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About Artilleryartilleryyouthcentre.org/Annual Repo 2009.pdf · About Artillery Artillery Youth Centre is a youth led project for young adults based in the New Lodge area of North

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Page 1: About Artilleryartilleryyouthcentre.org/Annual Repo 2009.pdf · About Artillery Artillery Youth Centre is a youth led project for young adults based in the New Lodge area of North
Page 2: About Artilleryartilleryyouthcentre.org/Annual Repo 2009.pdf · About Artillery Artillery Youth Centre is a youth led project for young adults based in the New Lodge area of North

About Artillery

Artillery Youth Centre is a youth led project for youngadults based in the New Lodge area of North Belfast. Itis independent and works with marginalised groupsincluding young parents, young offenders, youth atrisk and school refusers. The key aim of the project isto foster a climate where innovative and creative workwith children, young people and their families can bedelivered.

Current work includes; the management of the NewLodge Area Project which works on a range of projectsaround the themes of employment, empowerment,education and poverty – this work includes thedevelopment of a number of social economy projects, ayouth bank, an advice unit and a youth forum. We alsomanage Artillery Youth Centre which has a youth runcyber café, a drop in project and an outreach initiative.The Young Parents Project works with parents underthe age of 25 and their dependents and the Youth

Safety Project which addresses issues such as domesticviolence and its effects on young people and theeffects of violent and risk taking behaviours. We alsomanage the Hub which is a multimedia facility that has avideo training project and a DJ school with trainingaccredited by OCN.

We host a community based Youth bank which givesgrants to young people throughout North Belfast whichare assessed and managed by young adults.

Artillery currently employs 10 staff and 14 volunteersand is the most visible and professional youthprovision in the Greater New Lodge. Managed by aSteering Group of local people, the project engendersthe participation and empowerment of young people.Our staff team are professionally qualified or inprofessional training and are from the New Lodge area.

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Over the past seven years the key statistics are that:

70 young people undertook driving lessons (52 havesince passed their driving test)140 young people undertook DJ skills training108 young people completed the Youth AchievementAwards at Bronze Level20 young mothers finished a course in DrugsAwareness24 young people completed their emergency First Aid168 young people participated in alternatives toviolence training12 young leaders took part in the Young CommunityLeaders Programme153 young parents and 181 children took part inactivities and programmes101 residentials were completed as part of theprogramme16 young people completed child safety in the hometraining12 young people took part in an international exchangein South Africa570 Young people have registered for the textmessaging service36 young adults used Artillery drop in facility onaverage daily during this period655 young people were targeted through outreachduring this period12 Young people completed their OCR in Computers15 young people participated in Web design workshopsThe Centre has been closed for 48 days out of possible2455.NLR youth magazine delivered to every household fivetimes103 Young people has joined the Youth Savings Union612 young people have participated in consultationeventsYoung people have been involved in 14 major fundingapplications.On average the centre has been open 65 hours per weekduring this period.154 young people attended careers events at Artillery20 young people have been employed by Artilleryduring this period.

100 young people have taken part in three GCSErevision schools.6 public enquiries/youth juries have taken place.9 young people have taken part in UK wide youthforums18 young people have acted as grant assessors for theYouth Bank.12 young people have gained childcare qualifications6 members of staff have undertaken JNC youth workertraining40 young women have participated in the personalsafety alarm project23 youth projects have been supported by ArtilleryYouth Bank.

The key aim of this project was to develop a model ofwork with young people to examine the nature ofviolence and to explore alternatives to it. This wasconceived as a response initially to violence in the NewLodge/ Newington/ Tigers Bay interfaces. We wereconcerned that so many of the young men in the 15-19age group who we worked got involved in recreationalrioting and sectarian violence. We saw that manyreceived injuries, had been arrested and had begun tosee this behaviour as somehow normal and acceptable.

Initially we devised a workshop-based programme thatattempted to address not only the nature of violencebut also put in place practical responses to the effectsof violence. This included teaching emergency first aid,bringing in a solicitor to talk about what to expect ifthey became involved with the criminal justice systemand working through a series of sessions that examinedwhat it meant to them to be a male.

