Other News

Yusuf Youth Initiative’s Curry Night

 

The Yusuf Youth Initiative (YYI) is a dynamic, youth-led organization aspiring to nurture leaders of tomorrow. It provides enriching programmess that encourages young people to grow, strive and become change makers in a vibrant and changing society. As part of the ‘Taught by Muhammad’ campaign, the YYI’s young volunteers spent hours cooking a special Indian meal for the staff and service users of the Salvation Army’s Strathmore Lifehouse on April 5, 2013. This campaign is part of a long term programme within YYI to foster improved relations between the Muslim and non-Muslim community, and to show the values which the Prophet Muhammad taught.

Fatima Rehman, one of the volunteers, said 'When we started this project, we asked the young Muslims who their greatest role model was. They all said it was Prophet Muhammad, but aslo acknowledged that he was the most misunderstood person. This project will help us show the World who Muhammad was'. Helping out at the regular Friday evening drop in at Strathmore Lifehouse, Malcolm Page, Salvationist from Dundee Central Corps said, 'This is a fantastic random act of kindness, we are truly humbled when people give up their own time to come and support the homeless community in Dundee. We've had a great evening and learned a little more about each other in a very relaxed way'.  

Revelation - A Discipleship Event

Revelation is a gathering of around 4 or 5 different church youth groups from aound the Dundee city to meet up once a month for a discipleship event consisting of - worship, games, food and a Bible-based message. It is effectively a very informal church service for young people (Primary 7 and upwards) and is aimed primarily at small church youth groups to give them a chance to meet up with other Christians in the city. A total of three Revelation events have been held at Chalmers Ardler Church, Douglas and Mid Craigie Church and Hillbank Evangelical Church with around 25-30 young people in each event, and an additional two events are planned for May 2013.  

Matthew Blakeman

                                                                                                     Hillbank Evangelical Church

Foodbank Dundee has a new Manager

Dave Morris has lived in Dundee for nearly 6 years, and attends City Church Dundee. He moves into crisis food distribution from a couple of years in renewable energy consultancy, and is looking forward to the chance to positively impact Dundee through his day to day work, whilst also undoubtedly experiencing the highs and lows of voluntary sector employment! He's married to Jules, and became dad to Reuben on Christmas Eve 2012!

Dundee Foodbank’s Youth and Poverty Programme

Over 3 000 people have benefited from receiving food parcels from the Dundee Foodbank since April 2012, and of this more than 900 were Dundee children. With central premises in the Hilltown area of Dundee, the food bank lies within the Morgan Academy’s catchment area, and this has sparked an interest amongst the pupils, where 23% of them are eligible for free school meals. Dundee Foodbank is now looking to cooperate with the school through a Youth and Poverty programme and address this issue through the religious and moral education provision within the third year curriculum. The Youth and Poverty programmes can fit in with Curriculum for Excellence which aims to provide a coherent, more flexible and enriched educational experience in Scotland and has four main features: pupils will be successful learners, confident individuals, responsible citizens and effective contributors. It is hoped that this involvement with Morgan Academy will be seen as a pilot project before it rolls out amongst other interested secondary schools in Dundee.

In December 2012 a West End Distribution Centre for Dundee Foodbank was set up in Menzieshill Parish Church and the aim was not just to serve the local demand but to engage with and involve that community. It would seem to be a logical extension to investigate the involvement of pupils from Menzieshill High School while undertaking our Youth and Poverty programme. 

            

                                                                                                                              David Martin

Reflection

 

For this edition, Hot Chocolate Trust has shared with us the story of Stewart* (19), who has been with them for over five years. The Trust is a Christian youth work organisation, born from the Steeple Church in Dundee City Centre. They work with around 300 young people who gather in the city centre, many of whom are variously vulnerable, and many living risky lifestyles.

The Story of Stewart

When he first appeared, Stewart’s behaviour was of real concern. He drank lots, and would even appear heavily under the influence in the morning. He was involved in a lot of risk taking behaviour - violent incidents weren’t unusual, he was banned from some public places for inappropriate conduct, the police were often at his door, and he soon ended up with an ASBO and threat of eviction. His mental health was also beginning to suffer.

During this time he lost access to his young child, then shortly after this he also lost a close friend to suicide and he hit rock bottom, with very little belief in himself or his future. He had lost much of his childhood.

