The newly refurbished youth centre provides young people with a youth café/ drop-in facility with internet access, coffee bar, comfortable socializing area, games area, info/advice.  We also provide a wide range of workshop provision such as dance, music, art, media and healthy eating.  Young pople can also access accredited volunteering opportunities, mentoring support and counselling provision through our partnership with Safe Speak young person’s counselling service.  OCN Accreditation opportunities are also available for young people through much of our work particularly through our personal, social development programmes ‘Essence’ and ‘Turntable’.  Our five project outcomes are based around the themes of ‘Every Child Matters’.

Open Drop-In Sessions

We provide 18 hours of open drop-in provision each week at Blend.  These sessions create space and time for young people to access the facilities on offer which include; comfy seating area, TV’s, coffee bar, games consoles, internet access, pool and table football. Young people can also engage in more structured activities such as; workshops, issue-based work, art projects, discussions & debates.
These sessions also provide valuable time for the youth work staff  to build and sustain positive relationships with the young people through an informal educational approach.

Holiday Programmes

Holiday Activity Programmes are provided during each school holiday with the exception of Christmas. Trips and activities have included, BBQ's, team building games, raft building, climbing, cycling, ice-skating, bowling, Alton Towers, Carsington Water, Megazone  the National Media Museum and much more.
We endeavor to ensure that these programmes are both diverse and affordable. Young people of secondary school age 11-19 are welcome to attend.

Detached Work

Detached Work takes place at various locations in and around Ripley town centre on Thursday evenings between 6.30 - 9.30pm.  In Partnership with Derbyshire County Council Youth Service we actively engage young people in the area. Each session is loosely based around a theme or particular social issue relevant to the lives of the young people. A variety of activities are then used with the young people to help them explore and express their feelings/opinions about the issue.  Issues that have been addressed include, drugs awareness, alcohol misuse, fair trade, bullying, cultural awareness, and sexual health.

Project Work

Project-based work allows us to work with groups of young people over a sustained period.  During this time young people will often have the opportunity to explore & express their values & opinions, gain new skills & knowledge and achieve a recognized qualification or certificate of achievement.

Examples of projects have included:
• Young Men’s Football Project                              
• Spray Art Project                                                
• Girl’s Room                                                       
• Community Media Project

Workshops

With our workshop provision we provide young people with opportunities to try things for the first time, have fun, be creative, develop new skills and increase awareness of relevant issues. 

Examples of workshops have included:
Cooking Workshops                                  
Healthy Eating Workshops                       
Drugs & Alcohol Awareness Workshops                       
Dance Workshops                                        
Drum Workshops                                          
DJ Workshops                                               
Art-based Workshops

Personal, Social Development Programmes

Essence is a ten week healthy lifestyle programme for teenage girls aged 13-16 which supports the participants in developing self-esteem, self-confidence, knowledge and skills to enable them to make positive and informed lifestyle choices.  The programme covers a range of lifestyle issues including healthy eating, personal fitness, hair care, skin care, body image and much more.   There is also an opportunity for the girls to gain an OCN accreditation in Healthy Living.

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Turntable is a ten week DJ/music production programme which provides creative and expressive space for young men aged 13-16 to develop new skills, self-confidence and self-esteem through a range of urban art forms.  The project creates space for the young men to learn new skills whilst also exploring social and emotional issues relevant to their lives and communities.  The project also offers the young people the opportunity to gain an OCN accreditation in Turntablism.



   

Schools Work

Our Youth Workers visit two secondary schools on a regular basis. Swanwick Hall School, and Mill Hill School in Ripley are provided with the following services:

A lunch-time drop-in facility
Assemblies
RE/PSHE lessons
SRE Curriculum Support
Pupil Support Meetings
Mentoring
Inclusion Unit Support
Work Experience Opportunities

We also enjoy strong links with many other secondary schools in the area through the referral based projects that we run at our Blend Youth Project facility.

Mentoring & Counselling

Mentoring: Youth Workers at Blend Youth Project are trained to deliver mentoring support to young people in individual and group contexts. The aim of this provision is to offer a confidential context of adult support and encouragement in which the young person can express feelings, share concerns, explore issues affecting their lives and set goals to encourage their personal and social development. Please contact us if you would be interested in this service.

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Counselling: A free and confidential young person’s counselling service is available at Blend on Thursday afternoons through our partnership with Safe Speak. 

Please contact us for more information on this service.