Youth Services

August at the Vibe saw the Youthy transformed into the seaside. There were activities galore from beach huts to a barbecue and karaoke to cooking. The young people participated in many of the activities and the evening went swimmingly.

Shanie (aged 15) said;

“I enjoyed making a peacock mosaic and also making a beach hut, it was fun.”

Whilst Ben (aged 15) said;

“I enjoyed painting a turtle and watching it come to life, it looked amazing in the end.”

Nicholas (pictured to the right, aged 17) said;

“I enjoyed making a beach hut and all the activities to do with the beach party”

Once you walked up the stairs you were transported to the beach with Palm Trees swaying whilst our young people enjoyed being centre stage as they sang their favourite tunes on the karaoke with our resident DJ, Five Lamps Senior Youth Worker Stuart Green.

Young people could also take part in a variety of beach party themed games including; beach volley ball and limbo dancing. All in all of all the young people did like being by the seaside and had a fantastic time whilst learning and having fun.

The VIBE Youth club is for young people aged 7 to 25 years with physical and learning disabilities. VIBE is open on Tuesday and Friday from 5.30pm to 8.30pm.

Sophie is 21 years old, lives alone with her two year old daughter and is an inspiration to all young mothers out there.

While attending St Patricks Catholic College Sophie achieved good grades in the majority of subjects but admits that because of her lack of confidence and low self-esteem she missed out on numerous opportunities to secure apprenticeships and employment.

This confidence issue continued for some years until Sophie became pregnant and at this point Sophie had to take responsibility.

She began to learn how to drive, and she came to Five Lamps requesting support, sourcing information advice and guidance through the YEI (Youth Engagement Initiative) Programme which is funded by European Social Fund and Hartlepool Council.

Sophie worked with Anne Rookes (Youth Engagement Support) at Five Lamps and attended weekly sessions carrying out job search related activities. She also worked with Anne, to improve her confidence in interviews and job search.

All of her hard work paid off and eventually she secured an apprenticeship in Business Administration at Chandlers Ridge Academy in Nunthorpe. Sophie has Childcare in place for her daughter and the future looks bright.

Sophie said:

“Without the support of Anne Rookes, Five Lamps Youth Employment Support Worker, I wouldn’t have had the confidence and knowledge to move forward, thank you for all the support.”

The Tees Valley Pathways and Routeways programmes form part of the Youth Employment Initiative (YEI). This is part-funded by the European Social Fund through the 2014-2020 European Structural and Investment Funds Growth Programme in England.

The program aims to support young people across the Tees Valley aged 15-29 who are unemployed and/or not in educations, employment or training until the end of July 2018.

Displaying the Talents and Determination of Fifteen Young People

After 10 weeks of hard work, 15 young people from the Five Lamps Youthy are now proud to announce their silk paintings, which are hanging proudly on display in the glass windows of The Youthy.

The silk paintings show the talents and determination of 15 young people; aged between 11-18 who attend The Youthy’s Senior Club on a Monday and Thursday evening.

The young people worked alongside, Shirley Wells who is also known as ‘Funky Junk art.’ Shirley worked with the young people on a Monday evening over a 10 week period, to help them learn how to; research,draw, outline and paint.

At the beginning of the project the young people informed Shirley that they would like to create a display window in the Youthy which showcases the landmarks of the local area. However, they decided they wanted to show the landmarks which meant something to them and the ones they recognise and make them proud of the area such as; the Five Lamps, the river, football fields and the spit fire.

To create the display, all of the young people worked together to; input their ideas, research the background of the landscapes and then to draw and paint the display, which can now be seen by anyone who passes the Youthy on Thornaby Road.

Darren Iveson, Senior Youth Worker said;

“It has been a vision for three years but now we have finally got there, we are proud of the hard work from Shirley,and our young people who have been involved and also our staff who helped support this project. We now have silk paintings of landmarks from the Thornaby area that our young people have created and are proud of and can be seen for many years to come hanging in the window of the Youthy.”

Halloween is a busy time of the year for our Five Lamps Youth Workers and Partners, especially in Thornaby Community where the Police and Anti-Social Behaviour officers are trying to reduce crime within Thornaby

Five Lamps Youth Workers have been working in partnership with Youth Direction and other agencies, to develop a coordinated approach to engage young people involved in anti-social behaviour and low level criminal behaviour into more meaningful positive activities.

