The Isle of Wight could become a ‘safe haven’ through proactive youth work, including sports and other activities.
Julian Wadsworth MBE spoke to Shanklin Town Council last week about the resilience role he and his team play in the Bay area, helping young people change their ways.
The team’s focus is early intervention and prevention, getting young people to show respect in the community; involved in positive activities and, where possible, back into education.
As a part of Community Action Isle of Wight, Mr Wadsworth is the youth intervention development officer and has been helping the Bay sort pockets of trouble in the last 2 years.
Shanklin Town Council has this year given £10,000 to fund Mr Wadsworth’s work along with contributions from Lake Parish Council and Sandown Town Council.
In the past three months, the team received funding from the Ministry of Justice to intensively work with young people who were at risk of being excluded from school; involved in anti-social behaviour; low-level criminal activity; or exploitation.
Mr Wadsworth said they had already received positive feedback from the MOJ over the project and its outcomes.
The scheme in the Bay had 15 youths complete the programme — with an average age of 13 — and involved workers visiting them at home and in the community, setting up training and education around risks affecting young people.
In the last year, he said the local policing team reduced anti-social behaviour across the Bay but the problem he saw was if youths were coming through the system anxious, angry and with additional learning needs not being met, the chances are they will end up involved in risk-taking behaviours.
Mr Wadsworth said peer-on-peer youth violence, exploitation and drug-related harm can be stopped through communication and collaboration but it was still complex and more could be done.
He said:
“If we don’t start working together, we are going to continue to have problems that will affect all our communities.”
Mr Wadsworth said his ambition is to make the Island a safe haven and working with the Island’s Youth Forum had shed light on young people’s concerns and feelings.
He and his team run sporting sessions — including boxing and golf— to engage youths, and will in the future, teach employability skills to help in the world of work.
They will be inventing youth clubs next,,……
I can’t quite make my mind up if his naivety is concerning or amusing.
We had all this and more until the IOW council closed down and made street workers redundant – result higher youth crime and doubling of kids in care and in need of protection – caused by IWC and at greater expense to tax payers and long term damage to kids and families – and education.
£10,000 is a pitiful amount given the waste of money on other things. Getting people out in the community really does work. The benefits are tangible and easily measured. It always works. Good for the kids and good for the people who don’t have to suffer ASB.