With the Nancherrow Youth Centre in St Just, Penzance being closed since March 2020 local young people have not had the opportunity to come together. As well as helping to make the centre safe to reopen later on in the Summer the funding helps pay for two trained youth workers to work out and about in local hotspots.
This will include dedicated youth support in St Just, Trewellard, Pendeen and Senne. It is intended that the mobile youth work will help to re-engage with young people of the area re-establishing the presence of the Nancherrow Youth Project as support for them.
Nancherrow Youth Project Trustee Isobel Bloomfield said: “The aim of us reaching out and visiting the community is to provide a safe, informal, environment where young people can meet with peers and youth workers. This will enable them to access information and guidance around a whole range of issues. Sessions will be based around the needs and current issues the young people are facing.
“We are keen to explore how they are dealing with the impact of lockdown, Covid-19 restrictions and the new way schools are run – paying particular attention to mental health. We will provide the opportunity to listen to music, have a hot drink and eat biscuits on cold evenings.”
The youth centre required support to ensure the building is Covid-19 safe when it is able to open up, including full cleaning kits and PPE for staff.
It is planned that young people will begin to come back to the centre later on in the Summer allowing youth workers to tap into the impact Covid-19 has had on the local young people and learn from them the direction and activities they would like to see delivered, building a sustainable and safe future for youth activities.
Keri Millar Community Connector from LiveWest said: “The LiveWest grant has enabled the youth project to adapt and change to the needs of the community and we are really excited to see the plans come to life which will benefit the whole community and make a real difference to people’s lives.”
“Nancherrow Youth Centre is a great example of how LiveWest’s most recent round of funding has supported youth groups, digital training, community facilities, and Covid-19 response organisations - all projects making a difference to LiveWest communities and customers.”
Keri added: “LiveWest is committed to investing in our communities and we run a number of different grants programmes throughout the year and have a small grants programme for up to £1,000 open all year for initiatives involving LiveWest customers. We also have an open funding available for Community groups and charities for projects that improve LiveWest communities, their sense of pride and cohesion and address challenges like holiday hunger.”
LiveWest is set to allocate over half a million pounds in grants funding to its customers and communities by the end of 2021. As part of the grants drive during the covid-19 pandemic since March 2020 LiveWest have invested over £300k in crisis and hardship grants for its customers and over £112k in community grants for community spaces and digital inclusion throughout the south west.