Smethwick Youth Academy (SYA)

The Smethwick Youth Academy was established in 2006 by a group of professional young people from Sandwell with the aim to improve the lives of disadvantaged children and young people in Sandwell.

We do this by closely working with public, and voluntary sector organisations in involving young people to develop, deliver and review policies and services in response to their needs. In particular, we work closely with the Bangladeshi Islamic Centre, Smethwick to develop young peoples confidence, self-esteem, and increase their future life skills and employability.

For further information about the organisation and how we can work in partnership please contact Abdul Subhan (chairperson) or Anam Choudhury on 01215583791.

Our partnership activities include

Bringing young people from different backgrounds together.

Involving young people in community activities through volunteering, mentoring and community campaigns.

Conflict resolution and

Award ceremonies to celebrate local people and local achievements.

One Stop Shop for Young Women

The project is a “one stop shop” advocacy for disengaged young BME women aged (16-25) to meet, jointly organise and take part in a range of social and educational activities.

The project provides a “One Stop Shop” Advocacy service, a centre for trusted practical advice, information and guidance as well as a focal point of contact on young women's confidence building issues for mainstream agencies, and everyone committed to closing the gaps that exist for BME women. Toward these ends, the work of the project falls into the following four broad categories.                 

Community Outreach: The project provides outreach to individuals, self-help groups through important community events, representation, leaflets and regular feedback to increase their knowledge on public services e.g. health, work, education, housing and skills needs.

Advice: The project provides a most listened to, and active advice network for BME young women in Sandwell. It will act as an advocate and provide intervention, and practical hands on support on accessing public services e.g. health, social care, employment, welfare rights, entitlements and so on.

Information: The project provides a credible information and signposting point for BME women and public service providers to engage each other in access and involvement in public services delivery.

Education and Training: The project is also a standard bearer for education and training regarding women’s confidence building. It provides opportunities for information and skill-based training such as ESOL, Learn Direct, Job Training and so on through collaborative work with mainstream projects and service providers.

Hidden Talents Partnership Pilot September 2008 –March 2009:

Our experience tells us that; young people are often refused employment because of lack of skills and a work history. Therefore Bangladeshi Islamic Centre working in partnership with Smethwick Youth Academy are delivering a ‘Personal Development Training (PDT)’, with 30 young people aged 16-30 as ‘Development Trainees’ on a six months contract. This approch will give young people a sense of focus, pride, selfworth and skills. In doing so, we will be guided by the following steps.

 

Hidden Talents Partnership Proposal to the Young People’s Fund 2:

 

This proposal addresses the established and emerging development needs of young people and focuses particularly on employment, education, skills and aspiration. Young people aged 15-24 in two English regions  (West Midlands and London) have been working together to design, develop and manage an innovative campaign called Hidden Talents Partnership aims to build on and utilise as yet unexplored strengths, skills and abilities.

In 2003, evolving in a dynamic way, Hidden Talents began as a pilot project in response to problems that young people of BME communities encountered in gaining skills, accessing employment, completing education and building aspirations. Furthermore, the project contributes to the government’s ‘Every Child Matters’ strategy and enhances joining up of services for young people. It functions in a proactive, holistic, innovative and enabling way, addressing young people’s whole lives and attempting to remove both real and imaginary barriers. Thus, a vision of ‘realising potentials’ is formulised.

Because the problems associated with disadvantaged young people are long term, Hidden Talent Partnership expects the solutions to be longer term too and offers help in a holistic ways. This is done though a package of personal support, adapting to individual client’s situation, and partnerships with service providers to identify, explore, develop and utilise young people’s hidden skills and abilities. This then leads young people to a position where they can realise their true potential and set them on a course towards securing a brighter future.

This proposal wishes to build on the strength of young people’s hidden talents and abilities and their determination to achieve a better quality of life. The work that this proposal sets out will equip young people with what they need to realise their dreams. Through this project we want to inspire those who are disadvantaged, and those who have been neglected, to become involved in the decision making process to help themselves achieve what they want in life, and invest in a common, sustainable, future.

In producing this proposal we have sought guidance and advice from young people and consulted national and local statistics, government and academic reports on young people, parents and a number of agencies on the best possible ways forward. We wholeheartedly acknowledge the practical advice received from young people, parents, local strategic partnerships, and children and young people’s services both in Sandwell and London. We are particularly grateful to young people and the Senior Advisor of Bangladeshi Youth Movement in Tower Hamlets, whom we consulted intensively during the preparation of this document.