At our supper meeting on Monday 14 November 2016 we had an informative presentation given by John Lee about “South Bristol Youth” (SBY), a charity using a new approach to working with young people in
south Bristol. We learnt how and why the charity was formed, what it had achieved in its three years of working and the hopes for the future. South Bristol is a diverse part of the city that has benefitted from significant capital investment over the past few years. However there are large areas of deprivation, relatively low but recently improving levels of educational achievement and the second lowest level of participation in higher education in England.
SBY has brought together six secondary schools, community organisations and the two universities in the city to tackle the lack of progress that many young people in south Bristol make. The schools work with SBY to shape a different approach to the development of young people. The programmes which combine the best of youth work and education have been designed to unlock the potential of the participants. It is essential that families and communities are also committed to and support the programmes.
The outcomes of SBY’s main programme that addresses participation in higher education are being monitored and assessed in a University of Bristol Research Project. The results so far are positive. More programmes are being added as funding becomes available. SBY believes that using their unique approach of combining education and youth work methods the outcomes will only be limited by money, time and the right people being involved.