Mentoring programs

The book ‘Our Story’ is part of the YouthStories campaign and requires the public to submit real life short stories, poetry and artwork that tell stories about their youth in order to be a success.
YouthStories is a campaign set up by The Youth Life Project to provide a channel through which people can communicate their thoughts, feelings and experiences. The aim of ‘Our Story’ is to bring together real life stories and experiences of people from all age groups through a range of mediums and help the public express experiences of their youth. Once the book is published profits will be used to support The Youth Life Project.
‘Our Story’ is open to entries from people of all ages from across the country. Some examples of stories received so far relate to incidents of abuse, domestic violence, poverty, health issues, bullying, peer pressure and sexual abuse.

We understand the power of storytelling and the burden it can lift for those who have something to get off their chest. Storytelling has taken many forms throughout the ages and we want to embrace as many of these as possible and evoke a range of emotions in the reader.
It seems as though there is a disconnection between young people and adults, ‘Our Story’ will help bridge that gap and show we all experience problems and that someone out there has been through similar situations. The stories from older people will show the youth how they have dealt with things and provide young people with a platform to have their voice. The book is all about having the freedom to express yourself.

We hope this book makes a difference in at least one person’s life. Ideally the book will encourage others to speak out and tell their story, we hope the book will have a positive effect in many ways and on many lives and you have the chance to be part of that.

To be considered for inclusion in ‘Our Story’ please email entries to Danielle via youthlifeproject@gmail.com as soon as possible.
Your entry can take the form of a letter, a short story, artist impression, case study, newspaper article, comic strip, a poem or however you best express your feelings. Your entry must include a title for your entry, your age and be real.



At The Youth Life Project one of our goals has been to get more young people active in order to promote physical health, mental/emotional health, and social health.

We know it's important in these current times to try and minimise the build up of young people out in the streets and outside shops and buildings that may cause upset to other members of the public. We as a society recognise that this happens because in some areas there aren't places for young people to go. This is why at TYLP we've taken the step to provide activities and places for young people.
We also understand that with the current financial state of our country not all families can afford to pay for regular activities or training for their children. This is why the activities we provide are free of charge.
Alongside our many workshops that include, beauty, street art, and music, we have also set up the SAY campaign (Swindon's Active Youth).
By setting up this campaign we have created a fun, positive, safe and stable environment for young people to flourish and learn new skills.
The SAY campaign is run by The Youth Life Project and Cheney FC
....In a partnership that combines youth workers and footballers, the young people involved with the SAY campaign can benefit from learning life skills as well as sporting skills.

We asked young people of both sexes what sports they would most like to take part in. Football topped the poll with boys and cheerleading with the girls, so these are the two activities that have kicked off the campaign.
We made the decision to hold both these activities alongside each other as a way of bridging the gap between girls and boys in sports.
This isn't to say only boys should play football and girls cheerleading; In fact we had a young lad who joined in with the cheerleading and enjoyed it very much.
Our aims within this campaign are to teach basic fundamentals, explain concepts, enable the players to think logically and allow opportunities for growth.
We will consistently encourage the importance of being part of a team but as coaches/mentors, we also remember to treat them as individuals because we understand that each child has different learning patterns and different levels of tolerance.
We have made it clear that both cheerleaders and footballers must adhere to a reasonable set of rules both on and off the field and we will not tolerate any rude or insulting behavior.



FOOTBALL
This is led by the players from Cheney FC.
In the football the group of boys were taught a range of skills including heading, passing, shooting, throw ins and penalty taking.
During the SAY campaign the Cheney FC lads have demonstrated they have the skills needed to teach, motivate, and mentor young people within a sporting environment. They've displayed encouragement, understanding, respect, and enthusiasm.
As well as teaching basic football skills they also have the ability to teach good sportsmanship, a love for the game, and motivation.
They communicate well with the young players in a way that gets results and we are very honored to have them working with us.



CHEERLEADING
This is led by the TYLP ladies and was a high energy, fun and friendship building activity. The girls were taught flexibility, rhythm, and the importance of working together as part of a team.
Throughout the cheerleading the young ladies showed a great deal of determination and willingness to learn.
We have gone through many confidence and team building activities with them, which was very helpful as well as important.
Collectively we've made a code of conduct; these are a set of rules and behaviors that the girls felt needed to be met in order to be a cheerleader.
We've came up with cheers and moves to accompany them that were designed to cheer on the footballers and to encourage spectators support.
The young ladies came up with a name for themselves- 'The TYLP Angelz' and a group motto which was "never give up, be yourself, and always do your best"
The TYLP ladies as well as the young people are very enthusiastic and have motivated and demonstrated a lot of spirit which we told them was a key ingredient in being a good cheerleader.



At all the training we have provided healthy snacks and drinks for everyone and we also made goody bags for each child, containing sports related toys. Each child also received a personalised certificate and small trophy.
A lot of time and effort has, and will continue to be put into this campaign in order for us all to achieve a common goal. We as leaders will continue to work hard to motivate and inspire these young children.

With cuts forcing the closure of many youth clubs across the country, voluntary organisation, The Young Life Project (TYLP) has announced plans that an interactive online based youth club will be launched in the near future.

With a launch date expected to be announced in late 2013, TYLP intend to make the most of the growing trend in interactive web-based services with the groundbreaking website aimed at 10-19 year olds – ‘The Youthy’.
‘restore the faith lost in young people’

The Youth Life Project aims to restore the faith lost in young people and equip them with the skills required to make positive life choices. Providing a service for young people in the region aged 10-19 to utilise, The Youth Life Project is born from the passion of its founder Danielle Brown for the care and well-being of young people.
‘Aiming to raise £2,000′

Since the foundation of TYLP, the momentum of support has been gathering pace as the organisation seeks to become an established charity in Swindon and the wider West Country. 
“TYLP has grown from a seed in my mind and the feedback and support received has been so fruitful that we are looking to engage the youth sooner than had originally been anticipated” said TYLP founder Danielle Brown. “The operating costs to run a youth club are extremely high and even with the support gained so far this is currently an unsustainable venture.”
“Knowing some people may be reserved or shy about discussing things close to their heart, we are launching ‘The Youthy’ website to engage with the youth who have become more accustomed to being online than meeting like minded peers in youth clubs. Face to face contact in a youth club would be our preferred medium, but with the development and prevalence of internet based tools it would be silly to over look a medium which the youth are already comfortable with.”
Slang for youth club, ‘The Youthy’ is already a familiar term amongst the youth and has been adopted by TYLP as part of its branding.

“We hope the website is a hit amongst its target audience and reinforcing a sense of familiarity will be crucial to making the project a success in its early days.