Claire Spencer of Chamberlain Forum attended the Voice is Power website launch showcase and spoke to some of the young people involved in their campaigns. This selection of videos charts the work ViP is doing on behalf of young people, focusing on the key issues which were raised by their peers.
In the video above, Manni discusses his role in leading on a campaign tackling the education pressures which face young people. Manni and his colleagues have already met with councillors and elected representatives to address the issues, and they will be working with schools to bring in a series of recommendations. (more…)
Matthew Ebo interviews Rob Clarke from Parents and Children Together (PACT) about the impact that mentoring young people can have, particularly in disadvantaged communities. PACT, a registered charity, is based in Small Heath and works with young people aged between 9 and 16 years old, aiming to support them and also their parents in order to benefit the whole family group.
The goal of the project is to help the young people they work with move into jobs or further education, as a way of opening up opportunities for them in life.
A group of students from Four Dwellings High School, Quinton and a youth group from Kingstanding have made this film about their research into the activities of Birmingham suffragettes in the early 20th century.
It was made as part of the People and Parliament: Connecting with Communities project. It’s a fascinating video, shedding light on the role education plays in teaching young people about political and democratic history, as well as highlighting what those young people think about the current electoral system.
You can watch the video above – and you can find more videos from this project and other similar content at the UK Parliament YouTube channel.
Matthew Ebo, a 2009 Local Hearts Award winner, interviews Jenny Miller about her work as part of a mentoring project in the Nechells area of Birmingham. The project is designed to assist young black people, primarily boys between 9-16 years of age, with their academic development at the same time as addressing educational underachievement.
The ultimate aim of the project is to enhance the young people’s aspirations and the routes that are open to them in their lives. The final minute of the interview is particularly interesting, with Jenny reflecting on some of the improvement in grades and behaviour as a result of the project, charting the educational and social benefits that initiatives such as this are capable of bringing about.
Having your say on neighbourhood issues is vital – following on from the short video interview with Claire Spencer about Moseley Forum, here is a clip with Karen Caine from the City Centre Neighbourhood Forum who gives her take on the importance of giving people a voice in their local area.
Over the past couple of weeks Podnosh have been working with individuals from community-focused organisations throughout the city, training them in using video and social media to put a spotlight on some of those extraordinary stories in their communities.
In just a few hours each citizen was trained in using a Flip camera - a handheld device not much bigger than a mobile phone – to be able to capture video which can then be published online, at YouTube or a blog.
We know that there some fascinating stories out there which need hearing, and having access to this technology will help community groups to draw attention to the issues and causes they believe in, as well as telling the stories which will make people really sit up and take notice.
It also means that they’ll be able to cover events during Local Democracy Week, so you’ll be able to find out what’s being discussed at meetings across the city.
The people who attended the training have their own interesting stories to tell, and they interviewed each other during the course of the evening – we’ll be posting some of those videos over the coming days, and some photos too.
If you’d like to find out how you can help to cover Local Democracy Week 2010, let us know by leaving a comment.
Continuing our series of stories from people working at community organisations throughout the city, this short video shows Elsie Gayle - Chair of the Women’s Health and Maternity Action Group – talking about the work of Link in this area.
Across the city there are individuals looking to spread the word about how organisations based in Birmingham are reinforcing and enhancing democracy.
In this short video clip Claire Spencer, a Secretary of Moseley Forum, talks about how neighbourhood forums work as gateways between citizens and local government structures.
Ray Brookes, John McGill, Adam Noon and Sonya Williams
Friends of Jasmin Fields campaigned for a piece of land in their neighbourhood which had been left to rot and attracted fly-tipping. It was full of rubbish, but a group of local people organised a clearing up day, and then gained funding to fence off the area and renovate it and start looking after this small piece of parkland in Brandwood End – now the Jasmin Fields Nature Reserve.
The group have engaged the local school, have had young people volunteering to be a park ranger, and now the area is full of wildlife and is a place for families come to play, walk their dogs and enjoy the area they live in. The group hope they have empowered the local community. For their work, they have now been nominated for the Community Group category of Birmingham’s Local Hearts Award.
