Bus Successes

Bus centres on Blackheath

The Connexions Bus has been used as the focal point of contact with young people in the Blackheath area of Rowley Regis, with Neil Pearson of the Rowley Regis Detached Youth Team booking the bus for an extended run of Tuesday evenings. Local councillors requested that something is done for local young people, who have no other provision nearby.  In the long term there may be funds to open a youth centre in a local disused shop but in the short term the unique flexibility of the Connexions Bus provided a popular solution for young people and youth workers alike.

Neil Pearson said: " The Connexions Bus is a brilliant resource for us to tap into.  We have been given a solid base from which to work with the young people in the area and build positive relationships.  It's a state of the art drop-in centre on wheels."

Multi-purpose bus In Lower Farm

During early 2006, the Connexions Bus was a regular feature on Thursday evenings in Bloxwich where it has been used for a variety of activities, including youth forum meetings and life skills courses from the police, sexual health providers and Connexions Black Country PAs.

 

Margaret Bull of the Local Neighbourhood Partnership task group and Youth Champion Caroline Crolly opted to use the bus in the Lower Farm area of Bloxwich after discussing ideas with Bus Project Co-ordinator Stephen Clarke, and Tony Lloyd and Dan Johnson of the Walsall Connexions team.

Dan Johnson said:  "I'm so pleased that we could offer the Bloxwich LNP the Connexions Bus, they have worked so hard to get something going for young people in the area and we have been able to provide them with a focus and a sense of support."

Bus safety

The Engaging Young People (EYP) team joined forces with the Connexions Bus to encourage young people to think about personal safety. The bus parked at the UCI at Merry Hill Shopping Centre on February 4th 2006 and was the scene of a number of activities and consultation exercises around personal safety issues, which is one of the Every Child Matters outcomes.

Visitors to the bus also found out about how they could play a part in their communities through their Local Management Committee.

Kim Farr, Assistant Youth Involvement Development Worker, helped organise the bus event and said: "Dudley LMC wanted to hear more views from young people particularly about personal safety and parking the bus at the UCI car park at Merry Hill on a busy Saturday was a good way of reaching them."

Traveller's Bus

Working with the Education Service for Travelling Children, Connexions Black Country spent a large part of 2005 using the Connexions Bus to reach young people from the travelling community.

The idea was to build trust so that the young travellers could become engaged with positive activities (PAYP) and use Youth Service facilities.

Connexions PA Michaela Williams said: "As a result some of the young travellers have been involved in PAYP activities, and others have enrolled in a part-time construction course at college."

Working with the Shaw Trust

The Connexions Bus has worked in partnership with the Shaw Trust to facilitate a certified programme of learning for young people with Special Education Needs.

During the early part of 2006 the bus has provided a much needed resource at the Timkin Centre in Wolverhampton on Monday and Tuesday mornings, where young SEN students are studying for an Open College Network qualification called Health and Safety in the Workplace.

Shaw Trust is a national charity that provides training and work opportunities for people who are disadvantaged in the labour market due to disability, ill health or other social circumstances. They are the UK's largest provider of employment services for disabled people.

Shaw Trust tutor Pauline Hotchkiss has been thrilled with the way the project is working, reporting that the young people have benefitted greatly from the state-of-the-art facilities on the bus and saying "the kids are loving it!"

Bus project Co-ordinator Stephen Clarke said: "it's great to participate in a project that will see young people with special educational needs gain a qualification that will genuinely help them within mainstream employment."