Community aiming for a better future

WHILE some young people may wander around the streets, a group of youngsters in Hathershaw and Fitton Hill have set up Oldham’s first youth bank.

It has given young people responsibility to allocate community grants to youth projects they think should benefit.

USMA RAJA went along to meet NDC chief executive Gordon Roscoe to learn more about the inspiring young leaders and its other key achievements in the last year.

AFTER months of hard work, young people in the New Deal for Communities area secured a licence to run Oldham’s first youth bank.

The 11 youngsters who devised the scheme, live in the heart of the area and comprise a mix of ages and backgrounds.

Youth Bank UK, a registered charity, is a national grant scheme which provides training and support to organisations wanting to set up a small grants project for young people.

The youngsters in Hathershaw and Fitton Hill have given more than 200 hours of their time to train develop their skills.

The initiative has received financial backing from NDC and provides grants of up to £500 for young people’s groups to buy equipment, have trips out, get training and run health projects.

All of them have attended training sessions and have achieved accredited qualifications in Introduction to Grant Making level 1, through the Open College Network.

They meet every two weeks to make decisions on applications, and so far £1,180 has been allocated to groups such as St Paul’s Youth Group,

Fitton Hill Youth Club, Friends of Medlock Valley Community School for things such as travel costs, tuition, trips and equipment.

The concept behind the grant scheme is to raise young people’s self-believe.

The youth bank is supported by Graham Bowman, NDC young people’s development co-ordinator, and Anne Fleming, NDC capacity building co-ordinator.

Mr Bowman said: “The idea of the youth bank came from the young people themselves. They identified the need for such a fund and have driven it and made it the success that it is.

“The core group pictured should be commended for their hard work and efforts.

“As a result of working with the youth bank the young people have become community activists and are involved in all sorts of things to help improve the area they live in and to support other young people.”

Over the past year, the NDC team has also focused on health and inspired people to take up more physical exercise and think healthy.

During the year a dietician, Ruth Oldak, was recruited to carry out food mapping in the NDC area, and since then the number of residents eating their five a day portions of fruit and vegetables has risen to 26 per cent in 2007 compared with 14 per cent in 2006.

And during the year, 150 people who normally did very little exercise took up physical activities such as swimming, tai chi, dance or creative movement.

Smoking in the area has been reduced by 3 per cent during the year and this success is being followed on with smoking cessation groups and other agencies working together.

Gordon Roscoe said: “Much work has been undertaken researching the type of support that would help residents to quit smoking.

“Work is under way to recruit a worker to support this and already new venues have been found for smoking cessation groups — including the Fitton Arms.”

Physical activities have also been promoted to encourage a wider number of residents to think about physical activity and to get started.

This has included the active pub challenge where residents can have a go, in the comfort of their own local, at trying some activities found in the gym.

The NDC’s other key achievements have been in areas of crime, with the number of domestic burglaries in Hathershaw and Fitton Hill being cut by 60 per cent.

The level of criminal damage and violent crime has fallen faster than the rest of the borough.

Indeed the group insists that Hathershaw and Fitton Hill is now a safer place to live than Saddleworth.

One of the major events of the year was the launch of the first resident-led neighbourhood agreements.

This first of five dealt with environmental issues and was entitled Green and Clean for Cleaner Streets.

The idea involves a contract between residents, service providers and partners and gives the community information needed to ensure a the basic level of service.

Part two — Peace and Quiet — was launched at the Honeywell Centre, Ashton Road, Hathershaw, in a bid to restrict anti-social behaviour.

Oldham is the only local authority in the country to have embarked on such a resident-led scheme.

Discussions are now ongoing with Oldham Primary Care Trust and Oldham Council to develop a new neighbourhood centre in Fitton Hill.

This will incorporate a range of health and other services to give residents have all necessary facilities under one roof.