Between them Walsall’s Young Advisors, Tammy and Amy, might well be the busiest YAs in the entire country, having clocked up an enormous amount of hours working for their community as part of Blakenhall’s Young Persons Information Centre (YPiC).

This Hallowe’en the girls celebrated the work that they’d done with local young people by hosting a fancy dress party at the YPiC. They ran craft and activities sessions with local kids in order to design and create ghoulish decorations. The whole night was a great success, both in terms of having fun, and for raising the profile of the YPiC locally! As you can see, plenty of effort went towards winning the costume competition… check out the photos!

What else have Walsall Young Advisors been up to?

Children's Area Partnership
Amy and Tammy have been heavily involved with their local Children’s Area Partnership; they attend the meetings regularly and help wherever they can. The Young Advisors have recently planned, staffed and hosted a health and well being event on behalf of the CAP that took place in September, and they have also conducted several consultation projects for the CAP.

Transitions Project
Walsall YAs have been working on an ongoing project aimed at local 11-year-olds leaving primary school; the idea for the project is that these young people will recognise the YPiC as a place for support, advice and guidance throughout the Transition period of changing schools.
Amy and Tammy have been proactive in this project by visiting a raft of local schools in the initial stages to invite students for activity days at the centre, supporting centre staff when the schools do attend.

Outreach
Young Advisors have been working with the Community Involvement team to offer an outreach service to young people within the area. Through this process young people will be signposted to the YPiC and other activities on offer within the area.

Internet Security/Road Safety/Prison Talks
Walsall YAs have also been working in partnership with West Midlands Police to deliver internet safety, road safety and prison talk sessions to young people from various youth groups and agencies within the area.

Next on their agenda is to continue this work by taking it into local schools.

Youth Evaluation Service (Y.E.S)
The evaluation service is a pilot project that the Young Advisors will run over varied periods of time. The aim of the evaluation will be to assess and evaluate youth centres/services and the facilities and services they provide to children and young people. The evaluation is considered a valuable tool for youth committed organisations as the observations will be made from a young person’s point of view, thus making them more effective!

National Youth Work Week
The Young Advisors took a lead role in planning and fundraising towards a range of events for National Youth Work Week – contact the team to find out what they got up to!

Girls’ Group
Walsall YAs have been successful in applying for funding from the Prince’s Trust to deliver a girls’ group at the YPiC. The group will consist of various workshops including, fashion, hair and beauty, the dangers of smoking, healthy eating, and sexual health. The workshops will provide opportunities young people to get help with their homework, and gain ASDAN awards.

PCT/Integrated Community Equipment Services Consultation
Young Advisors did a 2-part consultation on behalf of the PCT about their dental surgery and community equipment services. The Young Advisors were active within the area, getting the views of the community and then compiling a report on their findings.

Baby Think it Over
Young Advisors are currently in the process of taking over a project aimed at educating young teenagers about the consequences of teenage pregnancy. They’ve been applying to a range of funding providers in order to make sure this project can continue its great work.

Anti Bullying Week
Young Advisors are taking a lead role in planning the YPiC’s events and activities for anti-bullying week, starting 15th November – contact the team to find out what they got up to!