The evaluation of this programme led to a furtherdevelopment of the programme during the year and wehave since worked with mixed sex groups and youngwomen alone. What became apparent was that casualviolence was a big issue, whilst the programme wasprompted by the street based sectarian violence; it wasobvious that issues such as fighting in clubs, domesticviolence and bullying were a greater concern for youngpeople.

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We completed a major piece of research into violenceand young women (The findings can be found at thefollowing address: http://www.artilleryyouthcentre.org/research.pdf ) We have designed a ten week curriculumand have over the past year delivered it five timesinvolving 48 young people.

Over the past two years we have been supported byComic Relief UK to do this work and have employed adevelopment worker to work alongside young people,voluntary and statutory agencies to address the issueof domestic violence and young people. The keytargets include setting up a coordinated response todomestic violence amongst agencies, training up youngparents to act as mentors and advisors, impacting onpolicy and procedures amongst all communityorganisations in the area and creating a trainingprogramme that will give young people the skills,confidence and awareness to deal with unhealthyrelationships and violent situations.

The key achievements of the project over the past yearare:

· 16 young people received an OCN level twoqualification in positive and healthyrelationship programme,

· 10 young people received an OCN level onequalification in domestic violence awareness.

· 7 young people received an OCN level onequalification in self awareness and confidencebuilding.

· 15 young people took part in awarenesstraining with Women Aid.

· 60 young women participated in a survey, thekey aim of the survey was to determine thelevel of knowledge of young women’s safety inthe Greater New Lodge Area, the launch of thefinding will take place late may

· 14 young people and parents took part in anumber of focus group to deal with bestpractice on how the project could deal with theissues of domestic violence and young people.

· 7 young people took part in a study visit toLiverpool they visited similar projects that dealwith the issue of domestic violence.

· 20 young parents participated in a number ofhealthy relationship workshops delivered by

the project during a young parents’conference.

· Over the past year we have worked directlywith over 200 young people, young parentsand community organisation, who haveparticipated in focus groups, awarenesstraining, surveys, study visits and policymaking.

· 15 young people and parents have received anumber of training courses that enables themto take on the role of peer mentors.

· As a result of the focus groups all organisationin the Greater New Lodge have receivedtraining and have adopted a domestic violencepolicy for their centres.

· 22 community people participated inworkshops and seminars to address the areawide response.

· 15 local community workers, volunteers andmembers of management committees have

received training from Women’s aid around theissue of domestic violence.

· Over 1000 people have received relevantinformation around the issue throughinformation points.

· 340 young people participated in a surveydesigned by the project to address issuesaround youth safety that has led to the designof a Youth Safety pilot project that will berolled out across Northern Ireland over thenext 5 years.

· 8 community organisations completeddomestic violence workshops with women’said

· All local organisations have been involved inthe design of a domestic violence policy and adraft set of procedures that will go some wayto establishing a common response to theissue amongst every community organisationin the area. Our intention is to use this as ablueprint that will help to bring statutoryagencies along with an agreed co-ordinatedframework for dealing with the issue of

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The Young Parents Project has used the Hub for designof posters, flyers and publications.

The Hub has been used for the hosting and design ofsix websites including those Artillery Youth Centre,New Lodge Area Project, the Terry Enright Foundation,Newington Residents, the Young Parents Project andthe Youth Providers Forum. The Youth InformationProject – a CEP youth programme managed by the NewLodge Youth Forum produce all their information at theHub and a text messaging service which has 270 youngadults aged 15-25 registered is based at the HubThe Hub has also produced video projects forGroundwork NI and the Terry Enright Foundation.

In some ways the Hub has exceeded any expectationswe had for it. The amount of usage has beenremarkable and at times we have had to refuse groupsbecause it is has been over subscribed. In otherrespects its original rationale for the Urban programmethat it would reduce anti social activity and have animpact of reducing interface tensions seems ambitiousand difficult to quantify.

