Cllr Tony Smith opened the meeting and handed the chair over to

Isaac Holden (young person).

Agreed as a true record.

There were no matters arising.

Lindsay Davidson reported that since the last meeting Youth and Play had become an integral part of Targeted Services. Lindsay Davidson asked if we could invite colleagues from Targeted Services to the next meeting to provide a progress update to the Committee.

Lindsay Davidson presented the Head of Service Report and highlighted a number of matters and initiatives.

Caron Drucker introduced a short presentation.

Isaac Holden (young person) gave an account of his role as part of the Peer Educators Group based at Pilgrim Street Arts Centre.  He described how this has helped him gain confidence and make new friends.

Jason (young person) described his roles in some of the plays he had been in and what he had learnt.

Sue Mahoney (a carer) explained how it was very difficult to find places for children with additional needs to do things.  Sue had been asked by a number of parents, whose children attend the Youth Theatre, to say a big thank you to the staff at Pilgrim Street Arts Centre. She followed this by presenting some testimonials from other parents.

Steve Chan presented a Power Point presentation which included an account of the Summer Playday in Birkenhead Park this August.  Councillor Meaden commented that she had the privilege of being there and congratulated the Wirral Play Council and Service on the way it had been run.

Michelle Langan presented the evaluation report for the GIRLS Project and Caron Drucker presented the accompanying DVD.  Both the report and DVD highlighted some encouraging statistics relating to the distance travelled by the young women involved. 

Councillor Wendy Clements asked if there were any plans to further support the young women.  Michelle Langan said that this would be managed through individual exit plans linking into universal youth provision, i.e. Youth Hubs.

Councillor Walter Smith reported that he was pleased to see the involvement of the Oaklands Centre and extolled the benefits of outdoor education. He highlighted a recent national newspaper article that reinforced this and made members aware of the “Friends of Oaklands” support group.

Councillor Tony Smith thanked staff for implementing the project. He suggested that it would be useful to bring the programme to the attention of the Wirral secondary headteachers and will talk to Julia Hassall to address some of the issues that have now arisen. 

Mark Newman reported that there were plans to mirror the programme with a young men’s project.

Councillor Pat Williams commented that she was pleased that young men were possibly going to be involved in such a project as often they struggle to identify with positive role models.

Tuesday 4^th February 2014.