Video: Supported Lodgings at east to west

Watch this video to find out more about east to west's work supporting homeless young people.

Wild West Fun Day in Egham Hythe

The Pooley Green Youth Team (a group of young people from Pooley Green and Egham Hythe) have organised a WILD WEST FUN DAY for young people and families in the community, where there is very little for young people to do.

This project has been made possible through the partnership working of east to west, Surrey County Council's Youth Development Service and Youth Justice Service, local councillors and Surrey Police.

Please see the poster below/attached. We would be very grateful is you would help us by sharing this blog or printing the poster and displaying it in your shop/building/notice board/front window. You could even put it on your website, Facebook or Twitter page!

WILD WEST FUN DAY
1-4pm Sat 4th June
Hythe Community Centre
& Rochester Road Playing Field
Rodeo bull, hog roast, shooting gallery, bouncy ‘saloon’, cactus lassoing, tombola, refreshments and more...
!!! FREE ENTRY !!!
Activities 50p. Fancy dress optional.
Organised by the ‘POOLEY GREEN YOUTH TEAM’
Contact Paul (east to west) for more details on 01784 438 007
Organised with help from local youth workers, councillors and Police.
All proceeds go towards the Pooley Green Youth Project.

Please do consider coming along to supporting the event. This is the first event the group have organised and we hope to organise more in the future. We would love to have your support.

We would like to thank Runnymede Borough Council for allowing us to use the hall and field, and our various sponsors who have generously donated prizes for the tombola.

Finally, if you know any young people who live in, or spend a lot of time in, the Egham Hythe or Pooley Green area who might like to join the Pooley Green Youth Team, please let me know.

VIDEO: Schools work at east to west

Watch this video to find out what our Schools Relational Support Workers get up to.

They work in Magna Carta , Thomas Knivett, Charters and Matthew Arnold.

Free 'young people and community' workshop

Dear friend/colleague,

Please find below details of fantastic workshop which Surrey Police run to enable youth workers, teachers, Police, community leaders, local residents and parents to identify and support young people at risk of becoming isolated and turning to crime. I attended this workshop in February of this year and I feel that it is really valuable to anyone who believes that protecting young people and our communities is important.

The workshop is open to anyone who would like to find out more about this issue and is relevant to all communities, not just Egham/Runnymede/Surrey, so please pass this email on to anyone you know who may be interested in attending.

Many thanks.

Paul

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Surrey Police have been working for some time on the issue of vulnerable young people and how they can be influenced, or coerced into criminality.  This is an increasing problem amongst many communities.

We, along with the police, would like to invite you to a presentation which aims

• To help you recognise and support vulnerable young people
• How to reduce the risk of young people becoming isolated and turning towards extreme views
• How to reduce the risk of extreme views turning to violence
• Focus on how to reduce wider prejudice and discrimination

We have seen this presentation and believe it to be of benefit to all who work with young people so we should like to invite you to attend to see for yourself.

We shall be holding this presentation at 7.30pm (for no longer than 2 hours) on Wednesday 11/05/11 at The Village Centre, Englefield Green (http://www.villagecentre.org.uk/).

Please come along to join in the discussion.

This is a free workshop, but please RSVP to paul@easttowest.org.uk so we have an idea of numbers.

Many thanks.

Fancy a walk?

FANCY A WALK??

On the 28th May 2011 we would like you to join us on a sponsored walk.

Walking along the Thames path from The Magna Carta School, which is the starting not only of our walk but also of east to west’s youth work in the area to Alexandra Gardens in Windsor which is the town and borough that east to west is expanding its work into.

Alexandra Gardens is where we will rest our legs and have a picnic. We are asking everyone to bring their own food and drink but we will transport it to the finish line for you so we can all eat together.

The walk is roughly seven miles long which will take between 2-4 hrs depending on your pace and there will be a few stop off points along the route so you can rest, have a drink, use toilet facilities, or just look at the scenery.  Don’t forget to wear your comfy practical shoes. (Unfortunately due to health and safety reasons no dogs are allowed on the walk and the feeding of any animals is not permitted. Sorry)

Date: 28^th May

Times: Start 9.30am at The Magna Carta School        Finish Alexandra Gardens Windsor 12.30/1

Minimum age: 15 years old if you are coming on your own. Children 14 years old or younger must be accompanied by an adult

Sponsorship: You are asked to try and raise at least £30pp or £50 if you sign up as a family

Our aim is to have a great day out and to try and reach our target of £6000. This total will help us deliver more one to one relational support sessions, group sessions or help with supported lodgings.