The POSBO Project was introduced in March 2014 and explores ways of reducing young people’s involvement in Anti-Social Behaviour. To which the project aims to recognise their positive achievements and offers them time and support to overcome their problems and issues. After numerous meetings a short list of 35 young people’s names were identified as a referral to the POSBO Project at The Youthy, as they were known as being a part of a larger group. Most of the young people in this group were either receiving Anti-Social Behaviour letters or were gathering in public places and were perceived to be causing a nuisance.

Over the cause of the year the Youth Workers have developed a tool in which the young people who have been involved in some kind of community breach or were in the age category 11-19 year olds could attend the POSBO session once a week on a Thursday evening 7:00pm till 9:00pm. The hard work from the staff involved and the commitment from the young people have now made great strides to move away from the negative behaviour.

Each week the Youth Workers engage with the young people who attend and discuss their interests and find out which positive activities could sway them away from Anti-Social behaviour.

The feedback has identified they have a great interest in; music, in particular, urban rap and MC which had inspired the idea of having the young people involved in a music workshop. In 2014, Darren Iveson, Senior Youth Participation Worker invited; Richie Kenyon who is the owner of PUI (Positive Urban Inspiration) to The Youthy to discuss this idea.

Darren, Richie and the supporting partners came up with the idea to create a night dedicated to urban rap and mc, with acts such as George Emery known as Young Gee who the young people see as an inspiration.

The music event occurred on Friday 30 October 2014 which is also known as Mischief Night (Mischief Night is known as a night where young people engage in pranks and minor vandalism) The aim of the night was to make the community a safer place for at least one night.

There were 70 young people who attended the night, which was a fantastic turn out and the response of the young people was tremendous. Furthermore the feedback from the local Chief Inspector Darren Becket was positive as the high attendance to the event had indicated a reduced in Anti-Social Behaviour and low level criminal behaviour by 25% as statistics show from the previous year.

Due to all of the hard work from youth workers and partners this event proved to be a successful night in 2014, so this year The Youthy aimed to build on their success and create a bigger night aiming to bring all of the young people from Thornaby together which was to be held on the evening of Mischief Night 2015.

After numerous meetings with partners, the team decided to give the young people of Thornaby a similar night but better. Darren Iveson, Senior Youth Participation Worker contacted Richie Kenyon from PUI to see if he could support this night for a second year and Darren and staff spoke to a number of young people with regards to the event.

The feedback concluded they would like to see local MC Banks perform at their music evening and after staff contacting Mc Banks, he agreed to perform on the night, alongside six other local artists who Richie had contacted.

This year the event was advertised across the whole of Thornaby to offer all young people a free Music Spooktacular evening at The Youthy, using various methods of advertising such as; Facebook, posters, leaflets and word of mouth.

On the evening of the night, the queue outside of The Youthy was growing continuously and the young people were eager to see the headlining acts and supporting acts such as; Young Gee, MC Banks and Trix MC.

Darren Iveson, Senior Youth Participation Worker said:

“The Spooktacular night, had a great response with 90 young people attending from across Thornaby, for the first time the young people came together and formed a youth community. The overall aim of the night was to reduce the Anti-Social Behaviour and to make Thornaby a safer place and to help support our local Police officers, and to protect our community. The POSBO Project still carries on as we stride forward to sway the young people away from Anti-Social Behaviour”

October is National Breast Cancer Awareness Month, and to help raise awareness through our Youthy Jodie Hall, Five Lamps Youth Participation Worker, organised a Pink Week during Monday 19 October – Friday 23 October 2015

Pink week was hosted across the Youthy’s three youth clubs; VIBE, All-stars and Senior Youth Club. The Youthy team asked all of the young people to wear something pink in aid of the great cause and to take part in various fundraising activities.

The aim of the week was to raise a target of £100.00 to donate towards Breast Cancer Awareness. In order to reach this target; the Youthy staff, parents, young people and carers all took part in some amazing activities. The activities included; decorating cupcakes; nail art; guess how many sweets are in the jar and by selling jewellery.

Each jewellery item sold during the week, had been handmade by the young people across all sessions and included; bracelets, earrings, bookmarks and necklaces, all with the breast cancer ribbon charm or the breast cancer ribbon bead.

