Through reclaiming
and improving a local space, young
people reduced tensions in the community
and established a thriving youth project.
Setting
A community project in Camden, London.
The
project
Fitzrovia Youth
in Action started in 1997 when a group
of youths began to organise clean-ups
and general improvements to the Warren,
a play area and football pitch in
Camden.
The initial motivation
was to get local people involved and
over a period of time many different
sectors of the community, including
young people, became involved. The
Youth Service didn't support the work
directly until 1999, when they employed
a part-time worker, one of the original
members of Youth in Action, Kamal
Hanif.
Fitzrovia's programme
now includes sports, community projects
and computer work and
peer education plays a significant
part in the work of the project. There
is also increasing diversity in the
young people participating, with a
senior group, a girls group, Millennium
Volunteers and various activity groups.
The project is mixed
and attracts many young people from
the Asian community. They try to link
to the other youth projects in Camden.
This has been most successful in the
5-a-side football tournament that
young people organise each year.
The
local environment is still seen as
important, particularly for fostering
different attitudes towards the local
area and the role that young people
can play in their community. The project
works with other departments and agencies
when it needs to bring in skills (e.g.
Council parks and open spaces department).
