Fairplay young roots project

BACKGROUND INFORMATION

Brief description

Fairplay is a registered charity working in North Derbyshire to improve opportunities for children and young people with disabilities and their families. This includes a range of after school, evening, weekend and holiday playschemes and youth groups available to children and young people aged 0-19.

In 2005, the charity made a successful application to the Heritage Lottery Fund's Young Roots programme. Young Roots offers grants to involve young people in youth-led projects to find out about their heritage, thereby developing skills, building confidence and promoting community involvement. The Fairplay project involved a group of young volunteers with additional needs and disabilities making 'mystery shopper' visits to local heritage sites in the Chesterfield and Bolsover area of Derbyshire. Their evaluation of the sites was used to develop a youth friendly heritage guide and a mobile exhibition to encourage other young people in the area to visit the sites, withan emphasis on accessibility for people with disabilities and sensory impairments. The project also aimed to increase the young people's skills and knowledge and bring heritage to life.

Collaboration

The project's partners included Cresswell Heritage Trust, and Chesterfield and Bolsover Libraries' Local Studies departments.

Funding

The project received £25,850 from the Heritage Lottery Fund for the 18 month project between June 2005 and November 2006.

Staffing

The project was coordinated by Fairplay's young people's development officer. Three sessional workers were employed to support the volunteers.

NATURE OF PROVISION

Which groups of young people does the project work with?

Thirteen young volunteers aged 14-19, all of whom have additional needs and disabilities, have been involved with the Young Roots project. The group consisted of eleven young men and two young women.

How was the need for the project identified?

Young people at the project originally expressed an interest in learning about heritage in their local community and helping other young people with disabilities to access the sites.

How do young people become involved? what, if any, commitment do you ask for?

Young people are referred to Fairplay's wider services by their families, social workers, teachers and youth workers. When the project had secured the lottery funding, Fairplay wrote to all young people who were known to them asking if they wanted to become involved. In terms of time, the young volunteers went on a visit and an evaluation session per month. Most of the young people attended most of the sessions.

What are the main approaches used and activities offered?

The Fairplay Young Roots project aimed to develop young people's appreciation of heritage and its conservation. Young people visited local heritage sites on a monthly basis. They researched which sites they wanted to include by visiting the local tourist information centre. They also went to the local library and interviewed the librarian about how to undertake research.

Young people devised the criteria against which each heritage site would be assessed. These included: 'did we enjoy it?' 'was it educational?' 'was it accessible?' and 'would we recommend it to other young people?'. During the visits, young people took notes and photographs so that they would have information to include in the booklet. After each visit they met to debate their ideas in groups and evaluate each visit, and produce artwork to display on the mobile exhibition.

The leaflet and exhibition were produced primarily to encourage other young people with disabilities in the area to visit and take an interest in heritage. Produced in full colour with detailed information and a grading for each heritage site visited, the leaflet includes information on accessibility, quotes from the young people and contact details for each venue. It has been circulated to local youth groups, local schools, Connexions, and at promotional events. The young people have also spoken to other young people about their experience and encouraged others to visit as well as doing several presentations. The mobile exhibition produced by the young people has been used at youth consultation days, at Fairplay's AGM, and at professional conferences.

How are young people involved in shaping the project/programme?

Young people have driven the project at all stages including coming up with the original idea, deciding which heritage sites to visits, drawing up a form to evaluate and compare each visit, and writing and producing a leaflet describing the visits.

How does the project respond to the needs of different young people, particularly the most marginalised?

According to the Disability Rights Commission, young people with disabilities are more likely to feel isolated than their non-disabled peers. The project has encouraged them to interact with peers, thereby increasing their social networks. Young people with disabilities rarely visit places without their families so the project has also given them an opportunity to be more independent. Some of the young people have subsequently returned to the places visited with their families and have acted as informal guides.

OUTCOMES OF WORK

Does the project contribute to the five Every Child Matters outcomes for young people? If so, which and how?

