ABINGDON DAMASCUS YOUTH PROJECT 

We run an inclusive project, addressing the needs of vulnerable people. As part of social action, young people - supported by youth workers - will run activities for the elderly.

Transition to secondary school is an exciting but anxious time for children and daunting for those moving from a village school to a secondary in the nearest town. They tell us that they get very ....more

Transition to secondary school is an exciting but anxious time for children and daunting for those moving from a village school to a secondary in the nearest town. They tell us that they get very nervous - during the pandemic they have struggled to establish friendship groups having been isolated from their peers for so long. Families expressed a wish for a transition project that supports young people within the villages. Discussions with the headteachers of the primary schools in the DAMASCUS villages – Drayton, Milton, Sutton Courtenay and Steventon welcomed it as a much-needed community resource. There are three parts to our project which we would run from June through to December. June/July deliver activity workshops in the schools to Y6 children exploring feelings around independence, increased responsibility for self, social changes and different school system, the unknowns including the onset of adolescence and the accompanying surge of emotions. August activities will include travelling to Dicot or Abingdon on the bus, getting used to navigate in unfamiliar places; understanding risk taking and protective behaviours. September to December – meet off the school bus, picking up and addressing needs, liaising with families, parent workshops and school and project evaluation.

Grant to Abingdon Damascus Youth Project

Our project is defined with reference to OCC’s Sexual Health Needs Assessment (2018) and Teenage Pregnancy Action Plan for Prevention (2019 to 2022). In particular, we would complement the ....more

Our project is defined with reference to OCC’s Sexual Health Needs Assessment (2018) and Teenage Pregnancy Action Plan for Prevention (2019 to 2022). In particular, we would complement the school-based delivery of Relationships and Sex Education (RSE); support for parents to discuss young people's attitude to relationships and sexual health and how to have helpful conversations; youth friendly contraceptive/sexual health services and condom schemes; targeted prevention for young people at risk; advice and access to contraception in youth settings.

Support for groups for whom social isolation and loneliness has become even more intense in this pandemic

The Abingdon Damascus Youth Project works on disadvantaged estates in Abingdon, Drayton, Appleford, Milton, Sutton Courtenay and Steventon. It enables young people, aged 10-20 years, to realise their ....more

The Abingdon Damascus Youth Project works on disadvantaged estates in Abingdon, Drayton, Appleford, Milton, Sutton Courtenay and Steventon. It enables young people, aged 10-20 years, to realise their potential and make a positive difference within their own communities. Funding is towards running costs for The Young Game Changers project to engage young people in local decision making. COVID19 update – The aim is to start during the lockdown, building on current online work which includes 1:1 support, videos on activities (e.g. food), workshops (e.g. on cannabis CHC being sold locally that look like sweets). Using Instagram and Facebook depending on the age group, they are running a daily live session in each community.

Core unrestricted funding.

Core unrestricted funding.

We promote the development of the personal, social & educational potential of young people between the ages of 11 and 15 years living in the area encompassed by Vale of the White Horse ans South ....more

We promote the development of the personal, social & educational potential of young people between the ages of 11 and 15 years living in the area encompassed by Vale of the White Horse ans South Oxfordshire District Councils and in particular those who are disadvantaged by adverse social conditions. We currently focus our work in South Abingdon and Drayton, Appleford, Milton, Sutton Courtenay and Steventon (the first letters of the village names form the acronym DAMASCUS). We are rooted within these communities and work in partnership with Thames Valley police, schools, MASH, Kingfisher and other agencies to deliver positive outcomes for disenfranchised young people. Our core target group consists of young people from low socioeconomic backgrounds with non-existent social mobility. They are variously disengaged from education, lack appropriate support and boundaries at home, experience deprivation, community isolation; succumb to negative peer pressure, have poor life skills and at risk of involvement/already involved with drugs and alcohol and other anti-social behaviour and have unfettered access to social media and inappropriate websites. We have prevented cases of grooming for sexual exploitation, dealing drugs and joining gangs with associated intimidation and violence through our work and partnership with police. Our street-smart youth workers are out on the streets late in to evenings, building trusting relationships and identifying issues which are followed up with bespoke one-to one-support and through high-impact workshops to address the shocking realities of " drugs / streets life" and destroy popular myths and misconceptions. We enable these young people to reflect on how they perceive themselves, their home, communal environments and develop a sense of belonging through opportunities to be recognised for positive youth leadership within community. This also helps them in future job prospects as we are an accredited centre for the award of AQA certificates in achievement.We have a track record of working in partnership with police to prevent escalation such that vulnerable young people are groomed or become victims of drugs, violence and gang membership. As PC James Barraclough of the Abingdon Town Policing Team says, "One more young person that engages with Damascus is one less young person I have to see". Inspector Mags Turner of Thames Valley Police said, " I wish there was a Damascus in every community". Outside the shops in the Gainsborough Green Area of South Abingdon we averted a potential violent and grooming incident when a known gang from Oxford pulled up at our street session. We were able to share intelligence picked up on the streets about gangs from London occupying houses in local villages and towns to groom our young people in to dealing. Following the death of a man in the South Abingdon community, 'Olders' (men from Saxton road aged 20+ ) had been drinking all day and threatening the 'Youngers' (under 16) they saw on the street. A young person got threatened with a knife and was scratched on his face. Young people talked of revenge and the need to carry a weapon for protection. We calmed the situation and got them thinking rationally about the danger of carrying knives for protection. The grant will enable us to employ a specialist youth worker with experience of working on youth gang culture and knife crime prevention in London, to deliver effective interventions engaging both those actively participating in gang and knife related high-risk activities and those on the periphery to reduce exploitation of young people through gang membership and reducing and preventing violent crime. In the course of the work we will share police relevant gang data as well as effectiveness of substance misuse services.

Form Social Action inter-generational community groups

A youth programmeto enhance the whole community, for everyone – including pensioners