youth work explored.

Value

2008-02-15T05:51:00.000-08:00

It's been a while but I'm back and settled in now. The whole experience was well worth while and I would totally recommend it for any one. If there is one thing I can pull away from the whole time is that of the importance of Value, a constant theme that ran through the whole of my time and was an important issue for all I spoke with.

The value we put on ourselves determines the value we can place on others.

The whole time has reminded me of what is important, why we do what we do and what we do is at the heart of Prospex. It has given me new ideas and a renewed energy to be what God has called me to be. The young people of our world are so highly important and need to be made to feel valued. We need to change the way we and others perceive them and start to welcome them back as a major part of our Society. They have so much to offer and we can learn so very much from them. Lets try to change, lets try to be different because I reckon a little bit of difference can go a very long way and with any luck in time we might see a totally new and exciting community that doesn't exclude but includes.

Let's keep up the good work and continue to fight for the rights of our young people and in the end make the difference. There will be more to come so make sure you watch this space!! But for now laters!!!

The blog will appear shortly as part of the web site and will be a Prospex blog where different workers will contribute.

Snow, rain and sleet.

2007-12-14T02:13:00.000-08:00

Unfortunately the Bronx didn't come off today the weather was really bad would you believe snow rain and sleet all and all a very cold day. I may well get there tomorrow but we will see. The one thing I have realised tho and don't really understand is why on earth we are always so intent on pigeon holing people, putting them into categories we seem to have a fixation today to make sure that people have a name either by class, ability or back ground.
I think this is really unfair and almost definitely contributes to the break down we see in our community today, it breeds disunity and disorder meaning very often that people end up with a very low self esteem or self worth. This often makes them out casts, not able to move or even breath in many ways, making it very difficult for individuals to change their circumstances or positions and having a belief that they can. Take the Bronx as an example, people put in one place and painted with the same brush, treated in a particular way because of where they are from, the salary bracket or what is perceived, of what they are about because of where they live or their background. We can't always be personally responsible for this and so this very much need to challenge this idea and attitude now a days for crying out loud are we living in the dark ages or what????!!!!!
I believe it is only going to change if we take a personal responsibility to individually check how we are and how we treat others around us. This experience has really challenged me to see that it's not just a Cally thing or British thing, no in fact it a world wide attitude that needs to be challenged and changed and so if anything to day I challenge you.
How do you treat your next door neighbour or that person you always catch on the tube that is a little different or smells? Be Different make a stand, make a change and in time, together we can make a difference!!!!!!!!!!!!

Goddard Riverside Community Centre.

2007-12-12T08:00:00.000-08:00

Most projects over here seem to be mainly funded by the Government they seem to be (that is the government) much more pro-active than our own, placing a lot of value in the earlier years of education. Again most projects out here seem to be based around Education and getting young people into further education.
I went and observed an after schools programme that had 42 young people attending called Goddard Riverside Community Centre in NY, it is a mentoring programme and can you believe that they have 42 volunteers involved so that being one mentor per young person. Fantastic hey!!!!????? we can learn so very much in lots of ways but to be honest they are very very much behind in other ways.
I managed top walk into this club with really no questions or checks asked about who I was or really what I wanted to do, other than a short introduction.
I've been invited back so will return tomorrow and possibly Thurs to observe another programme. As far as I'm aware they do do checks on employees but there is no law stating they have to..????!!!!

The Bronx.

2007-12-09T16:26:00.000-08:00

I Met Rob this afternoon and he showed me around his neighbourhood which was fantastic to see.
Interestingly enough it felt much more like home for me than I thought it might. There were a lot of social housing blocks and most earn an average wage of $15,000 a year which is very low, We talked and walked and it was so very interesting to hear that in spite of being what 4000 miles apart from our youngsters at home the story sounded so familiar indeed, the area in so many ways over the years has been forgotten and left although there was a real sense of community with a real sense of low self worth and despondency that hung on every corner. On most corners you would find a graffiti shrine for one youth or other who had either been lost to the law, crime or just a sad accident but never the less remembered and loved by many, we were able to go into one of the many blocks that stood tall and the same situation remained, stairwells that smelt of urine, drug and alcohol remnence left and disgaurded. There is really so much I could say and I want to tell all but just cant find the words right now, I have been invited back on Thursday so will see more and take more photos. I will write more then and find the words so until then.......

