This short, friendly course could be right up your street (literally). So, what could you get out of it?
What’s going on?
It’s a practical course that starts by asking what’s already going on in your community and then moves on to what you’d like to see happen. We explore the possibilities and the practicalities, looking at things like session design and health and safety as well as how to work with groups. In the final session you present your polished idea for a new community activity to a ‘Dragons Den’ of experts with the funds and skills to help make your project happen, if they like it.
Something different
Every time we’ve run this course people get something different out of it. Recently in Dalton course members gained a real insight into what’s possible. The dynamic duo of Mildred and Maxine (known as M and M!) created the idea of ‘Tell It’ champions, where shops and businesses would act as human signposts letting local people know about events and social groups in their local area.
Also in Dalton the Take Ten group’s personal experience of mental health problems turned into a desire to help young people who are waiting on long waiting lists for help and support. The group have created a helpful, supportive drop-in group to share what they know.
It can solve problems
The course has also helped to solve problems and tap people into ideas and networks that they didn’t know existed. For example Clair and Emma help to run a community centre and when thinking about what was possible there, were heard to say sadly that, “We haven’t got the space to play sport”. Due to our work with the StreetGames Network, we know it’s possible to make sports and activities happen in community spaces of any size. So we’ve hooked Clair and Emma up with a StreetGames workshop that will help them to find out what sports and activities they CAN run in their community centre.
Please get in touch to talk to us about running a course or similar training in your area.
The course is usually four three-hour sessions. The full title is Developing Community Activities for Youth at Risk. It is a Level 1 qualification and a great starting point for volunteers and coaches working in deprived communities.