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Have your say on Ashurst Hospital vision

Ashurst Hospital in the New Forest needs a new lease of life and there is an exciting opportunity to redevelop facilities on the site to make it modern, welcoming and fit for purpose, now and in the future.

Working with our local healthcare partners, West Hampshire Clinical Commissioning Group has started to build a vision. We want to create a child and family friendly Health Centre which focuses on providing a range of services for our children, young people and families living in the New Forest and Totton and Waterside areas.

The New Forest Birth Centre, CAMHS (Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services) and Hearing Screening are already based at Ashurst Hospital and there is room to turn our vision into a reality so we want to explore this opportunity further.

There are, of course, some restrictions on what can be provided in a local community health facility but your thoughts and ideas will help us to build a vision for the future and identify what health services and facilities for children, young people and families are important to you.

Please help us by answering this short survey: 6Ashurst Hospital Survey

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Reports from the UK government on Domestic Violence

The Home Office have launched a range of papers recently on the theme of domestic violence and abuse.

The changes to the definition of domestic raise awareness that young people in the 16 to 17 age group can also be victims of domestic violence and abuse.

By including this age group the government hopes to encourage young people to come forward and get the support they need, through a helpline or specialist service.

A young people’s panel will be set up by the NSPCC. The panel will consist of up to 5 members between the age of 16 and 22, who will work with the government on domestic violence policy and wider work to fight violence against women and girls.

Here are some of the key recent publications:

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Want to help young people start work well?

Great news! Second round applications for September’s Changing Light are now open:

Changing Light is our new weekend experience for people in their first years of working life or preparing to start work.
At this vital life stage, it’s an opportunity to:

  • Experience God’s love as workers and catch his exciting vision for work.
  • Dose up on fellowship and prayer and be commissioned at the start of working life.
  • Hear stories of how others have done great things for Christ in their work and experienced the odd failure along the way too.
  • Receive input and encouragement from those further along similar career paths.
  • Prepare for and celebrate the start of this vocational life.

Many people have told us that they wish they’d had something to help them through the transition into work. Changing Light meets that need. Do you know someone who might benefit?

Where: Camping in the beautiful fields of Latimer Minster, Bucks, HP9 2XD

When: Friday 9 September to Sunday 11 September, 2016

How much:  £80 (including food)

There are just 50 places available so pass on this link licc.org.uk/changinglight for all the details and to register interest by 18th July.

Feel free to get in touch with me if you have questions or would like a high quality version of the film below to show in your church.
Blessings,
Jen Logan

LICC Contemporary Projects Leader

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Hampshire Police Youth Commission are recruiting!

Applications are open until the 4th March to those aged 14-25 in Hampshire and the Isle of Wight to become a member of the Youth Commission. The Youth Commission makes young people part of the solution to tackling crime and policing issues that are of most concern to them.

The Youth Commission currently consists of 25 members who provide opportunities for young people to inform, support and challenge the Police and Crime Commissioner’s work.

Simon Hayes, Police and Crime Commissioner, said:

“I set up the Youth Commission because I believe it’s important to take young peoples’ views into account. They are the future and will drive social change. I encourage any young person, including those who have direct experience of the police and justice systems to apply.”

Youth Commission members identify what issues affect young people in their area and gather their opinions. They then tackle these issues by raising awareness at events and via campaigns. Members will also make recommendations for change to the Police and Crime Commissioner and suggest solutions to their priority issues.

Find out more here

Apply Here

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Campaign aims to open up jobs to young people without degrees

Open to All logoTwo major children’s charities have launched a campaign urging employers, particularly those in the voluntary sector, to make more job opportunities available to young people without degrees.

The Open To All campaign, started by Children England and the National Children’s Bureau, aims to encourage more inclusive recruitment practices among employers so that candidates’ suitability for a role is judged on their skills and experience rather than whether they have a degree. It has been launched to counter the growing trend in the charity sector of entry-level positions being taken by graduates. Find out more on the Children England website.

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Teenagers abandoning Facebook and Twitter for more intimate social media apps

Social media icons

Fascinating to read this article on how teenagers are abandoning Facebook and Twitter for more intimate social media apps – it’s certainly something I’ve been seeing a lot more of over the last few months in our youth work:

When my digital media students are sitting, waiting for class to start, and staring at their phones, they are not checking Facebook. They’re not checking Instagram or Pinterest or Twitter. No, they’re catching up on the news of the day by checking out their friends’ Stories on Snapchat, chatting in Facebook Messenger or checking in with their friends in a group text. If the time drags, they might switch to Instagram to see what the brands they love are posting, or check in with Twitter for a laugh at some celebrity tweets. But, they tell me, most of the time they eschew the public square of social media for more intimate options.

