do somethin' news

Hunslet Club Receives a Visit From Ed Balls MP

The Secretary of State for Education, Ed Balls MP, made a visit to The Hunslet Club in South Leeds on Friday 26th February. During his visit he received a tour of Hunslet Club’s facilities and learnt about the work of the club.

The Minister was briefed on the range of activities that the club provides and had the chance to see, first hand, some of the daytime vocational training activities for 14 to 16 year olds in action. The vocational courses on offer seemed to particularly stand out to the Secretary of State, as he later mentioned Hunslet Club on his Twitter page as an “impressive youth club in South Leeds doing vocational learning for young people”. Vocational courses available include joinery, plumbing and hairdressing. Mr Balls then went on to see some gym based boxing training, one of the clubs’ many sports courses on offer.

Since it was founded in 1940 Hunslet Club has provided a variety of high quality positive activities for young people to pursue in their leisure time. During that period they have nurtured the dance and drama talents of hundreds of young people and the sporting talents of championship boxers, professional footballers and rugby players.
Over the past ten years the club has run a vocational education centre which has helped over 1,500 young people gain qualifications or accreditation certificates in practical work based skills.

Talking about Ed Balls’ visit, Hunslet Club’s Funding and Marketing Officer, Jason Slack, said, “he got the chance to ask some of our learners about their courses, what they’ve learned and their aspirations and seemed very interested in what a difference the club has been making for them. We were pleased to be able to explain how, as an independent charity, we have been able to rise up to the challenge of the needs of young people to reach their full potential in this part of the city.”

Arm Against Cervical Cancer Campaign

Clubs For Young People are proud to support the Arm Against Cervical Cancer Campaign. The campaign aims to encourage all girls between the ages of 12 up to 18 to have the HPV vaccine. HPV stands for human papillomavirus and causes most cases of cervical cancer, therefore, its important to have all three jabs over about six months to get the best protection. So if you care about yourself, and your friends, then help to arm each other against cervical cancer. For more information go to http://www.immunisation.nhs.uk/Vaccines/HPV

Future Jobs Funding - 51 new apprentices

On the 17th December 2009, it was announced that Clubs for Young People will receive funding from the Future Jobs Fun to provide 51 six-month apprenticeships across our national network. The funding has been awarded on the strength of our network’s track record in supporting young people through participation in sports, creative arts, training and volunteering.

The Future Jobs Fund, is an initiative from the Department of Work & Pensions, aiming to create 120,000 jobs for people aged 18- 24 who have been subjected to long-term unemployment. It forms part of the Young Persons Guarantee and contributes to the Backing Young Britain Campaign.

Focusing on young people in areas of high unemployment, the apprenticeships are designed to improve confidence, self-esteem and motivation. Future Jobs Funding will also enable us to provide high quality training, ensuring that young people are able to demonstrate their competencies to recruiting employers.

The range of opportunities available is extremely varied and includes posts for:

• Activity Officers, who will help in coordinating and delivering a host of positive activities, including sports and the arts, to young people in their local community
• Assistant Development Workers who will assist in the County Associations’ capacity building work with local youth clubs and projects
• Youth Work Apprentices, who will be working young people directly in a wide range of activities
• Administrative and I.T. staff, who will help County Associations themselves to work more effectively
• Social Enterprise Directors, who will be launching businesses with primarily social objectives for the benefit of the wider community.

In addition to helping young people into employment, these roles will have a hugely positive impact on local communities. Future Jobs Fund apprentices will be a valuable addition to the workforces of our County and City Organisations, increasing their capacity and enabling the extension and enhancement of youth provision in local communities.