Over time, Grace would take all the anguish from her past and turn that negativity into something incredibly positive.
During the past 6 years that Grace has attended the Youth Project, her contributions have been the driving force behind a number of ventures within her local community.
One of her first ideas was to organise coffee and bingo mornings with the goal of bringing local people together while raising funds for St Vincent de Paul in Jarrow. This was a huge success, attracting over 70 people per session.
More recently Grace was inspired to begin campaigning for the regeneration of a local cemetery after being saddened by poorly kept grounds and overgrowing graves. She began writing funding bids and spoke passionately with the local council which resulted in a group of volunteers coming together every week and cleaning up the cemetery.
Having regular access to youth and play groups such as YMCA’s Youth project in partnership with Central Jarrow Big Local has helped shape Grace as a person, and from that, Grace is helping shape her local community for the better. Having a safe environment for young people to thrive in, that falls outside of everyday home and school life, is crucial. It allows them to grow as individuals and make their own choices which can result in a better, kinder world for all of us.
Read more of our case studies:
Teesdale’s Best Social Enterprise
Storm Arwin left parts of Cockfield and surrounding areas without electricity for nearly 10 days. As Cockfield is not on mains gas, hundreds of households were left without heating, hot water and power. The team at YMCA Teesdale mobilised their resources, providing a...
Y’s Girls
Greater Resilience for Vulnerable Girls The Y’s Girls project addresses key issues faced by vulnerable young females aged 9 to 14 years of age. Volunteer mentors are identified from the local community and paired with young girls in need of a positive relationship...
Youth Work at RAF Leeming
In January 2022, YMCA North Tyneside entered into a partnership with 13 other YMCAs to deliver RAF Benevolent Fund’s ‘Airplay’ project. YMCA Teesdale has a new team of youth workers who are working out of RAF Leeming, a base in North Yorkshire, to deliver youth...
Safe to be LGBTQ+
Our Central Jarrow Detached Youth Project is one of our most active youth groups, and has a regular attendance of around 50 young people at our Friday night sessions, including many identifying as LGBTQ+. The project is a Big Local funded programme that has been...
Help decide our new YMCA group name
To better represent who we are, what we do, and where we serve as a YMCA, we are looking to update our YMCA group name and would like you to help us choose. In the video below Dean, our CEO shares a bit about the journey towards deciding to choose a new YMCA group...