I was pointed to a mention of Howden on a commercial property website which stated "Howden featured in The Times' top 20 places with the best standard of living in the UK"
Much as I love Howden (and I do) I didn't really think that sounded right, so I did a little more digging, and lo and behold Howden really was one of the Times top 20 places with the best standard of living in the UK ...in 2005!
Howden is a great place to live, but compared to so many other towns in the East Riding, we could be doing so much better.
One of the key areas we need to address is the absence of provision for both our younger and older generations.
Youth Provision
We have a steadily growing population and , with the honourable exception of the Scouts, Guides and Howden AFC we have virtually no organised provision for young people.
The nearest leisure centre is 5 miles away, and the last bus to Selby is at around 4pm and the nearest cinema is in Castleford!
When we had a spate of anti-social behaviour earlier this year I read a remark on Facebook “Don’t they have anything better to do?” - sadly, when you look around, the answer is probably ‘No”.
Compared to towns of a similar size across the East Riding Howden seeks to be an outlier in terms of youth provision, and I believe that we should be doing something to improve that situation.
First step is to find the answer to one question - What do they want and need?
The way we find out is through a Youth engagement programme “to engage and empower young people from the onset to research among peers and design and deliver the activities they want”
This part of the project aims to promote active involvement and participation among young individuals in the Howden community, training a number of young people in Participatory Action Research, and with them organise events, workshops, and forums to encourage young people to express their ideas, concerns, and aspirations.
The project will collaborate with local schools, the police, community centres, and organisations that currently deliver activities for young people.
When all the data is collated we will end up with a nicely bound report which will evidence the wants and needs and point towards a number of solutions.
Why invest in this report?
Because I’m sure that all of us have a different idea of what young people want - and I’m equally sure that most of us are wrong… if we are to deliver a successful youth provision we have to get buy in and ownership from the users at the very outset. Buy in will get them through the door and ownership will make them come again and again - and encourage a degree of self-policing.
Hopefully the Engagement initiative will encourage parents and residents to come forward to help.
How does it work?
I approached the Moorlands Charity in Goole to give us an illustration of how they would start this project.
They are suggesting recruiting a number of young people to head up the research project and we have started discussions with the High School to find suitable candidates.
Guided by a Senior Youth Worker they will receive ‘Participative Action Research’ training and a tablet on which to collect the data.
They then go out and talk to the people both in their school, and in town at specially organised events, perhaps setting up focus groups and running open meetings.
At the end of the research stage the data is collated and a series of recommendation will be made.
The finished report will be a great tool when we are making funding applications.
What does the final project look like?
I guess the honest answer is that we don’t know yet…
We will need a venue, ideally (and eventually) dedicated as a youth space - but we shouldn’t allow the perfect to be the enemy of the good, we can’t hang around waiting for the right thing at the right time - we need to be doing something now.
The benefits are undeniable - a fully funded project will provide a supportive and inclusive environment for young people, giving them much needed opportunities to socialise, express themselves, and access information and resources relevant to their needs and interests.
In an ideal world we would position a new Men’s Shed on the same site - this has strong social credentials in terms of improved inter-generational cohesion as well as giving us cost benefits in terms of scale.
So what is a ‘Men’s Shed’?
Most men have learned from our culture that they don’t talk about feelings and emotions many do not take an interest in their own health and well-being. Unlike women, most men are reluctant to talk about their emotions and that means that they usually don’t ask for help. Probably because of this, many men are less healthy than women, drink more, take more risks and suffer more from isolation, loneliness and depression.
Good health is based on many factors including feeling good about yourself, being productive, contributing to your community, connecting with friends and maintaining an active body and mind.
Becoming a member of a Men’s Shed provides a safe and busy environment where men can find many of these things in an atmosphere of banter and camaraderie. And, importantly, there is no pressure. Men can just come and put the world to rights and a cuppa if that is all they’re looking for. Members of Men’s Sheds come from all walks of life – the bond that unites them is that they are men with time on their hands and would like something meaningful to do with that time. The Men’s Shed movement has now become one of the most powerful tools in addressing male health and wellbeing.
Working in Partnership
The youth engagement project is just a starting point, and to deliver on the results is going to require a longterm partnership - a coalition if you will - between the people of Howden, the schools, ERYC, Howden Town Council, and donors like Howden Rotary and other local charities.
I am in the midst of starting a CIO (Community Interest Organisation) to run both the youth engagement project and eventually also manage the Men's Shed initiative - as we need this status to receive grant funding from major donors, with trustees drawn from the town, the Town Council and other interested bodies and individuals.
Get in touch
If you are interested in helping, have any ideas, or maybe even want to become a trustee please contact me by email at councillor.david.howard@eastriding.gov.uk. or by phone on 07774 729096.
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