What we do?

The Avenues Youth Project provides a wide range of activities and projects for young people to participate in.  All our projects are devised following consultation with young people themsleves, and all offer the chance to gain accreditation.

We use all our projects as a way of getting key messages across to our members in a non-threatening way.  These include information concerning sexual health, drugs education, health eating and speaking and listening skills.

In addition to our projects, we also raise funds to enable young people to broaden and widen their experiences.  In the last 2 years we have taken a group on Ski Camp and another older group went as part of a British Council visit to China.

 Junior Group and Junior Leaders

One of the key aspects of our work is to give young people opportunties to take on responsibilities within the youth centre.  At any one time, we have 3 - 4 young people acting as Junior Leaders.  Following a 3 month volunteering period, these young people are also paid an hourly rate for their work for the club.   The young people plan all the activities of the junior youth club, prepare session plans and conduct evaulations at the end of each session.  They produce their own leaflets and publicity and undertake outreach work to attract new members to their projects.  We also enable them to access introduction to youth work training courses.

Avenues FM

Each February the Avenues secures a one month FM radio broadcast license and runs Avenues FM - a month long community radio station. Run for young people, this project enables our young people to engage with the wider local community, offering slots, adverts and whole programmes to local community groups, the police, council and other service providers etc. to advertise their work.  Programmes have included phone-ins with the local police, phone-ins to the MP, a healthy living initiative, Bengali and Kongolese programmes as well as our Young People themselves conducting discussions or playing their favourite tunes.

 Annual Fashion Showcase

We also produce an annual fashion showcase event each year which involves a large number of young people in planning and then delivering an evening spectacular of fashion and music with costumes they have made themselves.   Last year the event was hosted at the Paddington Hilton and this year will take place at the newly re-opened Tabernacle - Carnival Village.  This event is the one time in the year when the young people are able to show off their talents and skills to their friends and families.

Support into Education and Work

Alongside our project work, youth workers regularly support young people with CV writing, job applications, references, interview skills and other support needed to assist young people as they progress from school to the world of work.  We also encourage our young people to remain in school or college and support them with college applications, providing evidence of their achievements within the club to support any applications they make.