April/May - The Greets Green Partnership Legacy Website

PARTNERSHIP NEWS JOBS & SKILLSYoung advisors get goingGreets Green has appointed itsfirst four Young Advisors, who arecurrently undergoing their training.They are due to begin work in May.The four are Rohim Mohammed andHannah Pearsall, both aged 15, NatashaWooliscroft, aged 16, and MeharpreetSingh, aged 20.Being a Young Advisor is a paid role forpeople aged 15-21. It’s a national schemewhich already has successful projects inother parts of the country. All of our YoungAdvisors had to have previous experienceof voluntary work and knowledge of theGreets Green area. Rohim, Natasha andHannah are members of the Greets GreenYouth Forum. Meharpreet volunteers at theGuru Nanak Community Centre. They alllive locally.The Young Advisors will help communityleaders and decision makers engage withyoung people. They’ll be getting youngpeople involved in consultation, helpingsolve problems experienced by theirpeers and assisting in the production ofbooklets and documents to make themmore accessible to other people their age.ASIA’S HERETO HELPThe Become project, which supportspeople in finding employment andaccessing training, has welcomednew project worker Asia Khatun.Asia, who lives in Greets Green,was formerly the Child Home SafetyCommunity Champion in the area.She’s already launched outreachHannah says: “We’ve been trained onYoung Advisor tasks, debates and howyou deal with problems that may occur.When we do our couple of hours work aweek we’ll be doing lots of different thingslike helping the Police advise youngpeople on a local issue.“I think it’s good to help out young peoplebecause you always get different viewsfrom people of different ages. It helps ifyou have young people advising otheryoung people because they’re more likelyto listen. They trust you and feel morecomfortable.”sessions at local community venues,which are proving popular.She says: “I’m going out to communitycentres to meet local people who maywant to be referred to the Becomeproject. If people need help with CVs,job searching or accessing coursesI’m there on site to help them.”Outreach sessions at the Confederationof Bangladeshi Organisations and theYemeni Community Association havebeen the most successful so far, butAsia has also visited OSCAR Sandwell,the Central Library and the Guru NanakCommunity Centre.Having met someone looking for help,Asia will arrange a time they can visit theBecome office at Steps to Work, 312-314High Street (above Allied Carpets) so thatshe can chat more about their needs.If you would like to run an outreachsession at your community venue,or want to find out more about howBecome can help, contact Asia on0121 580 4162.Meharpreet Singh added: “I thoughtbeing a Young Advisor would help mycareer in youth work. The training hasbeen good. It’s a different way ofapproaching young people and findingout how to work with them.”In the past two weeks two more YoungAdvisors have been recruited, so the fullteam of six is now in place.If you would like to find out mor eabout the Young Advisors, contactJobs & Skills Theme Leader KatherineHewitt on freephone 0800 953 0215.OPEN FOR BUA pioneering website is generatingmillions of pounds worth ofopportunities for businessesacross Greets Green and Sandwell.The Borough of Sandwell expectsan estimated £3 billion worth ofinvestment in the next five to sevenyears, and the business potential ishuge.www.finditinsandwell.co.uk – waslaunched in April 2007 by SandwellCouncil to provide a free onlinebusiness network and businessesin the Greets Green area are amongthose being urged to make the mostof it. The website aims to:■■■keep the local business communityin touch with the latest businessnews from in and around theboroughprovide a network and forum forlocal people to showcase whattheir businesses are all aboutkeep businesses in touch withthe latest tender opportunities10Greets Green Magazine April/May 2008