Youth at Risk  To gain an individual disciplined and  'free standing' spirit

(in Chapeltown and Harehills,Leeds)

  * "Not another project for C. & H." my first experience on arriving in Leeds and since then I have discovered the reason for that comment.

  *  There are already many programmes/projects in this area with many other areas, in just as much need, that do not seem to get the same level of publicity or funding. As an organization Youth At Risk will go anywhere it is asked and deliver our programme to that community.

  *  We are not a new charity trying to make a name in a high profile area. This is our 16th programme in the UK and our track record goes back to 1992 in this country and the early 1980's in the USA.  We have successfully delivered programmes in North and South London, Southhampton, Liverpool and West Belfast to name a few.

  *  We do not come in and tell a community what to do; we provide an environment where local communities can generate solutions for themselves to problems that may exist for them. We create substantial and lasting change, not just a quick fix to a long term problem. (Particularly in the area of Youth Offending)

  *   We need the support of local people who care enough about their community to want to make a difference to the lives of young people in it.

COMMENT ON THIS PROJECT

This "community" has ground rules including time keeping, not wearing hats!  and confidentiality of members and youngsters.

Listening

Listening is stressed as important. As a most important aid to success with young people, all people: Often we do not listen ,usually we are ready to take what we hear and fit it into our own programme and, talk over what we are hearing.

"Already Listening"

This is suggested as a name for what our minds are already filled with. Because we cannot erase this and what we hear is sublimated by this, we really are not hearing or living in the present but rather in the past. This is the previous input we all have and Y.A.R. suggests because we take this to be the right, the only possible truth, we live not in present but in past and cannot modify ideas.

  A possible position is to stay this way, share your position, be in a box with other box dwellers, this has some advantages "safety in numbers" sharing that which is wrong; but being also unable to do anything about it - unable to move on.

YAR recommends a new option to get out of the box, admitting this is more dangerous but this way you will get a Future - no longer stuck inside the past/present feedback loop or box.

Escape is based on "your word" - this is given before the congregation or community - Take the future from your word, create something you are in the future, a vision is necessary, take a stand eg I'm in charge of the well being of this group/ community,  I'm a contributor to community, I'm worth something.

Also Youth at risk helped people without much education to join courses, helped them to succeed and congratulated them on this.

For the young people who stuck the course it was a success. But not all of them could and those joining the group had been selected in the first place.

However being inside a close and disciplined group is necessary to most of us sometimes, we are not islands.

maybe later an individual disciplined and  'free standing' spirit will come to those who succeeded here.  

Then they can go on to work individually and yet still cooperate with other similarly minded folk.

 Youth at Risk    At the right speed    A Cave of Living Treasures       Meeting Reality

THEME