COSLA EXCELLENCE AWARDS 2017
PLEASE PROVIDE SOME DETAILS ABOUT YOUR APPLICATION:
CATEGORY APPLIED FOR / ‘Local Matters’PROJECT NAME
(as you wish to see it published) / Street Stuff
LEAD ORGANISATION(S) / Renfrewshire Community Safety Partnership & St. Mirren FC
DEPARTMENT/TEAM / Community Resources
PARTICIPANT NAMES OR PARTNER ORGANISATIONS / Renfrewshire Council / Engage Renfrewshire
Police Scotland / Paisley 2021 Bid Team
Scottish Fire & Rescue
St. Mirren FC
CONTACT NAME / Chris Dalrymple, Regulatory Enforcement Manager
CONTACT DETAILS / Chris.dalrymple@ Renfrewshire.gcsx.gov.uk / 0141 618 4609
CAN WE PUBLISH THIS APPLICATION FORM ON OUR WEBSITE? / YES
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY / In one short paragraph please describe this project is about, what it has achieved, and why it is delivering excellence.
Please note that we may use this summary for promotional purposes on our website and elsewhere.
Street Stuff is Renfrewshire’s award winning diversionary youth programme which provides a range of activities and support for young people across Renfrewshire’s most deprived communities. Initially created to address youth disorder and anti-social behaviour, within deprived communities, the programme has expanded to support Renfrewshire’s Tackling Poverty programme and Paisley’s 2021 bid for Year of Culture. It is partnership programme between Renfrewshire Council, St Mirren FC, Police Scotland and Scottish Fire and Rescue Since 2009 the programme has:
· Improved social inclusion and access to facilities for those young people, who may not be able to experience the services provided,
· Provided healthy meals and education around healthy eating and healthy lifestyles,
· Deployed activities in areas of need with increased positive outcomes,
· Developed and provided employability pathways and opportunities,
· Been successful in breaking down barriers between communities,
· Given young people the opportunity of being involved in activities they wouldn’t normally be involved in.
The success of the programme has been recognised at the national risk management awards where the programme achieved awards 3 years running. In 2017 Street Stuff was awarded Renfrewshire Council’s Chief Executive’s ‘Place Award’ for making Renfrewshire a better place to live in, work and visit.
PLANNING and DELIVERING / What is your project about, and why is it important? What are you aiming to achieve, and how does this fit with the bigger picture? How have you carried out your project effectively? Are you improving efficiency and effectiveness?
The Street Stuff programme was established in 2009 to provide diversionary youth activities to address youth disorder and anti-social behaviour in Renfrewshire’s most deprived communities. Initially, it delivered football and gaming activities three nights per week in anti-social behaviour hotspot areas. It was further expanded to deliver in four different locations, six nights per week to address rises in anti-social behaviour among young females. As well as expanding the number of nights per week the range of activities were expanded to include dance and cheerleading.
The programme supported Renfrewshire’s community planning vision of ensuring that Renfrewshire would be known as a safe and tolerant place where residents and visitors enjoy a high level of personal safety and public protection and are free from crime. This vision was also consistent with the ‘Protecting the Public’ priority of the Council Plan.
In June 2015 Street Stuff was awarded £250,000 Tackling Poverty funding from the Renfrewshire Tackling Poverty programme to expand the delivery of activities after school, weekends and school holiday periods including the provision of a healthy meal. The objectives of the additional funding was to:
· Improve social inclusion and access to facilities to those children in poverty areas, who otherwise would not be able to experience the services provided by the programme,
· Provision of and education around healthy eating and healthy lifestyles,
· Deploy activities in areas of poverty to increase positive destinations for young people.
The expanded range of activities included activities such as football, dance, gaming and clubbercise. In 2016/17, supported by the Tackling Poverty Commission, Street Stuff replaced 5 container boxes with 5 buses equipped with playstations and Xboxes. The buses gave flexibility in providing activities across wider areas in Renfrewshire. Following consultation and promoting ownership, the buses were designed both internally and externally by Street Stuff participants to include ipads, macbooks and DJ decks as well as a fresh new vibrant exterior. Free Wi-Fi was installed following discussions with young people.
Street Stuff became an active partner of the Paisley 2021 Bid Team during 2016/17. The key objective being to engage with young people to raise awareness of cultural activities and to communicate what it would mean for Paisley to win City of Culture in 2021.
Since it was established in 2009 the programme has grown from strength to strength and has opened up a range of opportunities that its participants would not normally get the chance to participate in.
INNOVATION & LEADING PRACTICE / Why is your project innovative? How is it helping to prepare for the future? What is happening to help other organisations benefit from your approach?
