2003-2006    The Rural Youth Activities Project
Funded by the Local Network Fund the project employed a part-time Youth Worker to co-ordinate activities and sports in identified rural villages on a regular basis.  In partnership with Berkshire Association of Clubs for Young People’ Sports and Leisure Activities Team (SPLAT) and a mobile ICT bus, activities were provided for 8 years’ old and upwards.  The young people were consulted about what types of activities they wanted.  The project also employed a part time Community Development Worker to work with parents and community members to set up a committee to take over the running of the activities by forming a youth club.  The Community Development Worker assisted parents by helping them develop a Constitution, Child Protection Policy and Health and Safety Policy and apply for independent funding to take the club forward.  Five clubs have been established in this way between 2003 and 2006 and serving up to 50 young people in each session.  They all receive ongoing support and training from Berkshire Association of Clubs for Young People.

Clubs developed by the project include

Compton Bananaz  - junior group and teen group
Frilsham Freaks
Leckhampstead Lizards
West Ilsley Westside
We also have involvement with Beedon and Peasemore Youth Club.

For more information about individual clubs please contact DYN .

2005  Outrider Pilot Transport Scheme
Working with the School Council at the Downs School a group of young people between 15 years and 17 years were given vouchers to subsidise bus and taxi transport.  The project was funded by the Rural Transport Partnership.  30 young people in rural villages with no access to transport benefited over the six month period.  The report is now available but applications for rollout funding have been unsuccessful to date.  PDF download to follow

2004 – Present  Wazupwestberks Website
Following a small pilot project at John O Gaunt School in 2004/05 leading to bronze Duke of Edinburgh Awards for those taking part, DYN has obtained funding from Vodafone to set up an e-magazine for all young people in West Berkshire.  The project is being led by Uniservity who is the provider of the West Berkshire Education web platform, which hosts the DYN site. The project involves working with schools to enable young people to be involved in all aspects of the development of the site and to become e-journalists.  Youth groups, disability groups and other hard to reach groups will also be invited to develop their own web-pages for the site with support from volunteer mentors. Wazupwestberks website    Download leaflet

2006 – Present - Parish Planning - Rural Consultation and Development Project
West Berkshire Council received Beacon Status from the ODPM for Parish Planning in 2006 and is keen to involve more young people in consultation.  Following a pilot project with three communities undertaking Parish Plans in 2006, DYN obtained funding from the Local Network Fund for a Rural Consultation and Development Project to work with Parish Planning Groups to consult with young people in rural communities. The outcomes are then fed back to the Parish Planning Group or Parish Council and with their agreement, DYN works with the young people and adult village representatives to develop an identified sustainable project and find funding to make it a reality.

An example is the Great Shefford Youth Club which has received funding from the Local Network Fund in 2007

2006 – present   Video Consultation Project
Funded by Awards For All, part of the Big Lottery, DYN is compiling a video example of good practice in consulting with young people.  We are working with ATV Productions Ltd, an independent video company, to undertake live video filming  of examples of young people sharing their views on life in rural villages, using a variety of techniques.
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