Building positive lives for young people
“I really enjoy helping at Transitionz. I enjoy teaching the sports and games sessions. It makes me feel good to help others.”
Carmarthen Youth Project works with young people, helping them to gain new skills and experience whilst giving back to the local community. Community Foundation Wales awarded Carmarthen Youth Project a grant of £10,000 to support the continuation of their Transitionz initiative.
The funding has helped Carmarthen Youth Project to continue their Transitionz project, a “mini-youth club” that provides a safe space for 8-11 year olds to meet, socialise, learn new skills and have fun.
This group of 8-11 year olds were identified by local police and social workers as being from disadvantaged families and at risk of anti-social behaviour and bullying. There was nowhere for them to meet up outside of school and formally run clubs and the general youth centre were not suitable for them so the Transitionz project was born.
The club aims to improve and raise the aspirations of these children and young people by involving them in community and youth work; encouraging their participation in local projects and volunteering and supporting their transition to secondary school through a buddy system.
Transitionz is led by youth workers and a trained group of older youth members aged 11-16. The older youth members who have an interest in working with children, have the opportunity to get training, learn new skills and become mentors. These skills are vital in this community as jobs are scarce and competition is high.
T, aged 14, said that when she started with Transitionz she was shy and anxious. Since then she has grown in confidence, taking on a ‘buddy’ role, helping with the café, assisting with cooking sessions and joining in with fundraising activities.
Through our funding Transitionz has been able to run an interesting and varied programme of activities for the children including sports day, arts and crafts, IT sessions, gardening and cooking.
Youth mentors have helped the Transitionz children to prepare for the move up to secondary school and some of them have started attending the main youth project and in some cases have gone on to become buddies themselves.
Parents have seen meaningful and positive change in their children, saying how much they value the project that has boosted their child’s confidence and provided lots of exciting opportunities that would otherwise not be available to them.
