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Distington Case Study Distington's interest in the Dreamscheme began in November 2001 at a Home Housing Tenant's Conference. The workshop that made an impact was about a 'dreamscheme' pilot in Wigton, Cumbria, which had resulted in a huge success for Home Housing and had made a real impact on the young people involved. Freshly motivated, the community groups of Distington got together to make it happen in their village. A steering group was set up with representatives from all interested organisations and the scheme was launched in April 2002, to huge publicity from local press and the local television news. Distington had received some negative publicity in the past, so the launch of the scheme and the positive publicity generated was a big lift for the village. Following the successful launch with 50 young people enrolling, the 'Give and Take Scheme', as it was termed, went from strength to strength. When membership figures went to 80+, amounting to a massive 50% of the village's youth population, a halt was called to enrolments and a waiting list created! The success of the scheme can be judged on many levels, not least by the level of work generated by the young people of Distington. Between the launch in April and October of this year the dreamschemers collected a total of 48,150 points between them, giving the group a weekly average of 1,660 points, that's 166 hours of work! But the other success can be seen in the rewards enjoyed by the young people involved. A total of 25 different activities were organised, ranging from local events on club premises such as arts and crafts, sports and IT sessions (including web design) to a weekend visit to an outdoors activities centre. A major trip was arranged to take a group to see the Commonwealth Games in Manchester, as well as several other trips to activities outside the local area. Since the launch of the Distington dreamscheme the number of volunteers working with the young people has increased dramatically, two of whom are awaiting results for their NVQ in Youth Work in Clubs (Level 2). The club has been invited to visit a number of conferences and other events to promote the success of the project, and the Distington scheme is one of the founding members of Cumbria Dreamschemes, a new group made up of the growing number of dreamschemes in North Cumbria. Following a successful evaluation it is hoped that the scheme will go from strength to strength, developing even better ideas and activities. In the immediate future the young people will continue their work in an innovative local recycling scheme and are working in drama workshops that culminated in a public performance. Distington serves as a constant inspiration to us all in their enthusiasm, innovation and fun! |
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