Updates « Farsley Youth Development Project

Volunteers: making FYDP happen

October 6, 2009 in Uncategorized | Leave a comment

The work of FYDP is only made possible by our amazing team of volunteers.

Over the past year an incredible 102 people have given their time to help us out – quite simply we couldn’t do it without them. Altogether they have donated 1000 hours of work, which equals 143 working days.

This is an amazing resource, without which we none of our projects would happen – including taking out our bus every Friday, running Farfield Fun youth club, or organising the annual Community Festival.

If you would like to find out more about giving some of your time to help out at FYDP, then we’d love to hear from you.

Get in touch with our Project Co-ordinator Howard Bradley by emailing fydpteam@gmail.com.

XL Club kicks off at Priesthorpe

October 6, 2009 in Uncategorized | Leave a comment

FYDP is partnering with Priesthorpe College to work on a new course with 10 young people.

For four hours a week over the next two years they will identify projects that they can get stuck in to in order to help out in their local community.

Plans already include helping to tidy up the local area, planting flowers in gardens and holding outdoor cinema events for local people.

At the end of the course the young people involved will gain qualifications that will help them move on as they look towards future employment.

Farsley Broadcasting Collective

October 6, 2009 in Uncategorized | Leave a comment

A group of young people who work with FYDP are spearheading an exciting new project – a specially created community radio station.

They are gathering support and raising funding for the scheme, which will aim to serve the people of Farsley by creating original programmes for podcasts and CDs. Once a year they will also look to gain a local radio licence to be able to transmit programmes on the radio over a two week period.

The aim of the station will be to create a space in which everyone in the area can talk about the issues that matter to them in the local community. Who knows – before too long you could hear your voice on the radio!

Farsley Churches go Bananas!

June 30, 2009 in Bringing People Together | Leave a comment

We’re fast approaching Festival time – and the local churches are getting involved by going bananas!

On 4 July they’ll be joining hundreds of other residents in Hainsworth Park for a big celebration of each other and the place they live. And one of the ways they’ve decided to help out is by making banana splits for everyone to enjoy.

They just need to make sure they keep them away from a rather pesky group of mountain gorillas, who will be just one of the street theatre acts keeping the crowds entertained on the day…

It’s a Big Free Festival Day

June 30, 2009 in Uncategorized | Leave a comment

It’s that time of year again! For one day only Hainsworth Park in Farsley is being transformed into a sun-soaked festival of fun and activities – all for free. This year FYDP have teamed up with I love West Love Leeds to make this year’s Farsley Community Festival bigger and better than ever.

There’ll be loads of stuff for people of all ages to enjoy – all of it delightful, ridiculous and a little bit extraordinary. There’s artist’s sheds and teepees to explore, live music, food from local businesses and fantastic entertainment from some pesky mountain gorillas (don’t bring any bananas), underpant escapology and some intriguing vegetable nannies, who will have you changing nappies on courgettes and bottle feeding baby aubergines.

Plus there’s old-fashioned fete games, free workshops, banana splits, a pamper zone, 5-a-side football, arts and crafts, the Old Smoothie bar, wacky walkabouts and the return of Farsley’s famous beach resort – this time with a full-sized boat!

Join us on Saturday 4 July from 1 – 5pm.

Ginnel Fix It!

June 30, 2009 in Age Doesn't Matter, Bringing People Together | Leave a comment

We think Farsley is something to be proud of. That’s why we recently joined forces with Springbank Junior School to work with a group of Year 6 children on cleaning up some of the many ginnels that run through the area. The group of 10 and 11 year olds gave up an afternoon of their time to lend a hand in their community by tidying up the alleys and pathways of their own neighbourhood.

This was just one of a series of opportunities we’ve been working on to get people involved with making the village look its best, and as well as the school we’ve been helped out by the local churches and parents.

Howard Bradley, FYDP’s Project Co-ordinator said that “It’s always great to see young people getting involved in helping out their community. From talking to people in the area we know that keeping alleyways and ginnels clear of rubbish can be a difficult task. But this was a simple idea that let us work together to make Farsley a brighter and happier place.”

Farsley: MyPlace

June 30, 2009 in Age Doesn't Matter | Leave a comment

FYDP has recently been working with people of all ages from the Farsley community to share some of their fondest memories of living in the area. And those people have put together a very special exhibition of giant photographs, showing some of their favourite times and places across the village.

Why not come and let them share their experiences and stories with you? The exhibition will be at St John’s Church on Tuesday 7 from 7.00pm until 9.00pm. Just turn up – the good news is that the event is entirely FREE! Over the course of the following week the exhibition will be open at various times – keep checking back on this web site for more details.

This project was made possible by the support of Leeds City Council’s arts@leeds programme.

FYDP: putting young people in the driving seat

June 30, 2009 in Listening To You, Uncategorized | Leave a comment

FYDP has been set up to support the young people of Farsley and help make the community a better place. But we haven’t got all the answers. So we want to make sure we keep finding ways of people telling us what’s needed.

One of the new ways we’ve come up with to help them do this is through the group that looks after all the overall direction of where FYDP is heading. We’re therefore very proud to announce that, following his election at the AGM, Ben Harrison will be taking a place on the FYDP Management Committee.

Better known to his friends as “Beanhead” (!), Ben is one of the young people we’ve worked with for the past few years on the Sub bus, and now he’ll be giving his time to help us make sure that we stay responsive to the needs of the young people we work with. Welcome aboard, Ben!

FYDP scoops national award

June 30, 2009 in Listening To You | Leave a comment

There was a proud moment for the FYDP team this month, as we travelled down to the Houses of Parliament in London to receive a very special prize – the Faithworks Award for working with Children and Young People. We were chosen for the award out of over a hundred and twenty nominations from across the country.

Given in recognition of everything we have achieved over the past few years, the award includes a grant of £5000 towards developing our work, which will be put towards developing our mentoring project.

Howard Bradley, the Project Co-Ordinator commented that “The exciting thing is that we’re a small organisation that works in partnership with lots of other projects – and this award shows that this is a really valuable way of doing things”.