Manchester News

Mahla and Vicky's All Saints Catholic College group's fashion show to promote disability awareness has been set for January 26th. Tim and Joaquim's citizenship project continues at Cedar Mount.

Aarti and Hannah's group completed their project at Levenshulme and ran a very successful Enterprise Day to raise money for Islamic Relief in December. Cara and Donald's group from Parklands have also finished their film on bullying - the film will be available to view on the group's Project Page once it has been edited - we'll give you the link in a future newsletter.

Jackie and Roberto have started a drama project with their group at Lostock College and will be doing a play about bullying which will be filmed and performed in front of the school.

Alayna will be returning to Meade Hill, after they enjoyed having her and Julia so much last time, to start a new art project with a group at the school which begins on 12th January.

Volunteer voices

This month Cara shares her experiences of working with a small group at Parklands who have been making a film on bullying and the effects that it has on people.

	Cara You worked with a very small group during your project yet managed to keep them really engaged, are there any suggestions you could make to other volunteers with small groups to keep things fresh and keep the group interested and motivated?  Cara: We picked up the project from the previous semester, and three of the five girls involved dropped out in the second or third meeting with them. But the girls who stayed were motivated by the project because they knew people who were bullied and understood the effects it can have on a person (self-harming, depression, suicide). It may go without saying, but I think having a topic that really means something to the participants, as well as an exciting medium, really helps to keep the momentum going. We did a movie and the girls seemed really excited to learn how to use the cameras and direct the film and they seemed really proud of their work because they knew it was their own.  What do you think the young people in your group got out of the whole experience? Cara: I think that the girls were initially upset when half the group left, but they seem to be really proud of the work they created despite that shortcoming. They really care about getting their message across, so much so, they want to show it to the entire school and raise as much money for their charity as possible.

Opportunities and Resources

FILMCLUB is a nationwide school-based network of film clubs with the onus on making a wide variety of films available to young people allowing them the opportunity to witness worlds that they would not normally see. LOVEFiLM, the UK's largest online DVD rental company, have partnered FILMCLUB and provide access to their catalogue of 60 000 films.

Schools can access this service for free and will be supported to set-up and manage the best in-school film club possible. Go to www.filmclub.org to see what it's all about and pass the link on to those at the school that you are volunteering with. If you are a parent or student yourself then why not try to set one up at your own school?

Please get in touch if you have any questions, queries or suggestions and in the meantime good luck with all you are doing over the next month.

Best wishes,

Jack & the Young TimeBank team

E-mail: helpdesk@timebank.org.uk

Phone: 0845 347 9363