The number of young people aged 13+ registered as users of Rose Bowl since April 2015 has recently hit 400, and now represents over 50% of the total. This is a major milestone as historically the 8-12 year olds have been the larger user group.

Clive Tachie, Senior Youth Worker, provides some background to this.

“We have done a number of things to redress the situation. We split the activity programme in two. Young people aged 8-15 can come along from 4.30-6.00pm, but from 6.30pm onwards it’s strictly for 16-19 year olds. This change has seen a big improvement in attendance of the older age group, who previously thought it wasn’t cool to be in the same space as the younger ones. Some in the 16 + age group, however, are now coming in specifically to help the younger children.”

“We have also introduced new activities for 16-19 age group:

• Gain Ctrl, a successful music production project at Platform youth hub, is now operating here at Rose Bowl.
• We have started weekly sessions with Islington Council’s Progress team. These help young people who are not in training, education or employment, access one-to-one support to get a job, apprenticeship or a college place.
• We are also now working with LDN Youth Islington who offer supported sessions to young people with special educational needs up to the age of 24.
• Mind Connect are now based here once a week and offer counselling to young people who are feeling low or stressed and want a more focused direction in life.”

“So, a combination of new activities, stricter age segregation and the introduction of support services have all helped. And the 16-19 programme is now printed on a separate leaflet that is used for targeted outreach.”

“It was important for us to redress the age balance. We know there are lots of young people in the area that would benefit from the support we can give them if they could be tempted in. So, it is a good step in the right direction, and at the same time we haven’t reduced the number of our younger users.”

See opening times and programmes http://www.rosebowlislington.org.uk/events#activities-for-young-people