Certainly in terms of outputs we could point to thefollowing:

1. 6 websites developed and hosted byyoung people at the Hub

2. 140 young people completed DJ skillscourses

3. 26 young people trained in videoproduction

4. 5 issues of NLR magasine designed,printed and delivered to 2500 homes in thearea

5. 12 major video productions completedwith more than 50 young people involvedin the productions

6. Text messaging service managed from theHub with 270 young adults currentlyregistered for the service

7. 8 local youth groups have used the Hubfor their programming

8. Handbook designed and printed for theYouth Savings Union

9. 70 young people have completed tastersessions through their participation on theYouth Achievement Awards programme.

The Hub has been a useful tool in engaging withunattached young people. The Text Messaging Serviceand the DJ schools have been particularly relevant tothis target group. The Youth Information Project hasdesigned colourful posters and flyers at the Hub andthis project has sought to reach out and inform allyoung people in the area. It has been a tremendousresource not only to Artillery Youth Centre but also toother groups in the area.

domestic violence and its impact upon youngpeople.

· 4 focus groups have been held throughout theyear to help establish a way that thecommunity could work together in dealing withthe issue.

· 8 local people have been participated in anumber of training courses that equip them totake on the role of advice workers and peermentors.

· We have recorded the recommendations of thefocus groups and have used these as thebasis for a wider consultation with youngpeople in relation to the notion of a “one-stopshop” or coordinated response.

· We continue to have regular contact with keyorganisations, to help build a better localresponse when dealing with the issues.

The Hub is a community owned multimedia suitemanaged by Artillery Steering Group and based atArtillery Youth Centre. Funded in the main by a grantfrom the Urban 2 Programme, it delivers training toyoung people in a variety of disciplines including web-design, publishing, video production and DJ skills andmusic production.

Opened in January 2004, the facility boasts state of theart computer facilities, a video edit suite using PremierePro, a DJ training booth using Technics equipment, anda training room for work with groups. The Hub useslicensed software including Adobe Photoshop,Macromedia, Cubase, Pagemaker and Premiere Pro.With trained staff on site, the facility offers a base formultimedia work with young people includingpublishing, video and music production, web designand DJ schools.

The New Lodge Area Project has used the Hub for thedesign and publication of its magasine NLR which is ayouth oriented publication delivered to everyhousehold in the New Lodge and Newington Areas.

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Artillery Drop in Centre

The Drop in Centre is open 7 days per week and sixnights. In total Artillery Youth Centre is open to thepublic 65 hours per week. The Drop in opens until11pm most nights and to midnight on other nightsand is somewhere where young people can come totake part in training programmes; find out information;get help with official documents; get access to theinternet through the Cyber Café; or just have a gameof pool or a cup of tea. Artillery is a welcomingenvironment that is open to any young person in theNew Lodge, Carrickhill or Newington areas aged 15-25years.

The drop in centre is a neutral and safe environmentfor young adults where information on all the servicesavailable can be accessed. It is the one project that ismost like a traditional youth service and yet theatmosphere is very distinct, the décor inviting and itsfocus on young adults unique.

The key aim of the Young Parents Project is to improvethe lives of children living within the Greater New LodgeCommunity using young parents as a catalyst. Theproject employs a youth worker who works alongsideyoung parents to help them feel motivated, active andempowered to become not just responsible parents butequal members of this community. A programme ofeducation, training and personal development has beencreated in partnership with young parents who will becentrally involved in the delivery and evaluation of theprogramme.

In addition to this the project will create a forum that willact as a lobbying and advocacy group for other youngparents and their children in the wider community. Theproject aims to use a variety of activities and principlesincluding peer assisted learning, advocacy, lobbyingand partnerships to ensure that young parents are at theheart of any decisions made that affect the lives of both

them and their children.

Over the past year the Young Parents Project hasrecieved funding from BBC Children in Need to employ afull time co-ordinater and to develop a range of pro-grammes with parents and their children. This hasincluded a healthy lifestyles programme that looks ateverthing from parenting skills to healthy relationships

and from healthy cooking to baby massage. Threemembers of staff have worked on the project in the pastyear including Anna Marie Burns, Dervla Skelly andPatricia Breen.

