Parish Youth Project

St Agnes Parish Council’s Youth Project concept – 2019

The need for youth group provision has been identified by individual voluntary groups in Mount Hawke and
Blackwater and has been confirmed as parishwide by Young People Cornwall, whose extensive consultation
with youngsters and their families has shown the need for a more structured and regular delivery of youth
and family services in each village, with a fairer spread of opportunity for all wherever they live in the parish.
The idea is that as a parish we engage a professional body to facilitate the services needed. By commissioning
such professionals we can be assured that all insurances, health and safety procedures and staff protocols are
correctly followed. Young People Cornwall have been instrumental in providing youth work in the Parish for
some time and we have established that they guarantee to facilitate and run the youth provision needed
across the parish. The Parish Council will take on the role of overseeing the project via a representative Parish
Councillor from each village.

Each village has its own needs and through further consultation we can best provide exactly what is needed
and where it is needed. For example, at the moment St. Agnes village is well provided for as the Methodist
Church funds the majority of the youth provision. Whereas in all the other villages, Mount Hawke, Blackwater,
Porthtowan and Mithian the provision is much less assured and funding is patchy.

The overall concept means that wherever youngsters live in the Parish they should have a reasonable chance
of attending a local youth group. That may mean that the youth workers will not be needed in St. Agnes as
much as they are in the other villages at the moment but, as a long-term project the service can be flexible
and change, as needed, with the times and needs of the youngsters, their families and the wider community.
With more stable funding being provided by local business sponsorship, Cornwall and Parish Council support
and backing from national funders this long term project will benefit not only the youngsters but the wider
community. By creating an inclusive and supportive framework which, with the involvement of local businesses,
could even lead to future training and employment opportunities, it is much more likely that youngsters
will develop a strong sense of community and want to be part of that stronger community as they mature.

See our YouTube video explaining more here.