The success of the programme relies on its ability to respond quickly to hot spot areas identified through collaborative working supported by Renfrewshire Community Safety Partnership. Being evidence led, and by responding early through the Community Safety Partnership’s daily tasking process, the service is able to divert young people effectively from anti social behaviour into more meaningful activities.
Street Stuff has been recognised as leading practice by the way it has developed its programme of activities to meet local demand and through its ongoing consultation with the young people who participate in the programme.
The targeting of specific groups of youths who are persistent in committing acts of anti-social behaviour has shaped the development of the programme. This has assisted in promoting sustainability and engaging youths in diversionary activities across Renfrewshire.
Due to the work of Street Stuff, young people not normally attached to mainstream youth services have been offered routes to formal volunteering and have been particularly successful within the Saltire award scheme.
The expansion of the service to meet tackling poverty aims and objectives highlights the dynamic nature of the project. Street Stuff’s aspiration is to ensure that young people are listened to and that diversionary activities and relevant support is tailored to meet their needs and preferences.
The programme also seeks to support young people into employment through the innovative practice of recruiting new coaches from among the participants and volunteers. Those recruited receive extensive training on issues that affect young people living in deprived communities and not just training on the activities of the core programme. The continual support and assistance provides pathways into positive destinations for young people who may otherwise have made very different choices in life.
The future direction of the programme has been influenced by an independent evaluation of the programme undertaken by the University of the West of Scotland. This highlighted that the frontline work of Street Stuff supported GIRFEC. This has supported the expansion of the programme over the last few years as well as providing valuable work placement for students.
The success of the Street Stuff Programme has attracted interest from a number of local authorities and organisations including; Dundee United, Inverclyde Council and Morton Football Club, Football Beyond Borders (London), Local Community Groups, the Scottish Football Association and the Scottish Football Partnership.
Street Stuff was also commended by the Care Inspectorate in 2015 for its partnership approach and innovative practices in engaging young people.
RESULTS & IMPACT / What impact are you having, or expect to have? How are you measuring your success? Are you delivering what you set out to achieve? How do you know this?
Street Stuff has been delivering activities in Renfrewshire since 2009, during which the programme has contributed to delivering a sustained reduction in reported youth disorder and anti-social behaviour. Across Renfrewshire a 75% reduction in youth disorder and anti-social behaviour was achieved in the first 5 years of the programme and a further 42% increase in participation levels has been seen over the past 3 years. Over 43,000 participants took part during 2016/17, an increase of 5,000 from the previous year. The programme now offers an expanded range of activities such as football, dance, cheerleading, clubbercise, gaming, DJ workshops, filming and much more.
Progress has been regularly monitored through service improvement plan, Council Plan and Tackling Poverty monitoring reports. It has met and exceeded targets for each of its performance indicators.
The success of the programme relies on its ability to respond quickly to hotspot areas identified through collaborative working supported by Renfrewshire Community Safety Partnership. Being evidence led, and by responding early through the daily tasking process, the service is able to divert young people effectively from anti-social behaviour into more meaningful activities.
An extended holiday programme was delivered as part of the Tackling Poverty programme of activities during the school holiday periods throughout 2016/17. This included the provision of a healthy meal and information on healthy lifestyles. Over 16,000 meals have now been provided at activities since the extended programme began in October 2015.
Another positive outcome for the programme is the increase in the number and percentage of staff delivering activities who have participated, volunteered and live in the Renfrewshire area, rising from 50% to 77% over the course of 2016/17. The ongoing development of the programme will provide volunteering and employment opportunities in the targeted communities. Nine new volunteers were recruited with two of the existing trainees receiving the Saltire Summit Awards for volunteering above and beyond expectations and completing over 200 hours within the programme.
The success of the programme in delivering life changing outcomes for residents is demonstrated through the positive destinations achieved through the Street Stuff programme:
· Opportunities have been created for progression as Street Stuff coaches,
· Six previous participant who became coaches have since progressed to become Police Officers,
· Full time employment has been offered to one participant through Skills Development Scotland as a career advisor,
· One coach has set up their own dance school,
· One resident has moved onto University to complete a degree in Sports Leadership,
The programme will continue to deliver activities for Renfrewshire’s most vulnerable children at evenings, school holidays and weekends. Participants in the programme are recognised as being the best community champions and role models for new generation of Street Stuff attendees. This has helped to remove the stigma of ‘only bad kids attend Street Stuff’.
The experience and development afforded to young people who have participated in the programme is best illustrated by young people themselves. At the Renfrewshire Chamber of Commerce (ROCCO) business awards, in front of 500 people, two young people spoke about their Street Stuff journey from participant to volunteer to further education, with the highlight being:
“If it wasn’t for Street Stuff, I wouldn’t have had the confidence to stand here tonight.”