For example, in a study published in August last year, the Pew Research Center reported that 49% of smartphone owners between 18 and 29 use messaging apps like Kik, Whatsapp, or iMessage, and 41% use apps that automatically delete sent messages, like Snapchat. For context, note that according to another Pew study, only 37% of people in that age range use Pinterest, only 22% use LinkedIn, and only 32% use Twitter. Messaging clearly trumps these more publicly accessible forms of social media.

Well worth having a read and reflecting on how you communicate with young people.

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Teenagers do the most amazing things!

TED Talk Jack Andraka

Teenagers do the most amazing things!

In this TED Talk Jack Andraka talks about how he developed a promising early detection test for pancreatic cancer that’s super cheap, effective and non-invasive — all before his 16th birthday – something none of the pharmaceutical companies had managed to develop.

[youtube id=”g-ycQufrgK4″ width=”580″ height=”337″]

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Why are young people drinking less alcohol?

Girl drunk on bench

There was a fascinating article published in New Statesman about how young people are drinking less and that individual alcohol consumption in Britain has declined sharply.

Whenever horrific tales of the drunken escapades of the youth are reported, one photo reliably gets wheeled out: “bench girl”, a young woman lying passed out on a public bench above bottles of booze in Bristol. The image is in urgent need of updating: it is now a decade old. Britain has spent that time moving away from booze.

Here’s some useful facts pulled from the article:

  • In 2013, the average person over 15 consumed 9.4 litres of alcohol, 19 per cent less than 2004.
  • As with drugs, the decline in use among the young is particularly notable: the proportion of young adults who are teetotal increased by 40% between 2005 and 2013.
  • 80% of adults are making some effort to drink less
  • There are 13% fewer pubs in the UK than in 2002.
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Ofcom’s Children’s Media Use and Attitudes Report 2015

The 10th Ofcom report on ‘Children and Parents: Media Use and Attitudes Report‘ has just been published.

This report examines children’s media literacy. It provides detailed evidence on media use, attitudes and understanding among children and young people aged 5-15, as well as detailed information about the media access and use of young children aged 3-4.

The report also includes findings relating to parents’ views about their children’s media use, and the ways that parents seek – or decide not – to monitor or limit use of different types of media.

Summary of key themes

This year’s report shows that:

  • In 2005 levels of take-up of key media among children were higher than we might recollect, and not dissimilar to those of today. However, the experience of using these devices has been transformed, leading to a much richer and more expansive online experience than was the case in 2005.
  • Over the last few years, tablets are increasingly being used as a default entertainment screen, particularly among younger children. This is set alongside a small but important decrease in the numbers watching TV via a TV set.
  • The content children are consuming is increasingly curated by digital intermediaries, including providers like YouTube and Google. As well as attractive sources of content, rivalling traditional broadcasters, they are also seen by some children as legitimating brands, helping to vouchsafe the veracity or trustworthiness of content accessed through their sites.
  • The move towards smaller screens makes supervision more difficult for parents, and the proliferation of devices increases the need for parents to keep up to date with technology. For example, while over half of parents use any of the technical tools we ask about to manage their children’s online access and use, and around a quarter use ISP network-level filters, less than one in five parents whose child uses a smartphone or tablet use any of the tools for restricting app installation or use that we asked about.
  • The wider range of sources of content, set alongside the increased exposure to advertising, the use of services like social networking and the relatively low levels of critical understanding raises challenges for how children keep their personal information safe, understand the implications of sharing personal information and content and navigate the increasingly complex online environment in a way which allows them to reap the benefits and minimise the risks.

Pages 4-12 contain the Executive Summary with key themes and findings – if you don’t have long, do take the time to read these few pages.  Section 3 also contains some fascinating charts on the difference in usage by children between 2005 and 2015.

 

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Hampshire Making a Difference Award

Youth Tube logo

The search is on to find Hampshire youngsters who, through their own exceptional efforts, are helping to make a positive difference in their local community, by being active good citizens.

The Hampshire Making a Difference Award will be presented by the Chairman of the County Council to the young person or group of young people (aged 5-11 or 12-18) who has done something exceptional to help others. It could be anything from helping a sick relative, neighbour or friend over a period of time, or supporting a local charity or long term project, to helping older people in the community, or showing an act of bravery.

The closing date for nominations is Thursday 31st January, and applications can be submitted online at the website or by picking up a form from any Hampshire County Council library or museum.