June Newsletter Hi, Welcome to the latest edition of Young TimeBank's Newsletter full of tips and tit bits from all the latest project and volunteer news. Highlighted Project For the past 10 weeks, Volunteer Facilitators Amie Keenan and Latoyah Dick have been supporting their Year 7 group at St Augustine's CE School to organise their own event to raise awareness about gun and knife crime. Their event was held on 23rd April, involving the whole of Year 7 in games and activities exploring gun and knife crime. There was also information and literature for the young people to take away, and Victim Support, Connexions and Maida Vale Police were on hand to advise the pupils on how to deal with gun and knife crime. Stalls of goodies sold their wares and raised £45 for Victim Support on the day. At the event, Volunteer Amie said: "Even though it was sometimes a struggle getting them to this stage, it was definitely worth it seeing them work together on the day. This was a group who hadn't worked as a team and towards the end they really pulled it together." Volunteer Voices This month we hear from Volunteer Facilitator Jake Fisher, who shared his insights with another of our volunteers, Luna Dizon. Jake has been volunteering to help the pupils at William Morris School make a virtual tour of the school for new pupils. What got you into volunteering for Young TimeBank? I do a lot of work with young people already but wanted to build on my facilitation skills and this has been a great opportunity to do that. What surprised you about working with the young people on this project? Working at a SEN school – which was a good surprise! The SEN school covers a wide range of disabilities and although the teacher helped with guidance on specific issues the students had, I really didn't do anything too differently from any other group of young people I've worked with and the challenges were pretty much the same – the main one being keeping them focused.. Once I built a good rapport with them, it was a lot easier. When both you and the group are more relaxed, they realise they can have fun with this ! How have you found fitting this in with your work? It can be a bit tricky with time sometimes… especially when work gets really busy. But it's been really worthwhile and I feel like my experience working with young people in the past has helped me feel more confident about being a facilitator – just as much as being involved with this has really complemented my work. It's really helped working out where the line is between being a facilitator and a supervisor and the challenge of pulling it back in once you've stepped beyond that line. What changes among the young people have you seen? The best change I've seen is in their attitude to the project – they were originally told to do it and I don't think they expected to have fun on it so seeing them actually enjoying it is great! Also seeing their confidence grow in front of the cameras has been fantastic – although I had to use a little bit of cunning sometimes and keep the camera rolling when they didn't notice so that they'd come to life more without worrying about how they looked on film. And when I showed them the footage, it was great for them to see that it was much better than they'd expected! Opportunities and Resources The Co-operative Young Film Makers Festival: Call for Entries for 2009! www.youngfilm-makers.coop The Co-operative festival is for young people (under 19) who are passionate about changing the world around them, who make a film and make a difference. If your group has made, or is currently making a film with Young TimeBank, talk to us, we would love to nominate them! The festival shows 100 films made by young people on the big screen at the National Media Museum in Bradford – and your group's could be one of them. Your group will get to see their work, and that of other young people, in a prestigious venue, walk the red carpet and take part in the glitzy award ceremony. They will also have the chance to receive feedback and advice from industry professionals and attend film-making workshops and masterclasses. Entering is easy and we can help you with this – go to the website for full details: www.youngfilm-makers.coop. Entries must be under 6 minutes long (under 3 minutes is encouraged), and your group must be under 19. They must enter with the intention of attending the festival, in Bradford on Thursday 8th or Friday 9th October (we can work with the school to arrange travel etc.) Films must be provided on DVD, with a supporting background statement of no more than 300 words. Don't miss out – get in touch! The Last Word This month's words of advice from your end of project feedback forms comes from Rachel Morgan-Trimmer, who volunteered at Cedar Mount High School in Manchester to support a group of young people to create a safe space in their school for victims of bullying, The Haven. Rachel says: "Humour is a very effective tool when facilitating a group and young people respond very well to it." As always, 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, The Young TimeBank team Email: helpdesk@timebank.org.uk Phone: 0845 347 9363 Young TimeBank is a TimeBank initiative       TimeBank Registered Charity No.1073831