The Dome

2007-12-07T00:04:00.000-08:00

I went to see a Project I mentioned today called the 'Dome'. had a really fantastic time and met a group of young people they were working with. We managed to break the language barrier and got to find out what life was like for them and surprise surprise not alot different to the lives of our young people, they laughed at the thought that the Bronx was in any way bad and in actual fact said that it was Brooklyn & Harlem that were bad!!. so guess where I want to go!!!!!!!!! They have the same attitude and problems/relationships as our young people have with the police. They also have the same daily struggles as our young people have in fact there were very few differences at all. (Even in the way they look) They have given me a DVD and a book of NY slang they have put together. It was so very helpful and interesting. One of their workers has offered to show me round the Bronx and his manor that I'm very much looking forward to we will do that on Sunday. I then hope to be able to work on building some more contacts. Being the ideas person that I am I can't help but think it would be such a great idea and opportunity to look at doing some sort of exchange programme that we then can build upon. It is so important for our youngsters get to understand about the lives of other young people in other parts not only of the country but hey why not the world. It was so interesting and a challenge to hear the stories and lives of others very rewarding !!!!!!!!!!

Fairbridge Trust

2007-12-06T12:55:00.000-08:00

One of the most exciting projects I've observed over my journey of the country was that of the Fairbridge Trust. Working in 15 of the most deprived areas of the UK providing a variety of long term personal support and challenging activities that bring about change in the lives of many young people. It was very refreshing to see that the organisation was very fresh and was always looking for new and innovative ways of reaching many young people who would possibly other wise miss out on the much needed support and input. They very much focus on the individual and their needs they are prepared to think outside of the box and this was extremely exciting to see.
Two things really stuck out at me in what I observed that I think set them very much apart from many other project and in the main contribute to their success. The first being their professionalism in the way they are structured and organised along with there methods and processes they impart in their contact work. They showed a genuine heart for the work. Secondly and almost more importantly it was so very obvious to see that they were passionate about what they were doing and the young people they came into contact with.

Passion must be the most important element to the work is it not? If we don't have passion then what do we have? Gordon Ramsey said on his most recent Hells Kitchen Programme the other day that Passion was the most important thing that we can have. Perhaps it doesn't matter really what its for but it's the driving force behind what we do.
Are you passionate about what you do???

Message Trust.

2007-12-05T15:56:00.000-08:00

One of the Projects I really wanted to see on my travels was that of the Message Trust set up by Andy Horthorn originally as a Schools Project taking Christ to young people through music. It has aways struck me a project that thinks a little differently and lets say 'Outside the box' they have over recent years developed an exciting project called 'Eden' that is designed to take the gospel to communities in a very practical way by moving a team of willing, passionate and committed people into a specific area of need to work, get along side and build relationships with the residents supporting them and addressing the issues with practical help and support. This isn't for everybody and takes a real heart, courage and belief in a God that will provide our every need. We are called to be the most effective we can be as Christians and its through the practical application of our faith that will allow us to be exactly that!!! Isnt it??

New York New York.

2007-12-05T15:51:00.000-08:00

Well i'm here!!

I have arrived and can hardly belive that I'm actually here. I am very excited about my next two weeks of exploration. I came accross a project today Called the 'Dome Project ' that for the last 35 years has been working with young people who are at risk of being put into the system because of the crime they are involved in or the lack of education they have been able to access. I know very little about them but have been invited to meet their workers later this week. It was totally unplanned but perhaps divine intervention who knows? I will keep you posted to what happens and what I find out, they have also put me in touch with some other projects so its all looking very exciting and totally worth while.

I will also add some blogs on some of the projects I visited in the UK so keep checking.

Humbled, challenged and thoughts confirmed.

