Andrew Moore
The West Areas nomination to receive a grant under the Festival Grant Scheme of the MCF this year was Egremont Youth Partnership, who received £1,500 to help them with the good work that they do for young people in West Cumbria.
After receiving the donation, Tracy McFadden, the Manager of Egremont Youth Partnership, invited representatives from the West Area to visit their property in Egremont, to see the facility and look at the work that they are doing to help the young people of the area. W.Bro Mark Edmiston, Area Lead, accompanied by W.Bro Andrew Moore, Area Deputy Lead and W.Bro Paul Smith, WM of Copeland Lodge accepted the offer and visited Egremont Youth Partnership, and were very impressed with the facility and the work being carried out.
The building itself was part of the Methodist Church, but has been recently undergone extensive restoration and upgrading, with modern kitchen, outside space with seating, office and general meeting areas, complete with pool tables, dart boards and modern entertainment and Communication systems.
Tracy and lead youth worker in charge Ella Carver and apprentice youth worker Ruby Butterworth have been working to help educate the local youngsters, with the youth group’s intake numbers doubling in recent weeks, rising from around 30 to around 66.
One of the schemes that is run from the facility and is supported by the Youth Partnership Fund, which aims to improve the young persons employability skills and broaden cultural horizons through the completion of a specific project that they must identify, plan and deliver. This will also lead to external ASDAN accreditations to improve the qualification profile of young people involved. It helps young people in their personal development measuring this on a skills development matrix, which focuses on communication & social skills; leadership development; critical thinking; problem-solving skills; presentation skills and personal coping.
Tracy stated that empty high streets are making it harder for young people to find affordable activities to keep them busy locally. Egremont Youth Partnership recently took 26 young people to Hollywood Bowl in Carlisle and that’s often how far they have to travel to be able to do anything as a youth group. Other recent trips, which have been organised by the Youngsters as part of their planning development have been to Liverpool, Newcastle, and Carlisle to experience an off road motorcycle activity, to name a few.
Tracy said that behind the scenes, the youth club have been holding regular workshops for their young people on anti-social behaviour and its impact on the community. One evening session in February saw a total of 66 young people attend. Tracy said the sessions help young people think constructively about their impact on the community and ways they can support each other. The group also works with the police and recently invited PCSOs to play pool and chat with their young people.
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