Parents have been involved in training and empower-ment programmes through the New Lodge Area Projectand have been instrumental in designing aspects of theYouth Safety Project in particular as it relates to issuesof domestic violence and the safety of young women.

We have more than 80 young parents registered with theproject who are between the age of 15-25 and have ransummer programmes on top of the on-going work. Anaspect of the work of the project over the past year hasbeen to develop two social economy initiatives aimed atproviding young parents with training and employmentopportunities.

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The New Lodge Area Project has undergone a transitionover the past year. The project had been supported bythe Children’s Fund but was successful in securingfunding from the Big Lottery for 5 years from March2009. The key themes remain constant, namely Poverty,Education, Employment and Empowerment. The pastyear has seen the project work with young people and

agencies to identify and create projects andprogrammes for the benefit of all young people in thisarea. The projects and programmes that have beencreated are the Youth Savings Union, YouthBank, EasterGCSE Revision and Careers School, Youth Newsletterand Youth Information Service, the focus of the projectswork this year has been to assist these projects becomeestablished and plan for their short-term future.

The Debt Management Project is a programme, whichaims to address the problem of debt and the issues thatcan arise through this. The project offers a savingsfacility for all young people included in this initiative isthe opportunity for small loans at a minimal interestrate; members receive special incentives to saveregularly. Also provided by the project are smalleducational courses aimed at money management.

The Youth Bank is a group of young people from thearea who have secured funding to award groups ofyoung people with small grants to assist them with theirprojects or ideas. The group has seen a change inpersonnel during the year but training for the newgroup members has taken place and to date more than

£10000 has been distributed by the group in grants toother groups of young people in the area. Over the

coming year we intend to distribute more than £7000 ingrants to young people in North Belfast

The Youth Information Service comes in two forms; thefirst is a text messaging service with information beingsent to young peoples mobile phones on areas theyhave expressed interest in, the second beinginformation points, these are secure sites, located areawide which advertise and publicise upcoming eventsand useful contact numbers.

A significant strand of the work of the New Lodge AreaProject over the past two years has been the building ofa portfolio of training courses which are offered toyoung people throughout the area and further a field.We currently deliver OCN training in DJ skills (levels1&2); Money Management (Level 1&2); Grant Making(1&2); Dangers of Drugs and Violence (level 2); VideoProduction (Level 1); Fundraising Skills (Level 1&2) andHealthy Lifestyles (level 1&2). We also accredit andassess a number of other training programmes including

Outdoor Play Skills (levels 1&2) and CommunityDevelopment (level 1.) Over the past year alone wehave delivered accreditation to 124 young adults.

The establishment of youth committees in centresthroughout the area clearly failed because staff atcentres were reluctant to devolve any decision makingpowers to young people or didn’t understand the

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concept of participation. Others were happy to let theNLAP staff undertake this work but would commitneither time nor resources of their own to it. It hasbeen a source of frustration for the project.

That we received funding for the project of over£200,000 from the Reaching Communities Initiative ofthe Big Lottery was testament to the far-sightedness ofthe New Lodge Area Project and its potential to bringreal benefits to young people and the wider communityover the coming five years. The key outcomes for thecoming year include:

1. At least 80 young people will achieveenhanced educational qualifications this year

2. 16 long term unemployed young people andyoung parents will move into employment.

3. Two social economy initiatives will besupported by the project over the comingyears.

4. A debt management initiative will be deliveredand 100 young people will participate.

5. Five empowerment projects will be deliveredincluding the youth jury scheme

Summer Intervention Programme

Our summer scheme was funded by the BELB, BelfastCity Council and The Children’s Fund, and operatedfrom the start of June until the middle of August. Theprogramme included outreach and detached work withyoung people aged 15 and up and involved a range ofinitiatives including 3 OCN training courses in DJ skills,Healthy Lifestyles and Dangers of Drink and Drugs.