There are only a hundred places available so sign up now, receive your free east to west Egham 2 Windsor t-shirt, and get your sponsors on board!!

To book your slot please email Christine@easttowest.org.uk, who will reply to you with further details.

See you on the 28th May!

Youth work, youth work and more youth work!

Sorry I haven’t updated my blog for a few months – so here’s an update for you! Since starting in October I have had a busy time supporting a local Council run youth club (40 to 50 young people attend each week), supported a Prince’s Trust course for young people who need extra help finding work, and worked with the local secondary school through being an ‘extra pair of hands’ for some school activities such as anti-bullying week and going on a number of trips with them. I have also got out and about around Egham Hythe and Pooley Green as much as possible, on Police patrols, through ‘street youth work’ and co-running an after-school football activity for young people in a local park with one of the PCSOs.

The highlight of my time so far? Being part of a multi-agency project to establish facilities for young people in Egham Hythe where none exist at present! Soon after I started I co-hosted a consultation meeting where local young people were empowered to let us know what they would like to have provided in the area. This was a really positive meeting where we got loads of great feedback from the young people and it also enabled me to get to know some of them better. We are now planning to get some of the young people to help us run regular ‘events’ for the young people as a way of providing them with something constructive to do and to create opportunities to engage with the young people and find out more about what they want.

A big part of my work involves one to one relational support work with young people who are getting in trouble with the Police. I am currently working with a young person called Sam who is homeless and unemployed. I am helping Sam find somewhere to live, supporting him in job hunting and in getting some more qualifications. It was really encouraging to overhear Sam on the phone to a friend who I could tell was a bit wary of me, saying that I had really helped him and I was ‘OK’.

A girl I met through a project I work on got in trouble with the Police for the first time over something she did while she was drunk and she was really scared about what was going to happen. I talked her through possible scenarios and the process Police and courts would be going through. She didn’t really know what to expect and was imagining the worst, so I was able to re-assure her and she was really grateful for the support and advice I gave her.

I am currently writing an ‘employability’ course for young people, which we hope to start after Easter. I am really enjoying my work and am looking forward to using this course and the other projects I am part of to get to know the young people better and earn their trust and respect so that I can help more of them find a more positive path for their lives.

(Please note that names have been changed to protect confidentiality).

Partnership working - exciting times!

I am now into week 8 of my role as Police Community Youth Pastor (PCYP) at East to West (www.easttowest.org.uk) in Egham, Surrey and I am becoming more and more impressed by the amount of partnership working around Runnymede - the North Western Borough of Surrey.

This week I have been to Runnymede Borough Council's 'Single Group for Young Peoples Services' meeting and the Community Incident Action Group (CIAG) meeting. It is really inspiring to see how so many different agencies (including YDS, YJS, the Police, Social Services, County Council, Borough Council and others) are working together and pooling their resources to improve the community.

On Wednesday afternoon I had coffee with a guy who works with a Christian youth work charity in a neighbouring borough, which has a very similar purpose to East to West. It was really exciting to hear about what they're doing, but even more exciting to see how the conversation developed and the excitement about working together to improve and multiply our work. In the evening I helped lead a meeting with local young people to find out how they feel about their local area and to discuss what facilities they'd like to see in their area. I was very pleasantly surprised by the number of young people that attended, and especially by the positive way they engaged with the agencies in attendance (YJS, YDS, Police, myself and other community members).

I feel like I have arrived at a really exciting time for youth work in the area. There seem to be lots of great ideas bubbling up in different areas, but they are all starting to combine. I just hope they come to fruition.

Keep reading this blog for further updates, and don't forget to check out my Twitter page (www.twitter.com/eghampcyp).

Also, East to West are now recruiting for a PCYP in Windsor! Contact me for more details or for an application form.