Project Casebook: Case studies: TURNAROUND

TURNAROUND

Aim: To build young people's strength and self-confidence to enable them to become more independent

Funding: About £60,000 a year. Funders include The Haberdashers' Livery Company, Clothworkers' Company, Jack Petchey Foundation, Essex County Council, Legal & General and the Nationwide Foundation

Camping in the wilds of Scotland and a sailing trip are part of a scheme to help young people achieve their potential.

Central to TurnAround, which is run by the Wilderness Foundation, is the idea that spending time outdoors helps personal development and boosts self-esteem.

The scheme, which launched in Essex in 2007, also strives to get communities involved by pairing participants with local mentors. Eight to 10 young people take part in the year-long programme, usually referred by Connexions, schools and youth offending teams.

Two residentials are key, explains Jo Roberts, chief executive of the Wilderness Foundation and director of TurnAround. The first is a 10-day trip to Scotland, which involves camping.

"For some young people it's very challenging," says Roberts. "They are out of their comfort zone."

Young people are supported by psychotherapists and work closely with carefully chosen volunteer mentors.

Following the Scotland trip, young participants have weekly one-to-one meetings with mentors and monthly group workshops featuring activities such as rock climbing, photography and volunteering. The second residential is a week-long sailing trip up Britain's east coast without mentors.

"The idea is the young people come to a point where they don't need all these significant adults around them because they're standing on their own two feet," says Roberts.

The scheme culminates in a graduation ceremony attended by families.

Toni Baker, 18, heard about the project through Connexions. She was keen to take part but admits the Scotland trip was tough. "It was very hard trekking through the mountains in the dark and rain," she says. "But we all helped each other."

Throughout the scheme she was able to talk through personal issues and future plans with her mentor. The sailing trip was "brilliant", she says: "Everyone worked as a team - you had to because we were sailing the boat."

The foundation continues supporting young people who have been through TurnAround, which it hopes to roll out nationally.

Toni has done work experience at the charity's offices and on a local newspaper. She recently embarked on a catering course.

"It's a fantastic project," she says. "I have gained confidence and had the opportunity to do things I wouldn't have done on my own."

TACKLE IT

Aim: To provide activities to young people to tackle gang culture

Funding: £27,000 from Positive Activities for Young People

The quick-fire game of "cage football" is helping combat gang culture in Leeds. The Tackle It scheme is run by Leeds City Council in partnership with Positive Futures Leeds and gives young people the chance to take part in short matches in a floodlit cage.

The project runs three nights a week in the Woodhouse and Little London areas of Leeds as part of efforts to stop young people being drawn into drug dealing and other criminal activities. More than 40 young people have turned up to some sessions, which also feature graffiti art, dance and a music bus where they can try DJing and MCing.

It's a good way of engaging young people who might be put off by traditional after-school activities in sports halls, explains Dan Busfield, co-ordinator for Positive Futures Leeds. "You're not allowed to stand at the side of a sports hall but with this they can just watch," he says.

Youth workers are on hand to offer other help and support to young people who attend. A range of partners have helped develop the scheme, including Leeds youth service, local police, youth offending teams, housing associations and youth projects. The hope is the 12-week pilot, which began last month, can be rolled out to other parts of the city.

Toby Halliday, 19, thinks it's a good idea. "It keeps young kids out of trouble and off the streets," he says. "It's just something different and it's nice to have something local for a change."

He's also had a go at cage football. "It's all right," he says. "It's different to traditional 11-a-side because there's not as much room to move about, which makes it more challenging."

QUAD JUNIOR INTEGRATION PROJECT

Aim: To give young Travellers access to leisure and social activities

Funding: £7,400 from the London Borough of Sutton

Young people from Traveller families are benefiting from a successful project in the London Borough of Sutton.

The Quad Junior Integration Project gives young Travellers aged 10 to 13 the chance to attend a youth club.

"The Traveller site is in a very isolated part of the borough with few facilities and no play area," explains Leila Belghazouani, the youth worker in charge. "Transport links are poor so we provide transport to collect the children and take them home."

The project also provides two extra workers for the Friday night sessions at the Quad Youth Centre, where up to 10 young Travellers mingle with 30 to 40 other young people. There they can enjoy activities including sports, games, computers and cookery.

The project, which started in 2003, was originally funded through the local Children's Fund but has been taken on by Sutton council. Young people have taken part in workshops looking at different cultures, including Traveller culture, and made a DVD.

"It's worked really well and helped break down some barriers of discrimination," says Belghazouani.

Katie Doherty, 10, has just started going to the club night. "It's boring where we live because there's nothing to do there and so it's good to go out of the site," she says. "I like helping out with the cooking and wish I was here every night."

Ned Delaney, 11, adds: "It feels great. We're not being left out. "Basically at night it gets us out of trouble. Sometimes people drive past the site and call us names but this is a safe place to be and you meet lots of nice girls."

MELIN HOMES' YOUTH SPORTS INITIATIVE

Aim: To engage young people in sport and boost confidence and respect

Funding: Received £5,000-8,000 last year from Melin Homes, fundraising and donations

Young people in some of the most disadvantaged communities in Wales can enjoy a wide range of sporting activities thanks to housing association Melin Homes.

The association, which operates in Monmouthshire, Torfaen, Blaenau Gwent and Newport, launched a youth sports initiative in 2007 after discovering young people from its estates were being excluded from local sports clubs because they couldn't afford fees. Some were also being turned away because of stigma attached to where they lived, says community development officer Alan Hughes.

Activities on offer include rock climbing, rugby, fishing, football, golf and tennis, which are available up to five nights a week in the holidays.

The scheme is open to all young people in an area, not just those from Melin housing, and last year it worked with more than 300 eight- to 16-year-olds.

"We don't reward bad behaviour and in the beginning we had to exclude some," says Hughes. "But after a while a lot of those youngsters came back and asked for a second chance because they knew they were missing out."

The housing association has worked closely with local youth services, Communities First teams and sports clubs.

"One of the reasons this has been so successful is because we have worked in partnership," says Hughes.

"We needed bodies on the ground. We've had volunteer mums and dads, people from Communities First, youth services, and even local councillors have come out, rolled up their sleeves and got involved."

Melin hopes to gain grant funding to expand the scheme this year and offer more activities such as outward- bound trips.

The sports scheme was initially established to boost access to sports and good quality coaching but has had a much wider impact, says Hughes.

The project claims it has helped to reduce antisocial behaviour, boosted community cohesion and forged better relationships between the housing association and its tenants as well as helped many young people gain skills and confidence.

Trainee youth worker Gemma Cole, 22, volunteered with the scheme and saw young people's confidence grow.

"Apart from confidence, they develop friendships because they've been doing stuff with young people from other areas and getting to know about different backgrounds and cultures," she says. "One thing I have learned is that it doesn't take a lot of money to do things that make a big difference."

Paige Crawford, 14, gave the initiative "10 out of 10". "It was fun because in the holidays we didn't used to do a lot, just hanging around in the streets," she says. "We'd get told off a lot because of our balls going in people's gardens. This was something different and it was good because it was all free but you were being taught by professionals."

She has started playing tennis regularly and feels fitter and healthier. "I have lost two stone but enjoyed myself at the same time," she says.