GGP in OT with young people from a Nottingham youth project

2009 award winners GGP in OT have an anti guns and gangs message to tell, loud and clear. Last week group members Fabien, Marvin, Marvin and Markus travelled from Old Trafford to Nottingham to deliver workshops to two youth projects in the area. The research based peer education work they have developed can help get the point home to other young people more effectively than adults might be able to do.

Having lived it themselves and experienced the peer pressure and conflicted loyalties that can lead youngsters to join gangs, they were able to share their own stories with the group and to discuss how they had dealt with the tough decisions facing members of the group.

The key messages were about finding something positive to channel your energy into – for group members aka Crown Jewelz and Solja, this was music. They talked about how when they started to work on music and turn away from gang crime they got flack from people around them and it wasn’t easy to stay focussed. But over time they gained respect for it and now they’re starting to see success and make legitimate money from djing and performing. It’s all about being yourself, and keeping out of other people’s trouble.

PLAnet celebrates some really inspirational young people, and we’re really excited to be able to work with them to give them more opportunities to develop their skills and spread their message to more people.

If you’re interested in GGP in OT’s workshops and would like to know more, do get in touch either by email or by commenting below.

Philip Lawrence Award winners ChatBack Productions are in the news again with their latest project – a film called ‘Handle with Care’. Local comedian and soap star Josie Lawrence has joined the group of young people to star in the film which is currently being filmed in Dudley.

The film covers the gritty topic of domestic violence, and the group, aged between 11 to 18, have been involved in all aspects of its production from devising and writing through to acting and editing.

They funded their project with a grant of £20000 from Mediabox, who offer funding to groups of disadvantaged teenagers for youth-led media projects.

ChatBack Productions, set up by fostered teenagers and foster carers’ birth children, won a Philip Lawrence Award in 2008 for their DVD ‘Fostering Reality’, which is now being seen in schools and Children’s Services, encouraging action to improve the lives of looked after children.

We think they are a brilliant example of young people using their skills and creativity to make a difference, and we’re delighted to see they have gone on to further success.

If you’ve visited the Philip Lawrence Awards website before, you’ll have noticed that things are looking rather different around here.

Today is a big day. In the plush surroundings of BAFTA we’re not only announcing the news of this year’s brilliant award winners, but also launching PLAnet – a brand new dimension to the Philip Lawrence Awards.

PLAnet is the Philip Lawrence Awards Network. Its aim is to give more young people the chance to get involved, share their work more widely, and to allow people to share ideas and get support in developing their projects that might go on to be future winners. This website is a key part of doing that and gives you the opportunity to create a public profile page for your project, and to have your say in the forum and on this news blog.

You can also interact with us through Twitter and Facebook and over the next few months, look out for more ways to connect.

As part of PLAnet, we’ll continue and develop our work with the fellowship of previous award winners, and our participation team Lisa and Arron have lots of exciting plans for next year. We’ll be calling on the experience, talent and ideas of the fellowship to make this website as useful and interesting for young people as possible, so do keep checking back on the news page to hear about what they get up to.

We’d like to say a very big thank you to the team who have been working very hard behind the scenes to get everything ready in time for launch. We’re pretty pleased with how it looks – and hope you like it too.

Research launched today shows two thirds (64 per cent) of adults in Britain overestimate the number of young people involved in crime. Furthermore, one in 10 of the adults questioned over-estimated youth crime by a staggering eight times, effectively labelling two in every five teenagers a criminal. In reality just 5.7 per cent of young people are involved in crime.

Commissioned by the national charity Catch22 on behalf of The Philip Lawrence Awards, the research results show a stark contrast between how the public perceives young people and the real contribution young people make. The research found that 40 per cent of British adults thought teenagers had a predominantly negative impact on their community. Only 7 per cent associated young people with volunteering. Yet the latest figures show just under half of all teenagers (48 per cent) have volunteered in their communities.

The research was launched with a call on the British public to buck the negative trend and nominate young people in their community for The Philip Lawrence Awards. The Awards aim to celebrate young people and highlight the outstanding contribution they make in their communities, with the aim of overturning the negative perception wherein all young people are condemned by the actions of a few.

Joyce Moseley, Chief Executive of Catch22, says: “We must not fall into demonising young people. Young people do not all wield knives and commit crime - many do far more to improve their communities than any other age group.

“It’s really important that we celebrate and reward the good work young people are doing up and down the UK. If all young people ever hear from adults is that they are lazy, dangerous and have no moral values, what is to stop them living up to those expectations.”

Frances Lawrence says: “There seems to be a widespread and deeply engrained notion that young people are responsible for much of what is wrong in our communities. As if trouble and youth are inseparable. Such an attitude is not only hurtful for young people but unhealthy for society as it makes people overly fearful. The Philip Lawrence Awards work from the premise that every young person can achieve great things if only they are given the chance, if they feel that they are being valued and supported, challenged not patronised. Then the possibilities for good are endless.”

The awards are managed by leading young people’s charity Catch22, funded by the Home Office and the Department for Children Schools and Families.

Alan Campbell, Home Office Minister, says:“We know that the vast majority of young people are honest, law abiding and make a positive contribution to their communities. Sadly though, as this research shows, their reputation is still being tarnished by the small minority who do commit crime and antisocial behaviour. I am delighted to support the Philip Lawrence Awards which helps combat these misconceptions.

“We are working hard to tackle both the negative perceptions of young people and the few who do commit crime through our £100million Youth Crime Action Plan (YCAP), which celebrated its first anniversary in July. We have rolled out a number of schemes under YCAP including Operation Staysafe which picks up young people who are on the streets late at night and takes them to a place of safety, followed-up by further help and support where needed.”

Diana Johnson, Schools Minister says: “Young people are sometimes given a hard time by the general public and the media but we know that the vast majority of them play an active, positive role in their communities - a higher percentage of young people volunteer than in any other age group.

“The Philip Lawrence awards give communities the opportunity to celebrate young people’s achievements and recognise all the positive contributions they make to society. We are always looking for ways of involving young people in community decisions and we are giving them a big say in new local youth facilities because we recognise this means they are far more likely to get involved in positive activities, rather than in anti-social behaviour.”

Flava dance crew, from TV’s ‘Britain’s Got Talent’, has joined forces with The Philip Lawrence Awards. The young dancers were invited by Frances Lawrence to be part of the new team that will deliver the 2009 Awards during Flava’s ‘b-inspired’ tour of schools in Newham, London.

Flava, winners of an honorary Philip Lawrence Award last year, have been holding dance workshops for young people as they make the transition from primary to secondary school in September. Using their passion for street dance, Flava demonstrate, in a series of fun workshops, how to deal with issues of bullying and gangs.

Frances Lawrence said: “Flava are a wonderful example of the great things young people can do for their communities. Their creative talent will be a fantastic addition to The Philip Lawrence Awards team, ready to inspire many more young people.”

The new team running the Awards is led by young people’s charity Catch22, with a remit to expand the initiative over the next two years, funded by the Home Office and now also the Department for Children, Schools and Families. Established in 1997, The Philip Lawrence Awards celebrate the positive contribution by groups of young people in their communities.