Everyone who has attended has been more than supporting in helping the Youthy during Breast Cancer Awareness week and the Youthy successfully raised just over £120.00 which will be donated through the Cancer Research Website.

Jodie Hall, Five Lamps Youth Participation Worker said:

“We give massive thanks to everyone who has helped make us not only reach our target but smash through it by taking part in this week, and much like our staff all of the young people, carers and parents have helped in every way possible”

The Five Lamps Youthy VIBE session is held twice a week, the session is for young people with physical and learning disabilities

The Youthy offers a variety of activities for the young people and their carers to be involved in such as; a climbing wall, arts and crafts, cooking, themed discos and games.

The Youthy are happy to share an amazing achievement for Amy Lonsdale who attends the Youthy VIBE session. Amy Lonsdale, who attends each week, took a particular interest in Jigsaws. She spends the majority of her evening at the Youthy completing jigsaw puzzles.

Amy would complete a 1000 piece jigsaw in an average time of 3-4 weeks; her interest has even encouraged other young people to attempt and to get involved with completing various puzzles.

One week, Amy decided to take on a new challenge and complete a 1000 piece jigsaw, but this time with much smaller pieces than usual. With a great deal of patience and determination, Amy completed the puzzle in 8 months.

Due to the length of time it took to complete the puzzle and the determination, Amy put in to it; there was no way the Youthy team were going to see the puzzle broken up. Therefore, it was framed and hung up on the Youthy wall.

Amy’s carer said:

“This is a great achievement for Amy who has autism. Amy can usually complete a 1000 piece jigsaw at the Youthy in 3 – 4 weeks, but this one was different as the pieces of the jigsaw were tiny. It was extremely hard to complete, and I am so proud of her.”

Amy said:

“I felt excited and extremely relieved when I had finished it. It took me about 8 months, but I stopped and started due to circumstances which meant that I couldn’t attend The Youthy. Occasionally I felt it wasn’t going anywhere. Some weeks I couldn’t put any pieces in due to the complexness of it, as it is made up of miniature pictures. I spent 2 – 3 hours every week on it!”

Steven has been attending the Five Lamps Youthy since a young age

At first he was attending the; All Stars session which is for young people aged 7-10 years, this was relevant to his age group at the time and he attended the session twice a week

He has since moved on to the seniors group (for young people aged 11-18), the Youthy keeps Steven off the streets and out of trouble.

Steven was mentored by Senior Youth Worker Darren Iveson at the Youthy, who realised Steven was easily influenced by other young people and could often find himself getting into trouble with his behaviour. He also noted Stevens’s passion for football and got him involved in sports activities being delivered locally, to help keep him occupied.

Darren also signposted Steven to Anne Rookes who offers one to one support working in partnership with Stockton Borough Council on the YES Project (Youth Engagement Support) Anne works intensively with young people to move them forward into learning and employment.

Initially Steven was not interested in engaging with Anne, until Anne found a training provider that suited Steven’s needs. The Programme was Street League (Changing Lives through Football) this is an academy programme based in the Southland Centre in Middlesbrough delivering; Football coaching, matches & fitness, Employability workshops, one to one careers advice, functional skills and sport.

The training provider also offered opportunities to gain qualifications in employability and also to access work placements and employability opportunities.

Steven travelled five days a week from his home in Thornaby to the training provider, catching two buses and ensuring he was always arriving on time. He was growing daily in confidence and maturity. The programme ran over 12 weeks and by the end of the programme Anne Rookes was invited to the last day presentation event.

At the presentation event, Steven was presented with the award for the; Most Outstanding Student. He achieved this award as he was the young person who had achieved the most throughout the twelve week programme.

Anne Rookes said:

“I had kept a close eye on Stevens’s attendance, attitude and commitment, always making him aware of the support the Yes Project and Five Lamps have available. This is a huge success story a young man who attended The Youthy with no confidence and some real behaviour issues, to where he is today, Well done!”

After leaving school in 2011, with below average qualifications, and regretting not taking school more seriously

Callum took the decision to attend Stockton Riverside College where he completed a Level 2 qualification in Uniformed Services.

Callum wanted to secure a career in the army and unsure of where to turn for advice and guidance, he came to Five Lamps.

