BROTHERHOOD
The Brotherhood team held Lil’ Bro activities with confidence-building sessions ranging from the Sandwell High Ropes to Ninja Warrior. They also hosted how-to workshops in DJing, boxing and cooking for My Bro and Lil’ Bro cohorts, and ended the summer with a football tournament and BBQ for young people.
What’s coming up?
To commemorate Black History Month in October, the team will host a series of summits with children, young people and their parents to discuss what it means to grow up in the Black Country as a Black male; these insights will be shared with local professionals. The month will finish with a conference.
Standout Moment
Romae Wright-Dwyer, Project Coordinator – Brotherhood: ‘A great moment was when we convinced one of the parents to join our trip to the Sandwell High Ropes. Another one was playing Monopoly with some of the young people after a workshop.’
GO PLAY
The team held sessions across Sandwell all summer, reaching 2500+ local children. This was their first summer doing Go Play On Tour, where they ran a series of play events across the region. It was a great success, with over 600 young people attending one event alone. Go Play showed they’ve become embedded into communities and that people are invested in what they have to offer, no matter the summertime weather!
What’s coming up?
The team hopes to carry the new connections made with surrounding communities into their regular sessions in the future. They have plans to collaborate with Sandwell’s libraries to run a series of Go Play ‘Library Takeovers’, encouraging children to get back into their local libraries.
Standout Moment
Luke Cartmell, Senior Service Manager, Play, Physical Activity and Public Health: ‘It was great being able to branch out and run a range of sessions in sports, UV and play. We’re used to being split across different sessions as a team, so having the whole team together at our events was fantastic.’
Taylor Eden, Go Play Delivery Coordinator: ‘My highlight was the community spirit – from the small sessions to our big events. It’s been great seeing so many people come together from different areas for our events, as well as seeing familiar faces showing their support.’
NEXT GENERATION NOW (NEXT GEN)
The newly formed Next Gen Youth Board attended their first event, representing Powered by CAN at the ‘Shaping My Tomorrow’ Walsall Youth Summit. The team held extended sessions for the Next Gen clubs in Langley and West Bromwich, and the Gen 22 PowerUp! programme saw young people getting involved in social action planning and delivery. Finally, the first series of the NextUp podcasts was released, filmed with inspirational young people across the Black Country.
What’s coming up?
In September, Next Gen will be starting Takeover Clubs. They’ll also be setting up a steering group for all Gen 22 organisations, giving young people across the West Midlands the opportunity to make a difference to future projects, and starting the Youth Manifesto with the aim to involve 100 young people across the Black Country in shaping our commitments to youth work.
Standout Moment
Dena Khan, Participation & Engagement Officer: ‘Standout moments included getting the Youth Board up and running, and taking them out for a cheeky Nandos.’
GIRLS CAN
The Girls CAN collectives attended activity sessions with the RSPB team at Sandwell Valley Nature Reserve, making bird boxes and taking part in pond dipping and bird watching. In session, they made their own zines, creating collections of letters, journal entries and artwork focusing on self-empowerment. The Langley collective linked up with Sandwell Irish Community Association for their annual community trip, spending a day at Drayton Manor.
What’s coming up?
Some of the girls from the Tanhouse Collective will be reconnecting with Birmingham Open Media (BOM) to continue developing their Mother Nature gaming apps. Due to the success in numbers at Tanhouse, the collective is being split into senior and junior sessions, each guided by their own steering group. Finally, there will be an upcoming Girls CAN event in the October half term break.
Standout Moment
Tia Chana, Project Coordinator – Girls Can, Community Organiser: ‘My favourite moment was finding out that the girls who attended the RSPB workshops had felt inspired to go back to the Sandwell Valley Nature Reserve in their own time. It’s good to know that we can introduce them to new experiences that have an impact like that.’
ARTS, CULTURE AND CIVIC CHANGE
The team delivered arts workshops and experiences across the Black Country this summer. They collaborated with artist Luke Perry to introduce young people to sculpting and clay-making, hosted a drop-in drama session with Luke Hopson which focused on building children’s confidence, and Blackprint’s youth movement programme introduced Black-identifying young people to creative mediums. In addition, Breakin’ Foundations showcased their ability to connect through dance, DJing and design, focusing on young people and fundraising for the local community.
What’s coming up?
Applications closed on 12 September for the Black Country Fellowships for young artists; a representative from each borough will be chosen soon by the Next Gen Youth Board. The New Creatives Programme is currently being set up, and will comprise standalone thematic participatory workshops; the team will be creating taster days, masterclasses, and takeover days, along with an 8-week programme to develop budding artists.
Standout Moment
Misha Elliott, Service Manager/Senior Producer, Arts, Culture & Civic Change: ‘As a newcomer, I’ve loved hearing about the fantastic summer activities. I’m looking forward to us creating future standout moments!’
