week induction period where they will get to know their youth workers, take part in assessment activities and build an action plan for the programme. When the main programme commences activity will take place over 3 to 4 days per week within each project site and through outreach activity. A selection of modules will be available for young people to choose from as well as developing their own through the co-design process. Sessions will be led by youth workers with support from EBE volunteers where possible and external speakers and facilitators. Main programme areas will include personal development (resilience, life skills, big issues and mentoring), citizenship (community mapping, restorative justice, rights and participation), and good relations (exploring sectarianism, exploring diversity and racism, engaging with others, and creative culture).
Cross-community and cross-border activities will be built into the programme on a weekly basis to include meeting with other local sites, visiting all of the other Strive sites, hosting the other groups including a tour of the local area, and programme wide activities where all participants will have to opportunity to come together for active, creative and experiential learning activities, celebrating their successes and sharing learning from each site.
Throughout the programme young people will engage in one to one mentoring with an assigned key worker to explore their strengths and aspirations and to begin to plot their exit from the programme through the creation of their transition plan three months before completion. This will look at what they wish to pursue next be that education, training, employment, volunteering, specialist support or something else. They will have the opportunity to find out more about their options and what support is available in their locality so that they have a clear path to follow on exit. They will have the option of receiving transitional support for up to 3 months from leaving and we will offer an open door policy for ad-hoc support as is the ethos of the partnership.
Strive will be governed by two steering groups – a partnership steering group made up of representatives from each partner organisation, the Quality & Impact Body, and external organisations, which will be responsible for the strategic planning and management of Strive, and an EBE steering group who will lead on the design and implementation of programme activity.
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