It was identified that Callum was eligible for one to one support from Anne Rookes who works on the Yes Project alongside Stockton Borough Council. (Youth Engagement Support), offering support to young people who are living in the Stockton Borough who are currently NEET (not in Education, Employment or Training).

After lengthy discussion and soul searching with Callum, he took the decision against a career in the army. Callum said he “needed to find employment”and waiting for steps to enable him to move forward towards the army was a lengthy process; he really wanted an income.

Callum applied for an apprenticeship opportunity with Dobson’s Glass Company in Stockton, the interview was a success and Callum began his employment in January 2015.

Anne Rookes has kept in contact with Callum on a regular basis due to the roller-coaster ride Callum found himself on trying to find the right path. Anne said:

“ I have visited Callum at his new workplace and I was delighted to see how much he had settled into his new role, and how well he was getting on with the other colleagues”

Callum said:

“I am grateful for the one to one support I received from the YES Project and Five Lamps, things are really good for me right now, thanks to Five Lamps”

Kulthida is a 40 year old mother of 5, who lives in Middlesbrough

She has a very strong work ethic and originally from Thailand, she was determined to develop her English to improve her job opportunities and to support her children with their integration into school life.

Kulthida is a very talented lady; a gifted artist, beauty therapist and seamstress. With all of these skills she hoped to secure work quickly. However; due to family commitments this became increasingly difficult.

During this difficult time suddenly Kulthida’s world was turned upside down and she was left on her own to raise her children, further tragedy befell her when she suffered a personal family bereavement.

This had a huge impact on Kulthida and her children; however through Kulthida’s tenacity, her unstoppable will power and spirit she was determined to make the best for her children.

Being unable to secure work, she did not know who to turn to. She discussed this with her Adviser, Kym McLaren, at Middlesbrough Job Centre who referred Kulthida to Five Lamps.

Kulthida was referred to the Family Wise project, which is funded by the European Social Fund to support families with multiple problems.

She worked with Jane Simpson, Five Lamps’ Family Coach to create an action plan tailored around her strengths, aspirations and the challenges she faced.

Jane assured Kulthida she would support her through the Family Wise project to achieve her dream of becoming a self- employed dress maker.

As a dressmaker and experienced seamstress Kulthida is able to create unique, bespoke garments by using either the customer’s choice of material or Kulthida’s exquisite materials and colours.

Jane referred Kulthida to Martin Fletcher at Enterprise Revolution, who provided coaching and practical support on self-employment; business plan; cash flow forecast and HMRC revenue guidance.

Jane provided further information to Kulthida on the New Enterprise Allowance which enables the unemployed to progress to self-employment, whilst receiving financial support for the first six months of their business.

On the 1 August 2014, Kulthilda started trading and achieved her dream to secure her own dressmaking business. Her Business ‘Minthra Clothing Alteration & Design Service’ is located on Grange Road, Middlesbrough.

Kulthida’s business is growing from strength to strength and she explained:

“I am so grateful to Five Lamps and Enterprise Revolution for assisting me to achieve my dream. I could not have done it without them”

Family Wise is funded from the European Social Fund support for families with Multiple Problems contract.

In August 2014, Kerrianne Covell auditioned for the X Factor television Series 2014

Successfully along with five other contestants she made it through to one of the judge’s houses; Cheryl Fernandez – Versini over in the South of France.

Unfortunately Kerrianne did not make it to the Live Shows, but that was not the end of Miss Covells career.

Over the next few months Kerrianne started performing all over the country, and in December 2014 made a visit to the VIBE night at Five Lamps the Youthy.

The VIBE night at the Youthy is for young people aged 7 to 25 years with physical and learning disabilities. The night has activities for the young people which includes; a climbing wall, arts and crafts, games consoles, trips out and discos.

The Young people and carers enjoyed the visit from Kerrianne who after having a tour of the building – which she thought was amazing! Went upstairs, and greeted everybody one to one.

The young people had their photos taken with Kerrianne and also received signed personal notes.

After all of the autographs, Kerrianne was able to enjoy the Vibe night, where she had fun dancing with the young people, having a chat and even had a certain young man sing to her.

Kerrianne told the Youthy team she had had so much fun during her visit and that she would love to return in the future.

Kerrianne’s Mother, Pam commented on the Youthy Facebook Page:

“Kerrianne loved every minute of it!”