As the Hot Chocolate team got to know him however, they saw a very caring and loyal person struggling to overcome major obstacles in life. They offered support and positive opportunities whenever they could, but initially these were limited in success. A work experience placement that Hot Chocolate arranged broke down, as did a referral to a Lifeskills programme. Regardless, the door remained open, and team kept offering support.

Early in 2012, one of Stewart’s friends found a steady job and began to thrive. Since then, Stewart has become increasingly focused on finding employment for himself and greater stability for his child... but he doesn’t want any old job, he wants a career.

The Hot Chocolate team has worked closely with him in the past year to help him achieve his long term goal of becoming a joiner. He has met a team member frequently for individual support, got involved in regular group work, he’s volunteered whenever asked, he’s been successfully referred to specialist training programmes (and completed them), he’s been supported in writing job applications, he’s asked for references, and he’s even been part of Hot Chocolate’s selection process for recruiting new staff members. He’s trying to establish more frequent contact with his child. And he’s been to start a college course which starts on Monday...

Life is still not straightforward for Stewart. He still faces real challenges. But with his newly found hope for what lies ahead, clear plans to achieve his goals, and ongoing support from his Hot Chocolate family... He’s finding his future.

* Details have been changed to protect his anonymity

Feature Project - The Attic

 

As part of our regular feature, we present to you excerpts of interview with Bruce White from The Attic, a registered charity that is based in Kirkton and works with children, young people and families in Dundee.  

Tell us about your work.

We moved to Kirkton from Hilltown little less than a year back. Although our heart still lies in children and youth work, we are now gradually focusing towards addressing the needs of the families and local community. Our activities include running kids club for children aged 5-11 years, clanz group for 11-16 years, lunch club, parent-toddler book bug group, and organizing camps and trips for young people. We also regularly interact with families through home visits and have recently initiated a community gardening project. We recognize that community projects are built on valuing relationships with families, thus, we want to create a place for people to engage, access our services and use our space to encourage community development.      

What is the connection of your project with Faith?

Most of us working at the Attic come from a Christian faith background. Our faith is the motivation for what we do – it teaches us the meaning of love, care and compassion like honouring your parents. Faith is something that is not just for oneself but to be shared with others. We run bible a study group. But we offer our activities to people from various faith and non-faith backgrounds. Our work is relational in nature and is based on trust and friendship. Some families were initially unsure, but they liked us as a group of people. And as they saw how we worked, they felt safe to engage with us. At the end of it all, it is about how genuine you are and how committed you are to support the community.  

What do you think has been the impact of your work on young people in Kirkton and its neighbouring areas?

More than anything else, I think we have created a real and informal space for the young people to use. They do what they feel like doing here at the Attic -sometimes, they just drop in and hang out with their friends. Other times, they participate in various activities and workshops including arts, baking, debates on topical issues and so forth. For them, it is their ‘place’ – there is a sense of ownership. Lot of times, we get together with our young volunteers and eat meals together. All of this seems to boost their confidence, and they feel that they are part of an extended family. At the moment, we have about 40-60 children attending kids club and 20-30 young people attending clanz, while another 10-20 families use our services.     

What have been the key challenges for your project? Did you face any issues when you moved your base to Kirkton? 

Because there was an absence of a project like this in Kirkton for nearly two years, everyone seemed excited to have us around. We felt welcomed by the church, the community centre and the local families. The key challenge perhaps was whether we will be able to meet their expectation or not. And perhaps on a practical level, we are only 2 staff members at the moment and open for specific timings while we know that the locals would prefer us to open throughout the week.      

Considering that you have become popular amongst youths in Kirkton area in a short span of time, what do you think has worked for you?

What works for us is that we are very passionate about our work, and our faith supports our commitment. We also work very hard. Over the years, we have worked towards building a strong group of 20 volunteers who have a sense of accountability for the project. We have also received support from the Council, in terms of funding and space, and that immensely helps the project.

 

What has been some of your key learning around running the Attic project?

It is very important to understand the real need of the community. You can look at statistics to derive evidences, but it’s critical to talk to the people living in the community. And more importantly, you need to involve the locals in developing and implementing the project. For example, it was the young people who chose the name ‘the attic lounge’ – they designed the logo and painted the hoarding board. That’s why they feel that Attic is their place. It is also vital to invest in your leaders and value your volunteers. While volunteers could work in a particular aspect of the project, it is important to engage them with the wider team. Faith has also been a common thread for all of us working at the Attic. 

