Reaching out to young people
Youth workers bring confidence and pride to the area
Youth work in Craigmillar and Portobello is reaching out to young people in new and innovative ways, thanks to the dedication of those who work in the community and help to bring confidence and pride to the youth of the area.
Because this work is so important, the Portobello and Craigmillar Neighbourhood Partnership continues to support many local projects such as the Jack Kane Centre. It has now allocated extra money to extend the range of activities for children and young people during school holidays across the whole area.
Scott Fraser has been centre manager of The Jack Kane Centre for four years and, over this time, he has successfully brought in more than £500,000 of external money to help fund it. The centre receives £60,000 a year to support Café K from the Fairer Scotland Fund, distributed by the Neighbourhood Partnership.
“I’ve a good grounding in the voluntary sector and I’m aware of the opportunities to get funding,” said Scott.
When Scott joined the Jack Kane Centre, he realised it really needed an upgrade.
“We’ve changed every room,” he said. He set up Café K and since then it has attracted people from all walks of life. Such was his success, that he was runner-up in the Council’s Staff Awards.
“The area suffers from disadvantages and there are a wide range of people with different needs. We have to adapt and change the programme to fit,” he added.
Each Sunday a Kurdish group use the centre. “They came to us because they heard it’s a welcoming place,” said Scott. “They are a group who felt marginalised and isolated, but now a group of about 60 Kurds get together to play traditional music. I’ve watched them playing and it was great.”
Born in Greendykes, Scott worked as a plumber before studying social learning – and he’s pleased he made the switch.
“I’ve always been a people person,” he said. “I want to talk to them about their lives rather than the boiler breaking down.”
Oot N Aboot:
Using his knowledge of street work, Scott came up with Oot N Aboot, which targets young people who wouldn’t normally use centre-based services.
“We go out on the streets in Craigmillar and Portobello to work with them,” he said. “We build up relationships, build up trust, work on community issues and bring out laptops with us for them to work on.”
“Around 80 per cent of learning comes from the street and we must listen and act on their own views, however confrontational. We have built up a service with a knock-on effect that we’ve built up relationships with families.