WYTHENSHAWE YOUNGSTERS A SURE HIT WITH COMMUNITY

One thing the Wythenshawe District Youth Forum is sure about is that young people play a vital role in their community.

Over the last year eight members of Shawe Thing Youth Forum, based at Connexions in Sharston, each volunteered more than 50 hours for meetings and 30 hours each for additional events and community projects, all designed to give young people a voice and role in the area they live.

Shawe Thing began nine years ago and has gone from strength to strength, making firm links with other youth groups in the UK and abroad to promote the image of young people in both Wythenshawe and Manchester.

The group is funded by Manchester City Council and helped by staff from its Youth Services department and the Wythenshawe Regeneration team – but it is the Shawe Thing members who make the decisions about projects the group should be involved in.

Last year saw a busy schedule with a wide variety of projects, from attending the Children’s Summit in Germany, to using the group’s funds to buy bedding plants to transform the entrance to a special needs school, and even visiting a local day care centre for old people, where the panel enjoyed showing their elders how to use a Nintendo Wii.

Brooklands Labour Councillor Sue Murphy, Executive Member for Employment and Skills at Manchester City Council, with responsibility for Youth Services, said:

“These youngsters are true community champions and the perfect antidote to the negative image some people have of today’s young people. It just shows that, given a voice, youngsters can have a huge, positive impact on their community.”