Any message to people who are planning to start youth or similar projects like yours?

Before you start anything in your local area, listen to people’s stories and find out what is going on in our community.

Address: 2-6 Beauly Avenue Dundee DD3 7AG

Telephone: 01382 884 336

Website: http://theattic.btck.co.uk/

‘Nothing about us without us is for us’

In this edition, we are featuring an article by Martin Johnstone, Secretary of Poverty Truth Commission, Glasgow published in Third Force News.

I AM pleased that Iain Duncan Smith, the secretary of state for work and pensions, has finally met with MSPs to consider the UK Government’s welfare cuts. With, for example, an estimated 105,000 working age families in Scotland affected by the change to housing benefit, it is about time that he started answering to the Scottish people.

I am deeply disappointed in the Secretary of State not only for the apparent arrogance with which he has chosen to treat the Scottish Parliament but also because he is refusing to listen. I remember being impressed when he visited Easterhouse a decade ago and really seemed to have begun to understand. He understood because he chose to listen to those at the sharp end. Today, he is refusing to listen.

Last week I took part in the second of a series of conversations being hosted by the Poverty Truth Commission (www.povertytruthcommission.org) bringing together some of Scotland’s most disadvantaged citizens and some of our country’s most influential leaders. At the centre of our conversation was the harrowing experience of a mother struggling to make ends meet in the midst of relentless hardship. It is a life of childhood abuse and violence, constant ill health, courage, determination and resilience. I admit, I wept and I was not alone.

As a Commission we have written to Iain Duncan Smith and to George Osborne on a number of occasions inviting them to meet with those at the sharp end. Mostly they haven’t replied to our letters – and when they have, they have pointed out just how busy they are. If you are so busy changing the way that our welfare system works, surely you can’t be too busy to listen directly to those who experience it.

The message of the Poverty Truth Commission is simple: to achieve the long-term strategic eradication of poverty we must enable those with experience of poverty to be at the decision making table. They are the real experts and there must be meaningful engagement and conversation between them and key decision makers. We are guided by the principle, learned in the anti-apartheid struggle that “Nothing About Us Without Us is for Us.”

A regular theme within our work is the lack of understanding of those in poverty by the decision makers and the media. The rhetoric found in the media, fuelled by politicians of a variety of different persuasions, is frequently toxic and it does not resonate at all with the many people that I meet who want better lives for themselves and for their families. When we separate society into deserving and undeserving, strivers and skivers, the hard working and the lazy we are missing out on the very insights which could actually help us to change things for the better. Poverty is not a lifestyle choice, nor is it the result of individual moral failing.

Poverty is a multi-dimensional concept which traps people, impacting on their lives in almost countless ways. Economic statistics do not tell half the story of the mentally draining and potentially soul-destroying nature of poverty. Along with others, the Commission is therefore seeking a fundamental change in public perceptions of poverty, as well as changes to the way in which decisions are made and public services are provided.

Many of our commissioners have long told us of the struggles they face interacting with frontline services. The difficult decisions geared towards saving the state money are being made by frontline staff and this pressure often creates a confrontational attitude. Many have spoken of how they are treated as guilty until they can finally prove that they are innocent. They speak of having to perform degrading and very painful physical tasks to prove they qualify for disability benefit. Speaking on Sunday afternoon in the first of a series of three events that we are hosting in the Glad Café (www.thegladecafe.co.uk) on the Welfare Cuts, one of our Commissioners spoke of how the cruel treatment she received when in poverty has stuck with her and will remain with her.

The Poverty Truth Commission is part of Faith in Community Scotland. As an organisation we are actively engaged in supporting local faith groups to build awareness of the impact for people in the poorest communities, as well as enabling them to explore appropriate responses to address the challenges.

We have circulated 6000 leaflets to faith groups across Glasgow and Dundee highlighting some of the key changes and have also hosted some training and discussion opportunities for local groups. In all of this, we are striving to work with other organisations and seeking to ensure that real, lived experiences inform what we are doing.

