Youngsters get involved to make community a nicer place

Children taking part in the NCS Headliners scheme helped spruce up the garden at Low Simonside Community Association, in Jarrow.

The 15 youngsters worked hard to build flowerbeds, make a path, plant colourful flowers, and generally make the garden, in Taunton Avenue, a nicer place for members of the community to enjoy.

Youth support worker, Cheria Raw, said: “This is part of their social action project, where they need to look at an aspect of the community that they can help with.

“They did a placement at the community centre helping them spruce up the garden and wanted to help make it more accessible for people with difficulties or disabilities, and a nice space for anyone in the community to use.

“They dismantled the old flower boxes that were all rotten and built new ones, made a path, and planted flowers to make it look a lot nicer and much more inviting.

“This project is all about getting young people involved in the community around them.”

Young people taking part in the scheme also organised a community play-out to encourage kids to get off their games consoles and out in the sunshine during the summer holidays.

The group formed ‘Operation Generation’ as part of their work with the Government-funded NCS programme, which is run through charity Headliners, which aims to give young people a voice.

As part of the project, the young people went into care homes to speak to elderly residents about the games they used to play as children.

They learned how to play the games, so they could pass them on to a younger generation at their event at the community centre.

Headliners team leader, Holly Ayrton, said: “I am very proud of how hard the young people have worked for the project. The group were originally wanting to do two separate projects, one with the elderly and one with children. This project meant that they have been able to do both.”