The programme operated 6 days each week during thisperiod and involved residentials to Edinburgh, the NorthAntrim Coast and the Mournes. Activities includedWatersports, Caving, Canoeing, Football, Bowling, Ice-skating, Bouldering, Climbing and Deep Sea Fishing. Atthe same time Artillery Drop in Centre was openthroughout this period at nights and weekends offeringinternet access, multimedia facilities and a safeenvironment for young adults.

The Point to Point programme was supported by the NorthBelfast Community Action Unit and was developed byArtillery Youth Centre to address interface violence andanti social behaviour. We identified Friday evenings andSunday afternoons as times when interface violence wasmore likely to take place. We targeted transport and staffresources at the three main interface areas; North QueenStreet, Limestone Road and Clifton Street and we wereable to work with a core group of young people whocongregate at these areas and who were more likely to beat risk from interface violence.

In response to this the staff team – which included workersfrom Artillery, Newington and the Youth Providers youngleaders programme delivered a programme of activitiessuch as water sports, team building and outdoor activities.This programme had a significant impact across the wholecommunity with a marked reduction in interface violencethroughout the summer.

Importantly the staff involved was able to buildrelationships with young people and their families andto address the interface issues directly. It is fair to saythat this programme has had the most significant impacton the relative peace on the interface this year (and last)of any initiative. The Point to Point programme wasoffered over a six week period, with more than 120young people taking part.

Artillery Staff worked as volunteers on two separate familyfun days (Lark in the Park) on the 12th July both of whichwere supported by Belfast City Council. Artillery YoungMothers ran a fun day at North Queen Street Park and theNew Lodge Youth Forum ran a family fun day at AlexandraPark. Both events were attended by hundreds of youngpeople, parents and families and included the usual stageevents, inflatables, barbeques, activities and games.

Entirely staffed by volunteers both events were successfuland contributed to a peaceful 12th day in both areas.

The need for the Extra Intervention Programme wasidentified through the Youth Provider’s Forum that allyouth provision throughout the area would be closed forthe last two weeks in August. It was felt that it wasimportant that the benefits of the extensive summer

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programme delivered throughout the area would not belost because of a lack of provision during these two weeks.A plan to allow qualified youth workers to devise anddeliver a programme during these two weeks wasproposed by staff at Artillery Youth Centre and proposedto the Youth Providers Forum and the New Lodge CEP.

Ten youth workers from the area agreed to deliver theprogramme which involved 4 activities each day for 14days. Those who worked on the project did so duringtheir annual leave entitlement and included 6 members ofstaff from Artillery and one each from the Cornerhouse, 2Parks Project, Terry Enright Foundation and the CEP youthworker.

The programme ran from Monday 18th August through tothe 31st August. The project was delivered on an outreachbasis and from four locations – Atlantic Avenue, NorthQueen Street, Clifton Street and Lepper Street. In all 960young people took part in activities and ranged from 6 –16 year olds. Staff worked an average of 46 hours eachand there were 49 individual activities. This programmeserved three main interfaces and it contributedsignificantly to overall success of the SummerIntervention. The North Belfast Community Action Unitsupported the programme.

The key activities undertaken by the Youth Forum overthe past year included:

Lark in the ParkYouth Information PointsYouth WeekStudy visit to the EdinburghOn-going development of the Youth Jury model.

The consensus was that the expert jury/ peoples courtsystem could be a good way to involve young people indialogue with voluntary, community and statutorybodies. The Youth Jury system has brought youngpeople from the area into dialogue with groups asdiverse as Sinn Fein, CRJ, the New Lodge FleadhCommittee, the Probation Board, Youth Justice Agency,Local Youth Providers and Childcare Providers in thearea.

There has been a considerable interest in the method ofinvolving young people in decision making and inhaving their say about issues of the day. The Jurieshave looked at contentious issues and the findings

have provoked debate. One of the remarkable aspectsof the youth jury system is that allows all and anyyoung person to get involved and not just the usualmost articulate and confident young people who tend topopulate youth forums. The model was adopted overthe past year by the Participation and Rights Project tolook into issues surrounding the redevelopment ofGirdwood.