People’s concerns include: an increase in food poverty and debt, an increase in poor mental health, a decrease in the ability to access support services and the further disintegration of society as a result of increased family breakdowns, domestic violence, isolation and bullying. I hope that the Secretary of State is listening.

However, it is not enough to curse the darkness or to blame others whilst doing nothing. And we are also struck by the creative ways that local groups and local people are responding to this crisis. Cranhill Development Trust, in partnership with Greater Easterhouse Money Advice Matters, is supporting local people to become mentors to encourage others in their community to develop key coping skills, e.g. managing a budget. In the Gorbals, Bridging the Gap is developing Mind over Money, a programme to help people grasp the impact of marketing and consumerism on their spending and how these influence our perceptions of what it is we need to be happy.

Our aim is to keep on inviting Mr Iain Duncan Smith to listen, to keep on seeking to ensure that the real story is told and, in the meantime, to do our little bit to support others to make the difference.

(http://www.thirdforcenews.org.uk/2013/03/nothing-about-us-without-us-is-for-us/)

Volunteering Support Fund Now Open!

The Voluntary Action Fund (VAF) is now accepting applications for its Volunteering Support Fund.

Third sector organisations can apply for up to £30,000 to:

 

·         create new or enhanced volunteering projects;
·         increase the diversity of volunteers, especially those from disadvantaged groups; and
·         improve opportunities, skills and personal development through volunteering. 

The Fund will also support third sector organisations to enhance their services and improve their capacity to deploy, support and train volunteers. Grants will be made for up to 12 months of activity. There are two different routes to achieving the Fund’s outcomes:

·         Volunteering Support Grant – Up to £10,000 for an individual organisation.
·         Volunteering Support Cluster – Up to £30,000 for a cluster group of four to five organisations working together.

Full details, Guidance Notes and Application Forms can be found on VAF’s website at http://www.voluntaryactionfund.org.uk/. 

If you have any additional queries about the fund or wish to discuss a project proposal with a member of our Volunteering Team, please email us at VSFenquiries@vaf.org.uk or phone 01383 620780.

Invitation to Welfare Reform Event - HURRY! Seats are Limited!

 

Support and Connect (Big Lottery Fund) - First Deadline 10 May

What’s it all about?

 

Support and Connect is part of the Investing in Communities portfolio, through which BIG Scotland invests in projects that bring real improvements to communities and the lives of people most in need.

 

Support and Connect is a £10 million fund which aims to improve the support available locally for people experiencing hardship and material need.

 

 Our research tells us that more people are facing challenging times. Many organisations on the ground report increased demand for support with basic needs and welfare and financial advice.

 

We are also aware that there’s sometimes a lack of knowledge about what’s available locally and that services aren’t always as connected as they could be. 

 

We will fund organisations helping those who are in hardship that are experiencing growing demand for their services.  We will also help organisations and services enhance their provision and connect with each other to provide more effective support.

 

Support and Connect is a £10 million fund to support the following types of projects:

 

• welfare advice
• financial skills training and services
• action to address food poverty
• provision of clothing and household goods
• action to address fuel poverty.

The deadlines for applications to this programme are in May and September 2013. Activities funded under Support and Connect should be completed by 31 March 2015.  There are two deadlines to allow some organisations to apply for immediate support and others to spend time working up ideas and applications.

 

What are we looking for?

 

All applications must demonstrate how their activity will bring about the following outcomes:

 

1          Organisations helping those in hardship are better connected to each other so they can offer more effective support.

And

2          People in hardship have better access to services that can help them.

 

Who can apply?

 

We welcome applications from a wide range of organisations including:

 

·         voluntary and community organisations

·         local authorities

·         schools

·         housing associations.

 

We welcome applications from partnerships. However, one organisation needs to be designated as the lead applicant. We cannot accept applications from individuals and sole traders.

 

How much can organisations ask for?

 

Organisations can ask for between £10,000 and £350,000.

 

What can organisations apply for?

 

Organisations can apply for project costs such as staff, training, equipment, the cost of running premises, providing information, evaluation, and overheads. We can also fund capital costs such as minor refurbishment of premises (less than £50,000).

 

Organisations can apply to enhance, develop or extend existing services and support to meet an increase in demand or develop new provision where a gap has been identified.

 

What happens when?

 

The key dates are:

·         10 May –  first deadline

·         end June – decisions made

·         6 September – second  deadline

·         October – decisions made