Go Furness

Youth Re-action Team

Nadine Baxter-Smallwood joined the Youth Reaction Team as Project Manager at the beginning of September 2009, bringing with her lots of skills and experience. Her career has been long and varied but has always involved motivating young people and helping them to recognise their potential to succeed in whatever they set their minds to. It has included creating innovative volunteering projects for young people through managing the Millennium Volunteers Project at the University of Central Lancashire, as well as managing projects to encourage people who wouldn’t traditionally go to university in her roles as the Widening Access Co-ordinator at the then St Martin’s College (now University of Cumbria) and more recently, the Furness Aimhigher Manager.

Nadine comes from the area and she is passionate about enabling young people to have a voice about shaping important issues on their doorstep. Her passion spills out everywhere when she is at work with the young people responding by giving 110% to every project. The result is a vibrant youth brigade that is resolute and determined to make a positive impact on the quality of life for young people in Barrow.

To date, YRAT have been involved in a number of projects in Barrow and have been particularly proactive in the regeneration plans. They get things done. For example, they created a documentary about regeneration in conjunction with Signal Films and they ran a School Roadshow in early summer last year.

The documentary was used as part of a presentation that helped Furness Enterprise steal the Enterprising Britain 2008 Northwest regional award. In this documentary, the young people were engaged in researching, interviewing, writing, filming, editing and creating a film that speaks to young people (of all ages) about the fantastic projects on the go in Barrow. I personally found it very moving and when I saw it screened, I felt very proud of what had been achieved. As a seasoned people watcher, it was great to watch the judge’s reaction to a very innovative piece of work by the YRAT team.

During June and July YRAT visited every secondary school in Barrow and held an interactive roadshow for Year 10s. They encouraged everyone to join in a map/photo quiz testing geography skills, and graffiti wallpaper where everyone wrote what they wanted to see improved in the town, a quiz about regeneration and a big brother style diary room, complete with inflatable chair, where pupils spoke about their views about Barrow.

Currently they are working on a research project with researchers from Lancaster University to help them to construct a well-written survey and conduct it. The survey aims to establish the ideas and needs of local young people and find out what they want to see happen. They will then present this information to the appropriate organisations. Meanwhile they have been getting some training and experience in presentation skills, web design, photography and filmmaking. How cool is that?

The team is currently made up of 3 year 10s from 5 Barrow schools and some research ‘buddies’ from Furness College and Barrow 6th Form College. YRAT differs from lots of other youth organisations. It is not about amusing young people who are at a loose end. It is much more about inviting enthusiastic and motivated young people to learn new skills, work with experts and be proactive in town and school strategies and have a forum to make a difference. I had the pleasure of meeting with some of the YRAT team: Callum Mac Whannell, Lizzie Quinn and Katie Travers.

Callum, who attends St Bernards is a member of his own school council and no stranger to being proactive. He has loved his involvement with YRAT especially his work with Forum Twentyeight, where he has been helping to advise the managers of the centre about how things could be better for young people. They presented their opinions about events, pricing, marketing and promotion. It sounds as though the managers were impressed by their ideas as they have been invited back. What a fantastic confidence booster for Callum and brilliant news for Forum Twentyeight who will benefit from invaluable perspectives of young movers and shakers.

Lizzie is also from St Bernard’s and is certainly making her mark. Last year she and another 4 students delivered a power point presentation based on a survey that they conducted and they won a county wide competition that resulted in £1,000 prize money for their school. She is also a member of the school council. Lizzie says that her involvement in YRAT has helped her to become even more confident and it has helped her to gain more social skills.

Katie Travers comes from Park View School. She didn’t know any of the YRatters from other schools and feels that it has been really beneficial for her to expand her horizons and broaden her opinions. She too loves knowing that her work with YRAT will make a difference and make life better for people in Barrow. She also feels that she has gained more confidence.

So what did the young people have to say about Nadine Baxter-Smallwood? They couldn’t sing her praises highly enough! They say she is really organised, excellent at public speaking, she really cares and there is nothing negative about her. They see her as a great leader and someone they can emulate and really learn from. What more could they ask for?

Well, I was really impressed. I came away feeling really inspired and positive. Their website is excellent and the young people have steered it themselves. Stop by www.youthreaction.org for a visit. Everything they do is top quality and they are way more than just a talking shop. It was a fantastic opportunity for me to have a peak into a really innovative and positive organisation. Those guys should be really proud of themselves and I hope to have the opportunity to meet with them again in the future.

Posted by Kay Hebbourn on 3rd April.