The project has enabled young people with disabilities to achieve personal and social development and make a positive contribution to the lives of other young people in the local community.

What skills and knowledge do young people gain through their involvement in the project?

Through their volunteering, young people have developed their confidence and independent living skills. They have also gained a range of practical skills including research, map reading, interpretation, interviewing, leaflet design, photography, and project management. Through visiting heritage sites and undertaking research, the young people have gained an understanding of the way people used to live and the rationale behind why such sites were built.

How are young people's progress and achievements measured and recorded?

Young people's achievements were accredited through Millennium Volunteers and attendance certificates provided by Fairplay and awarded at the organisation's Volunteer of the year award ceremony. The leaflet and mobile exhibition were also a tangible demonstration of their achievements.

What has changed for other young people, organisations or the wider community as a result of the project?

Non-disabled young people and young people with disabilities in the area have access to authoritative, impartial information from their peers on heritage sites in Derbyshire;
The wider community, including the heritage sites visited, has gained an understanding of some of the issues faced by young people with disabilities when accessing venues.

MEASURING EFFECTIVENESS

How is the project evaluated and by whom?

As part of the funding criteria, Fairplay was required to submit quarterly evaluations to the Heritage Lottery Fund.

Young people evaluated the project during post-visit meetings and through questionnaires and feedback sessions every four months.

What are the findings of any evaluations to date?

The evaluation has highlighted the value of volunteering for young people with disabilities. The project has learnt lessons about recruiting and retaining young people with disabilities as volunteers including: being clear from the outset as to what young people can gain from volunteering, offering training and support, being youth friendly and making it fun, praising them often, and recognising there may be restrictions on their time. The project has also shown that the views of young people with disabilities can be integrated with those of their non-disabled peers.

Young people found this a very positive and enjoyable experience and reported that they gained a lot from it. It has been the catalyst for many of them to continue their involvement in volunteering.

What changes/developments have occurred as a result of evaluation?

As a result of seeing first hand the positive outcomes of volunteering, Fairplay is seeking to develop further volunteering opportunities for young people.

What has worked well and why?

Young people with disabilities were fully involved at all stages of the development and implementation of the project. This ensured they stayed committed and enthusiastic throughout.

What has been difficult and why?

The project had to monitor closely the monthly breakdown of funding to ensure actual expenditure reflected planned costs.

PARTNERSHIP AND STRATEGIC IMPACT

What other agencies do you work with?

The project sought support from external partners wherever there were gaps in the expertise required. This included working with heritage professionals in other local organisations, such as libraries and local studies departments.

What specific experience and expertise does your project bring to partnership work?

Fairplay has considerable experience of supporting young people with additional needs in learning environments. This helped the young people to feel comfortable accessing services which they may not have encountered before.

Has this partnership resulted in greater collaboration or increased understanding between partners?

Having developed relationships as a result of working together on this programme, Fairplay plans to work with local heritage providers on future projects.

Do you consider this project to be innovative?

Yes, young people with disabilities have been empowered to develop and run a project that benefits all young people in the community.

How do you disseminate the learning from the project?

Two young people from the project have helped to deliver a presentation at the National Youth Agency to encourage other organisations to involve young people as volunteers. The mobile exhibition and leaflet have been widely circulated.

Has the learning from this work influenced wider organisational/service strategies?

Having successfully worked with young people with disabilities as volunteers in this project, Fairplay has since made other applications for funding to develop other volunteering opportunities.

What plans do you have to sustain/develop this work?

The Young Roots project was a time-limited programme that has now ended. However, the principles of including young people with disabilities as volunteers will be incorporated into forthcoming projects.

CONTACT DETAILS:

Sue Green, Young People's Development Coordinator, Fairplay, 91 Sheffield Road, Chesterfield S41 7JH. Tel: 01246 347540 email: office@fair-play.co.uk