Interactive Map
The map shows where to find the myplace projects approved so far.You can find out a bit more about projects by clicking on the map.
Click a Region to see a list of projects funded by myplace.
Toxteth Residential |
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In total there were 5 staff and 16 young people taking part. The young people were part of the core group of youngsters involved in the myplace project and were participating in team building activities and the centre's own sessions on their ‘hard to reach' groups around Toxteth. All 16 young people were to be awarded AQA Certificates on Communication for their involvement and participation over the weekend, as long as they spoke and listened of course!
On Friday we set off after packing the buses with suitcases way too large for one weekend away (and picking up the bumper that was cleanly taken off around the first bend!) After a two-hour journey we arrived, late, set up the rooms and went for food.
The activity for the evening was a choice between fell-walking and night-line: both activities lasting an hour and a half and needing a lot of communication and togetherness out of the group. I went along with ‘night-line' and as ‘staff' watched the group went around a course blindfolded, using only a rope and their peers for guidance.
The group moaned a little because of the cold and the wet, especially having to go through a puddle near the end of the course! I, the instructor and their youth worker stood next to the puddle in fits of giggles and in dry clothes! Once they had made it around the course they were left to continue on their own until they started to ‘feel' like they had been there before. Most of the girls all came out straight away, leaving the lads to wonder where the girls had gone rather than thinking about where they were!
Once inside and in the warm we ran some of our own activities so the group would get to know one another better, doing the ‘human bingo' game with silly questions. We then went on to deciding ground rules for the weekend, which the groups achieved in two groups. After this they were allowed free time, apparently going on until around 5 am! I can't say what time it was because I fell asleep!
Saturday started with a lot of moaning about how early it was, which is unsurprising due to the fact that they would have slept for only three or four hours! After breakfast we worked on the main aim of the weekend for the staff: revolving around the four hard to reach groups that Toxteth Sports Centre has targeted for their new myplace centre.
Split into groups of three, and into groups they wouldn't usually join, they thought about the problems these groups faced and then devised role plays to show to the rest of the groups. The four hard to reach groups were:
The young people came up with problems and went on to present solutions in a 20 minute talk around these ideas, then put them into a short role-play for everyone else to see. Everyone did really well and now all the groups have something to work on in project-time and will hopefully succeed in bringing more people into the centre when it opens.
The group had some difficulties with listening to each other, so Gail the youth worker undertook an activity to address these. This activity involved sitting back to back, with one person having a picture that the other person had to draw, only through telling them what they could see. After lots of cheating, most of the group had done really well and had a good picture in front of them. There were a couple of shockers as well!
Throughout the rest of Saturday and in the evening we had three activities: canoeing, a zip-wire and after some dinner, a walk up the hill. All of the experiences encourage young people to work together, and test people to bring out their knowledge and skills.Bearing the cold and tiredness from lack of sleep we took to the water, paddling in different directions, different speeds, at the same time and in different rhythms for over an hour. The lake was beautiful and luckily the rain held off while we were out there.
By the time we came back to land to try the zip-wire a lot of the young people were losing fingers due to frost bite, from what I gathered by their moaning anyway!Everyone had a go and all had to help each other, ‘re-laying b-lines' and giving each other moral support. It's amazing that everyone had a go and all got further than they thought they would!
We had a long earned stint indoors and out of the cold before we got on our hiking boots and ‘took to the hills.' This walk was inspiring for me and the other workers as the team were clearly showing how strong their bond was becoming, all joking and laughing on the way up, changing their opinions and enjoying themselves!We stopped at the top and some of the guys talked about what they would normally be doing on a Saturday night, in a positive way. On the way back down the conversation changed from weekends, rap and football to religion, racism, the human race and spiritual or alien forms.Whether this was all brought on from the shooting star they witnessed, something you don't usually see over the Mersey, or whether it was just because they were all in the same situation and able to be completely themselves we can't be sure!
We were going to run an arts and crafts session for the rest of the evening but because of their positive attitude and work rate through the day we allowed everyone to have the night to themselves!We spent a lot of time playing cards, teaching new games and playing games everybody knew, talking about this and that and where people have been to or come from, funny stories and jokes.It was a really end to the night and a great end to the day. When bed finally came, it felt fully deserved!
If yesterday was cold then Sunday was freezing and even had snow to prove it! As much as the scenery was beautiful and picturesque, it certainly did make everything a lot harder to do and colder to touch!
At the end of doing the ‘king swing', which is a gigantic swing your team mates pull you up, and you let yourself swing through the trees, we had to do an obstacle course! Rolling down spiders' webs and climbing ropes that had big chunks of snow stuck to them wasn't the usual way to spend a Sunday!
We went indoors again and evaluated the weekend, which was really positive with most of the young people saying they had learnt new skills and learnt more about the rest of the group.The main negative point was the weather, which we couldn't change! All of them can now benefit from the experience and all of them have a qualification in communication!
It came to ‘the last supper': we ate, we cleaned (which took a long time) and then we waited in the cold whilst staff members ran around trying to recharge the mini-bus for us!After an hour of sitting around we finally got going, and two hours later were back at the sports centre.
It's great to see positive work like this within the myplace community and hopefully there will be a lot more to come.After all, we focus on the achievements and good work of young people and plan for them to get accredited along the way!
By Frank Fallon, myplace Young Consultant
Click on the graphic to arrange your own visit to Lakeside.
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Over the weekend, 19th - 21st February, I was involved in a residential with Toxteth Sports Centre, in the Lake District, at Lake Windermere Y.M.C.A Lakeside activity centre.
