Young people who took part in the first ever youth work programme of its kind in the country have spoken about how it has transformed their lives in less than a year.
And now the Grassroots Activitors Programme (GAP), which takes young people from more deprived areas of Bristol and sets them up with mentoring, business leaders and activities, is looking for its second intake of young people and the second round of sponsorship and involvement from organisations and businesses across the city.
Some of the young people involved in the first year have told Bristol Live how they went from being homeless to training for a new career, others have got into university or set up their own businesses. The man behind the scheme, Grassroot Communities youthwork leader Ben Carpenter, said the first year has been a tremendous success, but he wants to expand the scheme.
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The unique aspect of the course is that it is tailored individually to each young person who gets involved, within a structure that sees projects, group work and training. It began as an idea for youngsters in the more economically-deprived areas of South Bristol, including Knowle West and Hartcliffe, but the first year took in young people in Southmead and St Pauls too.
“We’re on a mission to build a diverse and inclusive community, where everyone can access the same opportunities, regardless of their background - working towards changing the lives of young people in Bristol and giving them the platform they need to achieve their goals and dreams,” said Ben.
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“It’s an important initiative that provides young people from disadvantaged backgrounds across Bristol with education, training, employment opportunities, mentoring, and support to help them reach their full potential. GAP helps to create a pathway for young people to succeed by providing them with the tools, resources and support they need to thrive in their personal and professional lives,” he added.
The young people who took part in the first year came from different backgrounds and areas of the city and while many were 18 or 19, the programme is open to anyone up to the age of 30, and there were 30-year-olds involved too.
One thing all of the young people involved told Bristol Live about the programme was how it had changed their mindset to know what they wanted to do in life and how they were going to do it.
Theo Wilson, who grew up in Knowle West but now lives in Southmead, had just finished his A-levels, but his dreams of going to university to study psychology seemed out of reach.
“I’d just finished my A-levels, I just wanted to do something. I was a bit lost,” he said. “I was up in Southmead just sat there thinking ‘what am I meant to do?’ I had this really passive mindset around doing stuff. I would listen to it, but I won’t do it, at school and college. I just backed out of stuff. I didn’t take many opportunities,” he said.
But his life changed when he had a call from a youth leader at the youth club he attended in Southmead. Ben at Grassroot Communities was visiting, and someone put Theo’s name forward for the GAP programme. “We had a little talk. I thought ‘yeah I’ll take it into consideration’. But I knew in my mind I was going to go home and say ‘yeah I can’t be bothered’,” admitted Theo.
“But then something about the course just made me think ‘no, I’ve had enough of saying no, I’m actually going to do it now.’ I’ve said no to everything in my life so I close myself off from opportunities. I’ve had enough of doing that,” he added.
Theo joined the GAP programme and found himself out of his comfort zone, talking to people in St Paul’s as part of a consultation to write a report on community improvements, learning about putting on events, setting up businesses and passing a module on mental health. He not only applied to university but got in to study one of the leading psychology degree courses in the country, at the University of Surrey.
Catherine Rowe, from Bedminster, had also just finished her A-levels and wants to be a youth worker - but there’s nowhere to train to do that in Bristol. “I just finished college and I had no idea what I was going to do afterwards. I knew I wanted to go into youth work, but I had no idea how. GAP it taught me the skills to become a youth worker. My mentors got me work experience at the Hartcliffe Club for Young People, where I then got offered a job, I work there every week with SEND group, and I absolutely love it.
“There was no way into youth work in Bristol. There’s a lot of alleys that don’t have a way to get young people to where they want to be. Ben created the course so young people, along with the help of their mentors can create and find their own opportunities and their own way to get to where they want to be in Bristol,” the 19-year-old added.
Brandon Trembath, a 20-year-old from Knowle West, was heading the wrong way in life when he started on the first year of the GAP programme.
“Truth be told, I was in trouble, I was just doing bad stuff,” he said. “I didn’t really have a purpose, I didn’t know what to do. I’ve always had a passion for media, and since I’ve gone on this course, I’ve got my own podcast, I’ve got a lot of opportunities from it. It’s got me my own record label, my own podcast. I’m not saying everyone who goes on the course is going to get that, so I don’t want people to think I’m going to join this course and get that, it’s just that this is what I’m passionate about.
“It’s got me into a mindset where I know what I want in life and I’m going to go get it. From this I’ve got myself a job in an office now,” he added.
Tannika Green, 18, from Hartcliffe, was homeless, moving around hostels and just ‘wandering the streets’ when she bumped into the Grassroots Communities team doing outreach street youth work. “I was homeless, I was living in a hostel, so if I’m honest with you I think I would have ended working a basic job, or getting an apprenticeship. I might have stayed in college and working in a supermarket, that’s the kind of path I would’ve went down, and that’s too plain and basic for someone like me, I’m really hands-on, physical, want to get involved, so I think this course has just been amazing,” she said.
“I ended up volunteering and did a lot of detached youth work, I got offered a paid role, I met Princess Anne. It’s been amazing, even just planning to start the course, I’ve absolutely loved it,” she added. Now, she has firm aspirations and the drive and the know-how to do it. “I want to open a barber shop with a youth centre in it, and I want to be a youth worker and have a youth centre at the same time, so obviously I can mentor and teach young people how to cut hair, teach them retailing and business, and show them that the streets aren’t the right way to go, pretty much - and to show them that there are other paths they can take,” she added.
The oldest to take part in the programme was Martin Mendy, who is originally from Gambia but has lived in Bristol half his life now. “It’s helped me organise my mind a little bit. I’m such a creative person, I just found it hard because I was such a sporadic person, mentally, I was everywhere and nowhere. This helped me channel my creative energy into one direction,” he explained.
Racaine Wright, 21, from Whitchurch, is a bar tender and cocktail maker at the Za Za Bazaar restaurant whose life was just work, sleeping and playing rugby, when he was persuaded to get involved.
“I like to take any opportunity that I can see, so the moment it came across I thought yeah why not, let’s give it a shot,” he explained. The programme sent him to Southmead, saw him learn how to event plan, set up businesses and he even ended up playing Santa Claus leading a fitness class.
“I’m here to take the experience. I like to meet new people. When you grow up you stick to what you know. You stick to the people who are like you, but I don’t want to be like that, I want to be able to fit in with everybody, I want to meet new groups, new people with different aspirations. I want to fit in to any type of group and be able to be comfortable,” he added.
To find out more about the Grassroots Activators Programme, check out Grassroot Communities site here.