Over the past year the Text messaging service has beenrevamped. Members of the Youth Forum took part in astudy visit to Edinburgh and there has been someplanning gone into the resurrection of the notion ofmembers committees in the youth centres in the area.Members of the Youth Forum took part in a number ofconsultation events throughout the year including theconference on Youth Safety in partnership with NIAlternatives, Challenge for Youth and the Terry EnrightFoundation.

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CEP Youth Programme

We have continued to deliver a range of programmesunder the auspices of the New Lodge CEP over thepast year in spite of a very difficult relationshipbetween Artillery Youth Centre and the Ashton Trust –the lead partner. We have aired our concerns about thegovernance, minute taking at meetings and proceduresof the CEP.

This has caused us no end of frustration and at onepoint our staff and volunteers completed a petition inresponse to the Ashton Centres’ attempt to removeHarry Murphy from the Inner North NeighbourhoodRenewal Partnership with more than 600 residentssigning that stated that:

“We the undersigned are concerned about the servicesfor young people in our neighbourhood and arecontent that the best local person to represent ourviews is the Senior Youth Worker at Artillery YouthCentre Harry Murphy who report back to us on anyplans for youth development in this community. We areresidents of this neighbourhood.”

We completed a review of the work of the CEP YouthProgramme in March 2009 and the Steering Group ofArtillery agreed to honour our commitments to theprogramme but not to undertake any new partnershipswith the CEP in the absence of fundamental reforms ofits procedures and operations.

The review of the CEP Youth Programme found thefollowing:

Youth InformationCurrently 260 young adults registered for textmessaging service23,682 messages have beensent out since it was set up in 2004670 youngpeople have used the service16 YIPs weresited in the Greater New Lodge area6 websiteswere supported by the CEP youth programme3websites still operational

Economic Empowerment120 young people completed OCN level 1 inMoney Management19 young peoplecompleted OCN level 1&2 in GrantGivingYouth Savings Union had 95membersLinks established with Banks(Northern &First Trust)Links established withCredit UnionFinancial Training Pack Produced

Youth Providers ForumQuality Assurance audit completed with allgroups by University of Ulster10 providersparticipated in joined up workPublication ofSummer Programmes for all groups

Point to Point3024 young people participated in P2Pactivities216 activities were delivered Activitesincluded sports, recreational and trainingevents.25% of the project delivered inCarrickhill, 25% in Newington and 50% in theNew Lodge.

Mobile Support ProgrammeThe Programme employed 7 young peopleaged 16-21 as traineesTrainees have taken partin 10 residentials6 have completed the OCN inoutdoor play4 have completed their childprotection trainingThey have worked on 2conferencesTrainees have helped to completearea wide research projectThey have workedon the Youth bank and the Youth ForumHavesupported the work of 8 projects

Youth ForumDelivered 4 youth juries attended by 276young peopleCompleted 6 residentialsHelpedto manage three conferencesCompleted thewasted space report on New LodgeenvironmentCompleted an exchangeprogramme with South AfricanPartnersCompleted study visits to London andBradfordYouth Juries addressed issues suchas childcare, youth work, anti social behaviourand the New Lodge Festival.Young peopleinteracted with decision makers

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Video Evaluation2 local young people employed by the project6documentary evaluations of issues relevant tothe area produced28 young people completedtraining

Driving Skills70 young people participated in theprogramme34 passed their driving test within18 months of the startProgramme ran for oneyear

DJ Training36 young people completed their OCN in DJSkills2 are trainers4 work professionally as DJs

Intervention Programme280 young people completed the young peopleand violence programme122 young peoplereceived Youth Achievement Awards156received OCN qualifications135 young parentsand their children participated in training andactivities16 residentials were deliveredYouthWeek delivered 27 different activities, eventsand programmes and ran for two years at theend of August.28 young people completedvideo training10 programmes were delivered bygroups working in partnership19 peoplecompleted training courses

Extra Intervention1296 young people took part in summerintervention programme in 2006890 youngpeople took part in summer interventionprogramme in 2007624 young people took partin summer intervention programme in 2008TheYouth Festival had events and activities thatwere attended by more than 3000residentsProgrammes included Summer Camps,Outreach and detached work, diversionaryactivities and residentials.Programmesdelivered in three locations New Lodge,Carrickhill and Newington on Fridays andSundays.Extra Intervention programme was

delivered cooperatively with participation frommost youth providers.

