Bulletin 22 January 2010

Global Exchange Opportunity

Starting in May and running for 12 weeks, Global Exchange is looking for voluntary placements for a pair of young volunteers (one from the UK and one from Syria, both aged between 18 and 25) for 3 to 4 days a week.  Volunteers will be supported by programme supervisors (one from the UK and one from Syria) and their expenses will be covered by Global Exchange.

If you’ve got a long term, full time placement that would benefit from young people getting involved and that will give them the opportunity to learn about life in Newcastle, meet members of the local community and develop skills then get in touch with Herbie Cooper at Changemakers on 0191 226 7330.

Brighter Futures

Save the Children held a review of all its UK work in 2008 following a significant budget reduction in our UK programme.  The outcome of this review concluded that we must realign our resources behind one clear aim, namely, ending severe and persistent poverty. Identifying a single focus combined with a significant budget reduction has meant taking the difficult decision to close some of our offices across the UK, including our North East office in Newcastle and to withdraw from our ‘Protection’ work with refugee and asylum seeking children and young people.  However, Save the Children is committed to identifying the best outcomes for the children and young people involved in our affected projects.

As a result Brighter Futures is funded by the Big Lottery and run by Save the Children only until 31st January 2010.  Save the Children have therefore had to stop working with our Brighter Futures Tees Valley group on the 15th December 2009.  This however does not detract from the successes of the project.  The young people have led a successful campaign to raise awareness of and reduce racism and bullying and they can be proud of their achievements which include:

•    Producing awareness raising posters, post-cards, and DVD’s
•    Presentations and workshops in local schools and regional conferences
•    Organising national conferences for MP’s and other decision makers
•    National and local media work.
•    Developing partnerships with regional and national youth and refugee organisations

Save the Children would like to take this opportunity to thank you for your support, very much appreciated it.  As you know Save the Children staff have been working with partner organisations to secure a future for Brighter Futures and we are delighted that the North of England Refugee Service (NERS) has agreed to continue Brighter Futures in the Tees Valley from January 2010.

NERS are going to run sessions at the Middlesbrough International Centre on a Tuesday evening from 6pm to 8pm as usual and will be providing transport using Stockton Community Transport Service as usual.  The contact person for Brighter Futures at NERS is Martyn Hudson, Communities & Youth Projects Manager, email: mh@refugee.org.uk,

North of England Refugee Service, Sylvan House, Third Floor, 2-16 Woodlands Road, Middlesbrough
TS1 3BE, Tel: (01642) 217447.

If you require any further information or clarification do not hesitate to contact Rona Blackwood at Save the Children in London on 0207 012 6461.

Young Brits at Art 2010: Turning Young People’s Vision into Art

Young Brits at Art is back!

The Equality and Human Rights Commission is re-launching its Young Brits at Art awards, inviting 11-19 year olds from all walks of life to express their vision of this year’s theme: ‘What would the world look like if we lived without prejudice?’

This academic year, Young Brits at Art offers new resources for educators which complement and reinforce learning under the National Curriculum in England and Wales and the Curriculum for Excellence in Scotland. The resources aim to model good practice in facilitating young people’s creative work exploring equality and human rights. They are also designed to help educators and group leaders organise activities to support young people’s entries to the Young Brits at Art awards. Find out more about the resources here.
The awards can benefit young people in schools, youth clubs, Connexions services, pupil referral units, faith groups, libraries, leisure centres and other local council facilities. Charities and museums can use the awards as part of their existing youth programmes. Individual young people can also develop their own artwork and enter independently.

After the success of the first year of the awards in 2009, Young Brits at Art 2010 includes new categories such as photography, sculpture and motion animation, as well as its previous sections for painting and drawings. Our goal is to get more schools and youth centres involved by providing new and innovative resources that support the teaching of arts and citizenship as well as ongoing work with young people outside the school system. We will also host 45 artist-led workshops to support those taking part, with a particular emphasis on young people from disabled, hard to reach and vulnerable backgrounds.

For more information and to sign up to the awards, visit the website.

Young Brits at Art is part of a wider programme of work with young people, for more information visit www.equalityhumanrights.com/youth

New programme of work for aspiring young vocalists, rappers, MCs, DJs, producers and instrumentalists

UMT (Urban Music Training) is split into 3 main strands:

UMT:BEATS – our 12 week training course for aspiring DJs and producers.

UMT:VOX – A 12 week mentorship scheme, partnering the finest vocalists, rappers and MCs with the best producers in the region to work on original music.

UMT:PLAY – week-long intensive courses during term-breaks for any aspiring musician (vocalists, rappers, MCs, DJs, instrumentalists).

Each strand works on creating, recording and performing original music, with a high profile events programme running alongside the UMT programme.

All spaces are free but extremely limited and we are recruiting now for courses in 2010.

Young people are central to the planning of the programme and to the planning and production of our events.  We are looking for more young people to join our UMT:ROOTS steering group.

All spaces are free but extremely limited and we are recruiting now for courses in 2010.

Young people are central to the planning of the programme and to the planning and production of our events.  They are looking for more young people to join our UMT:ROOTS steering group. More information