2007-11-27T13:38:00.000-08:00

Its difficult to really know where to begin I have seen a lot different things met some very interesting people and discovered a fair few things not only about myself but more importantly about the work we have been doing at Prospex. One of the most valuable experiences for me over this last stage of my quest has not only been to share my heart with others but more importantly to discover that there are many more out there who share the same passion and have a huge heart for the young people of our world. I’m totally embarrassed to say that I didn’t think that I would find that. It was in my arrogance and tunnel vision attitude that I thought we were the only ones who cared, who had the passion, the ideas, the drive and the commitment to quality. Yet I am so pleased to say that I have been very much humbled to discover that of course we are not on our own and in actual fact there are many more out there the unsung heroes of our profession that are working exceptionally hard to make our world and the lives of young people they come into contact with better through the two P’s Perseverance and Persistence.
Yes ok so we do it differently, we have our unique way of expression, not all of them sit comfortably or are necessarily the way I’d do it if I was honest, but hey does that make it wrong? Not at all, of course not. That would be stupid! The important thing for me is to realise our uniqueness of projects and the individual young people and that we are living in a very dynamic and creative world and there for many of our young people are the same. You can no longer use the term one size fits all, we are all different and how then can we then expect to relate to our young people through those old dated ideas and ways that in their time may have worked so well, yet in this modern world have very little effect.
How can we expect issues and problems to go away or be healed without looking at the bigger picture the route cause and then effectively addressing each in turn. To be honest with you I don’t think its good enough today to just deal with a behaviour and be satisfied that the problem has gone away because the question still remains, Why? And it is only when you address that question will you effectively change a life for the long term.
A lot of the projects I have come across in my journey are working very hard to do exactly that effectively changing lives for the better and it was a great joy and encouragement to see. There were to main themes running through all of them and when I spoke to young people and workers alike they all said the same things. The two main principles for them, the secrets of their success and the reason many young people where coming back to projects was for the Time Spent with them and the Relationships that they had managed to build. So, tell me something I didn’t know? I hear you say well, yes it is not rocket science it is simple. The question I ask you then is this Why do we not do more of it? Why are we so bad at it? And how can we encourage more to stand up and do it?
Next week I go to the States where I will be hopefully discovering more about myself, the work we are doing and how we can be doing it better after all our young people deserve it!! Don’t they?
I’ll keep you posted!

Struggles and looking forward.

2007-11-19T02:52:00.000-08:00

I don’t know about you but I have always been somebody who struggled to take time off but am not entirely sure why. It’s not really that I’m completely dedicated but perhaps more that I absolutely love what I do and I can’t stand to feel left out and not part of things!!!!!

To be honest with you the thought of taking these ten weeks off terrified me in lots of ways but it’s something I know I have needed to do for a while now, to give my team a break and to stop them from going mad. I know I can be difficult to work with and a pain in the neck sometimes. What I have come to realise is that when you’re passionate about what your doing you can so easily become tunnelled visioned and obsessed at getting the job done, that it sometimes very difficult to see the wood from the trees and see things objectively. So having the opportunity to do exactly that is an opportunity I can’t afford to miss.
I have managed over the past few weeks to relax to an extent and spent lots of important time with friends and family but very much looking forward and ready to explore the world of youth work in this country and how many others do it, what works, what doesn’t, what is important, what is not, and ultimately the core principles to effective youth work.
I am looking forward to learning and discovering the highs and lows of other youth specialists many of which I believe to be the unsung hero’s of a very important and arduous task, that should never be underestimated or under valued. It should instead be held in the utmost of importance and professionalism.
I will endeavour to keep you posted of my next few weeks as I enjoy meeting others and learning lots.

The aim.

2007-11-02T05:39:00.000-07:00

I am Matt Calvert founder of Prospex a charity working with disadvantaged young people in Islington North London. I have been working for Prospex for the last 7 years and in the area for ten.
For the next ten weeks I will be travelling the UK and the Bronxs USA visiting various youth work projects to see what can be learnt. This blog will be some of my thoughts and reflections as I make this journey.