CostsOriginal budget for youth programme was £89-£93k per year (2003)This budget included JNCsalary for youth co-ordinatorThe originalbudget envisaged a team of part time outreachworkersThis budget included overheads,stationary, postage and insuranceYouth co-ordinator post was rejected in favour of ayouth workerAll running costs werecentralised and no overheads were paid to anyof the youth providers delivering theprogramme.

Actual CEP youth programme budget for 2008/2009 was £31,992This figure does not includethe Extra InterventionSalaries paid to youngpeople total £13,371 (42% of total)£18,621(58%) was direct programme expenditureAn1702 children and young people participated inthe programme each year The youthprogramme cost on average £18.80 per personper yearProgramme costs (2008) are follows

Economic Empowerment £6,466Youth Providers£1,595Youth Information£2,384Intervention£8,575Point to Point£4,420Mobile Support£6,676Youth Forum£1,875I

n line with full cost recovery best practice,Artillery Youth Centre alone estimates that itsubsidised the CEP youth programme eachyear to the tune of £28,751 made up asfollows:Salaries £24,306Insurance £1,500Telephone£361Postage£22Heat, Light and Power£433Audit£106Residentials£1,934

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Office Costs£89

All other youth providers who were involvedin the delivery of youth programmes for theCEP would have incurred costs.The overallCEP budget for 2005/2006 was £225,576.70

.In that year the Youth Programme budget was£34,101 or 15% of the overall budget.In termsof the entire CEP programme budget the youthprogramme represented about a third ofexpenditure. In subsequent years the CEPprogramme budget shrank considerably andthe youth programme was the most significantelement of the programme budget. (Certainlywe would estimate it to be more than 60% ofthe CEP programme budget for 2008)CEPoverheads for that year were close to £48,000.

These included:Caretaking and Cleaning£1030Staff Training£3000Staff Expenses£1500Rent and Rates£8240Heat and Light£2060Materials and Office Consumables£4120Telephone £2120Postage£1030Insurance£1030Professional Fees£1000ICT Expenses£8239Promotion and Advertising £2060Management Costs for Lead Org£12360

Salaries for that year totalled £107,849 forthose staff based at the CEP office at theAshton Centre. This figure does not includethe young people employed through the YouthProgramme.

It is a source of extreme disappointment to us how theCEP turned out. It is evident that a huge amount ofwork was completed by Artillery Youth Centre under thebanner of the CEP which is testament to ourprofessionalism and commitment to the original idealsof partnership and the empowerment of local people.Local young people benefited from the programmes wecreated which were supported by funding from theNorth Belfast Community Action Unit and channelledthrough the CEP. We were grateful for it and our proudof the role we played in the CEP.

The Year Ahead

We intend to deliver a wide range of programming in thecoming year including the further development of theNew Lodge Area Project, the Young Parents Project, theYouth Information Project, Youth Savings Union andwork in partnership with other groups. We will deliver asummer intervention programme; continue to contactyoung people through outreach, text messaging andface-to-face contact.

Our social economy projects over the coming year will,we hope, go some way towards sustainability for youthservices and we are confident of our ability to innovate,work harder and smarter to ensure that we continue todeliver quality services to young adults in thiscommunity and further a field.

Next year will be exiting and will present particularchallenges for our work with young adults. Wecontinue to enjoy the support of a number of keyfunding bodies but with the economic climate what it is,we expect the coming months to be difficult financiallywhilst clearly there will be an increase in the need forour services.

We will continue to deliver quality programmes basedupon the needs of young people in partnership withthem and will do so with education being at the heart ofwhat we do.

