We have a long standing commitment to working with younger children and parents to build firm foundations for the future.  Often, work with young people is reactive and begins after young people have become known to the authorities perhaps through petty crime and vandalism or anti social behaviour. Our approach is different. We aim to engage children and their parents before any potential problems emerge, to develop a positive relationship.  Many young people join at an early age and remain involved over several years; some even stay on as volunteers, learning new skills and helping to sustain the service.

 This dual approach of working with children and parents strengthens the impact of the work we do.  The impact of our work is not as effective without the support of parents, many of whom enjoy supporting the activities on offer and learn new skills in the process.

 Many adults have benefited from their involvement with the project as they have learned new skills and been supported to undertake training to become qualified play and youth workers.  A number of people have also moved into paid employment with the youth service, whilst others have moved on to gain employment with other youth and community organisations.

 As with many voluntary sector youth organisations, the challenge remains as to how to sustain the service long-term.  Short term funding has meant that there is a need to continually seek out new grants in order to maintain the service.