Helensburgh
‘GIVE’ Youth Volunteering Programme
Once or twice a year the Action Group leads on the development of a youth volunteering programme over the school holidays called ‘GIVE’ (Get Inspired through Volunteering and Engagement). The Action Group identifies and plans volunteering opportunities in their local community. Young people are then invited to complete these activities to support their community and demonstrate the power of ‘youth action’. Young people who complete the programme are then taken to Glasgow for a day trip of fun activities with the group to celebrate and reward their hard work.
Helensburgh and Lomond Youth Action Group
liveArgyll Youth Work Service facilitates weekly meetings with the Helensburgh and Lomond Youth Action Group (Online). The Action Group carry out local community projects and regularly volunteer and represent young people’s views in the area by carrying out weekly meetings which involve regular focus groups and large scale youth consultations on a two yearly basis. The input from the Action Group ensures the local youth work service is entirely youth led by focussing on local youth views, issues and areas the young people would like to develop. The group also take part in an Argyll and Bute youth group exchange programme, go on trips, and do a variety of activities to help them gain a positive experience and develop their skills.
Hermitage Academy
We also provide support in local secondary school for pupils through gaining extra accreditation. Through running projects for young people who are currently unable to successfully access the mainstream education curriculum in school they are able to develop skills, confidence and new experiences. This takes the form of learning activities which seek to engage young people in gaining different types of accreditation such as, SQA award, Dynamic Youth Awards, Youth Achievement Awards, Saltire, Leadership Award and many more.
MSYP Support
We are also pleased to be supporting our new Member of the Scottish Youth Parliament Sophie Bennie-Twist who is based in Helensburgh and Lomond area. She will be representing young people from across Argyll and Bute over the next two years, along with her two colleagues from Kintyre and Bute. Sophie is a passionate about environmental issues and Youth Voice. we are enjoying supporting him in his role to ensure young people’s views are better represented at local and national levels.
Friday Night Football Project
In the Summer of 2021 we successfully reinvigorated our Friday Night Football Project which saw Approximately 90 young people from the Helensburgh and Lomond Area. This project has ran successfully the last 3 summers with a whole host of different partners involved, such as; Active Schools, Police Scotland and Football Task force, MOD Police, Strathclyde Fireservice and Hermitage Academy. This year however we are looking to revamp the project to include more sports as to encourage more young people along to take part. The programme helps to embed positive behaviour habits at a critical stage of development for young people at a time when they are more vulnerable to engage in negative behaviours.
Other Projects – Recent and/or Upcoming
- School Transitions Programmes
- Life Skills
- Weekend Intervention Programme
- Other projects – to be determined by the Action Group and other local young people in response to youth views and issues.
Contact: Thomas.Guy-Conroy@liveargyll.co.uk
Adult Learning
Adult Learning in Helensburgh provides a range of activities focused on wellbeing, and skills development for life and work, as well as accredited courses that provide formal recognition of learning achievement. We cater to the holistic needs of adults within our community to reduce unemployment, improve well-being, and promote lifelong learning.
We are currently delivering a wide variety of projects, including:
- The Learning Café – our informal learning session covering employability, digital skills, wellbeing and general learning issues, all with a bite to eat and a cup of tea.
- The Conversation Café – our friendly drop in service, with a variety of guest talkers, offering support and wellbeing advice, with a cuppa.
- Digital Skills – from short courses to regular drop in sessions, we offer help and learning covering most aspects of digital learning.
- SQA Qualifications – ICT, Wellbeing, Volunteering and Leadership are just some of the rewarding accredited qualifications we can offer up to Level 5.
- Health Issues in the Community (HIIC) – a new and exciting qualification covering all aspects of how our life and community impacts on our health and wellbeing.