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Staff Profiles

Anna Marie BurnsAnna Marie has experience ofworking with young women andis currently employed with theDebt Management Project andcoordinates the Young ParentsProject. Anna Marie has beeninvolved with Youth Forum andhas been involved in thedelivery of the Young Peopleand Violence Programme. She iscurrently studying for her diploma in Community YouthWork at Jordanstown.

Peter McCannPeter was a founding memberof Artillery Steering Group and,before being employed with theYoung Parents Project, was avolunteer at Artillery. He hascompleted the OCR in YouthWork and has been involvedwith the 4-Front AwardsProgramme. He is currently theSecretary of the Greater New Lodge Youth Forum.Peter is currently studying for his diploma inCommunity Youth Work at Jordanstown.

Billy McDonaldBilly is the longest servingemployee of Artillery YouthCentre and has a range ofexperience and qualifications incommunity youth workincluding outreach, group workskills and RSA. He is currentlyinvolved in the New LodgeArea Project. Billy also worksfor Extern’s Pathways Project.

Harry MurphyEmployed as a Senior YouthWorker by Artillery for thepast six years. A graduate inCommunity Youth Work fromSt Martins College, Harry has18 years experience in youthwork and has worked in theStatutory and VoluntarySector. He is currentlyinvolved in the design astrategy for youth provision for North Belfast with anumber of Community Empowerment Partnerships andsits on the Inner North Neighbourhood RenewalPartnership.

Dervla SkellyCurrently completing theDiploma in Community YouthWork with the University ofUlster, Dervla is employed bythe New Lodge Area Project.She has been employed byArtillery for eight years and arange of qualifications andexperience from detached andoutreach to advice andadvocacy work with young people.

Cathy ValenteCurrently completing theDiploma in Community YouthWork with the University ofUlster, Cathy has worked as ayouth outreach worker and iscurrently employed as a youthworker with the DomesticViolence Project. Cathy hasbeen involved in the design anddelivery of the Young Peopleand Violence Project and has adiploma in communitydevelopment alongside her youth work qualifications.

Eamon CoyleEamon has been involved withArtillery for the past five years.He is the current chair of theGreater New Lodge YouthForum and is employed as anadministrator with the YouthSavings Union. He is alsoinvolved in the national YouthBank and has delivered trainingto potential youth banks inAzerbaijan. He is currentlystudying for his diploma in Community Youth Work atJordanstown.

Natalie LewesleyNatalie worked as a youthsupport worker this year andwas funded by the CEP todeliver outreach services in thearea and to train in youth work.Natalie completed the OCN inoutdoor play and worked withyoung womens groups over thepast year.

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Ciara MaskeyCiara worked as a youthsupport worker this year andwas funded by the CEP todeliver outreach services in thearea and to train in youth work.Ciara has volunteered on anumber of projects and hasworked on consultation eventswith young people and hasbeen involved in the Youth Safety Project over the pastyear.

Jennifer AlsoppJennifer worked as a youthsupport worker this year andwas funded by the CEP todeliver outreach services in thearea and to train in youth work.Jennifer has been involved inthe Youth Bank over the pasttwo years.

Patricia BreenPatricia is a JNC qualified youth worker who has workedfor the WELB as a detached youth worker and wasemployed as a programme manager on IFI WiderHorizons Programmes for a number of years. Patriciahas a wealth of experience and has managed both youthcentres and an outdoor education centre. Patriciaworks on the Young Parents Project.

Artillery Steering Group

Artillery Youth Centre is managed by a local youngpeople and past and current users of the servicesavailable at the Centre. There are a range of skills andexperience amongst the Steering Group which hasmaintained a fierce independence for Artillery over theyears.

Cheva Hawkins – ChairpersonJohn Magee – TreasurerAnn Wilson – SecretaryTracey AlsoppHugh ArmstrongGail SaundersMichael O’ReillyLisa ValentePatrick Harmon

Funders

Over the Past year the key funders of our projects haveincluded:

The Childrens’ FundComic Relief UKBBC Children in NeedThe Camelot FoundationThe Big Lottery FundNorth Belfast Community Action UnitThe Community Foundation NIBelfast City CouncilThe Irish Youth FoundationThe BELB