I recently started working with The Merseyside Fire and Rescue Service to develop ideas for using Emerging Technologies in Youth Engagement projects. One outcome of that is this blog; a new initiative designed to build a community of practice for people working with youth engagement and new technologies. Another outcome of my work with the Fire Service is that I have been privileged to experience excellent Youth Engagement programmes in action. The Fire service has a best in class training centre based in Bootle, Liverpool, which sees many young people embark upon, and successfully complete a range of training courses. Recently I met with a group of 13-14 year olds on their one day a week course. The highlight of my day was a trip to the ‘Ratrun’ a series of cages used to train Fire Fighters in working in confined spaces. The ratrun goes down a treat with all course participants, and I must say trying on Fire Fighter uniforms went down quite well too!
As we continue with our Emerging Technology projects we will be using the best in online software to share our work with our readers. We’re using Flickr.com to share our photos. For anyone not already familiar with the delights of Flickr, Flickr is a (free) online Photo Sharing Community. You can use it to store and archive your photos and to share them with your friends, colleagues and community. I have used Flickr for personal projects for ages and I love it. It’s also a great way to find people interested in the same things (work or fun) as you are. We will be sharing images from the Youth Engagement projects we’re working on via Flickr. A small selection of work so far is already there at our Flickr page: http://www.flickr.com/photos/ouropenspace/
Commissioned by the UK Home Office, the Positive Futures Case Study Research Project focused on Positive Futures, a national sports based social inclusion programme.
“Positive Futures is a national sports based social inclusion programme aimed at marginalized 10-19 year olds in the most deprived neighbourhoods. Managed within the Home Office Drug Strategy Directorate and delivered locally by a range of agencies, including local authorities, charities, sports clubs and crime reduction agencies.”
The research is a great starting point for anyone wanting to find out more about sports and Social Inclusion.
Published by Katie Lips May 23rd, 2007
in Youth Engagement and Publications.
Recently I have been using the National Youth Agency’s website to research some background into Government Policy in the area of Youth Engagement. The site is a really good place to start with links to a range of useful information.
