An Interview: Youth Space

There are so many great people living in Reddish, working to make it a better place for everyone. One of the main objectives of Reddish News  is to bring these brilliant people and their projects to light. This week Jez spoke to Christopher Hill, who is working on the Youth Space project. Don’t know what it is? That’s what we are here for! Read on to find out more in this great interview with Christopher!

Who are you and what is your connection to Reddish?

I’m Christopher Hill, a 20 year old student at the University of Manchester. I am a Reddish lad, lived here all my life and went to School at St. Elisabeth’s and Reddish Vale. I am also now deeply rooted at Reddish Vale as a Governor/Director.

I keep seeing you at events across Reddish and Stockport promoting Youthspace. What is it?

Youth Space is a concept we hope to develop into a social enterprise/co-operative/youth organisation. We aim to provide a platform for young people to achieve their ambitions whilst helping others. We hope to do this through a virtual space (www.youthspace.info) and a physical space (the youth space hub/shop in the centre of Reddish). Youth Space this year has funded work withHuman Utopia(our partner organisation) and together we have worked with over 1000 young people. We are currently continuing our Future Leaders Programme that has 3 stages; Thinking, Doing,Changing.  This is done by a combination of workshop and social action.

You pride yourself on having the co-op values. What are these and why do you feel they are such an integral part of what you do?

The values are: solidarity, democracy, equity, equality, self help and self responsibility. There are also a series of ethical values and a set of key principles that are available to see at www.youthspace.info.

The values to me represent universal aims for all human beings and so offer people the chance to grow and develop together, as one, as co-operators. The principles act as guide and temper my actions as co-operator and ensure live harmoniously with others. They are important because they have made a difference to my life through Phil Arnold (Director of College Improvement RVTC). He’s an inspirational man who was instrumental in bringing co-operation to RVTC. Since 2008 I have worked co-operatively to help develop a coffee co-op, creative co-op, and speak at high profile events, all things I wouldn’t have done otherwise. Above all else the values have made me want to be a ‘Phil Arnold’, someone that works tirelessly without courting recognition. That’s why I want to ask for help to develop Youth Space so more young people can be switched on by these values and make Reddish an even better place.

Do you feel that young people get much of a say in the local community? If not, how do you feel this could be addressed?

I think youth councils and organisations like the ROC Cafe have helped in this area to some degree. I still feel that the 16-17 year olds feel disenfranchised with no vote and no mechanism to express their good ideas, opinions and thoughts on the political questions of the day (local, national, global). Civil society can only remain ‘civil’ if young people have a point in which they can invest in hope for the future and harness the idealism that youth holds.

Specifically Youth Space proposes the Youth Space hub that would be funded through membership and wider stakeholders. This would continue our workshop work and provide a space in which young people can organise to set up social action projects to combat injustice. I believe young people have the passion and talent to be independent. Together they can take ownership of local politics without the aid of a politician/official who doesn’t know the price of milk or the plight of young people in the 21st century. Youth Space is happy to share knowledge of the political process in a neutral fashion but prefers young people to use co-operative action to bypass the red tape.

Reddish Business Forum are asking the question “What’s your vision for Reddish over the next five years?”. What’s yours?

- For Reddish to have a Councillor under the age of 24 to represent young peoples issues with real understanding. Cllrs to hold regular youth surgeries in local Schools.

- For Reddish’s youth organisations to join up their services to offer a safety net and variety of experiences for young people. No young person should miss out on the chance to develop skills outside of school hours. As “by the strength of our common endeavour we achieve more than we achieve alone”.

- To open the Youth Space Hub.

- To continue our work with Human Utopia accessing every school in Reddish/serves Reddish. With all young people in Reddish having the opportunity to be a hero.

- To see young people in Reddish celebrated as the area’s greatest asset.

We hear you’re planning an event on the 14th July. Tell us about it.

Yes, the Youth Space BBQ and Activities Day at Reddish Vale Technology College. Earlier in the year I put in a bid for £800 from the Community First pot (supported by Cllr Verdeille, Sophia and James) and was successful. The event is a reward for the contribution young people have made to the Reddish community over the past year as ‘Heroes’. On the day we will have prizes for the young people, a high ropes assalt course, live music and DJ Sets. This event will also give current learners at Reddish Vale the chance to celebrate the Schools Diamond Jubillee. We also hope to encourage more young people to get involved and adults to support us in our second year of activity.

Find more information on Youth Space:

http://www.youthspace.info/

Facebook

Twitter

You Tube

by Jez Myers

A Rant : WiFi

A few weeks ago, Cllr. Kate Butler sent us a tweet asking about where she could get free Wi-Fi in Reddish. Having had a think about it, I came back with nothing. Nada. Zilch. There’s a Cloud point in Houldsworth Square which is great if you have Sky Broadband or get your mobile from Phones4U. If you don’t though, then you have to pay for it. Not exactly what people are looking for when they think of ‘free’.

So, as I sit here in Starbucks, utilising their free Wi-Fi, writing this article, I can’t seem to understand why there aren’t any businesses that provide it locally. I’d have thought that in the centre, Sykes or Johnny’s Dinner would be ideal. Even the pubs would be better than the current ‘none’. Also as a way to keep people shopping locally, something that I’ll be writing about shortly, it’s of vital importance.

One of the things that we’ve noticed with this website, is the demand for a printed version, it’s something we’re working on trust me. However, the costs involved are substantial and, in reality, we shouldn’t HAVE to do a printed version. The city over we are working on improving digital connectivity and it’s something that we’re all passionate about but something that Reddish seems to do badly. Why?

Young professionals (and I’m still young at 35) want places to sit, eat, drink and work but require the space and the tools to do so. If that isn’t provided then they go elsewhere and that hurts the local economy.  The same person who goes to Sykes for a coffee and a sandwich whilst doing their work, is the same person that calls in on the way home at Price Less (or is it Priceless, I’ve never been able to work that out) or Tittertons or Hobsons. This is the very same reason why it’s so important to support the local community centre and library. We’ve already lost the swimming pool, don’t let them be next.

In 2012, asking for a high quality local business to provide me with a coffee, pannini and wifi isn’t too much to ask, is it?

What do you think?

by Jez Myers

Reddish Vale Country Park - Weekend Activities

Ok, so I was brought up in a city, and I’ve lived in cities most of my adult life, but that doesn’t necessarily mean that I have any kind of natural aversion to the countryside. In fact, maybe it’ the dash of Romany that I’ve got in me that means that I’m rarely happier than when I’m mucking about in the country.

This is why I was so happy who discover Reddish Vale Country Park when Ana and I moved here. It really is something special.

Five minutes walk from the litter of Houldsworth Square is a relatively unspoilt stretch of countryside, with three lakes, a river running through it and some spectacular views of the railway bridge into Stockport. A place where you can (very nearly) get lost for an afternoon hunting for frogspawn or feeding ducks, like a refugee from an Enid Blyton novel.

I’ve seen so much at the park, from tiny baby ducks to beautiful sunsets in the early summer. It’s a genuinely inspiring place to spend time, and as someone that spends most of their life glued to a computer screen, it’s great to go somewhere away from the hustle and bustle, to sit and feed the ducks, get lost and just BE.

Want to head down there? Well this weekend could be a great time to experience the park for the first time. Stockport Greenspace Forum have organised a special event this weekend to celebrate the Olympics, the Paralympics, and some of the best green spaces in Stockport.

Want to know more about the event? Here’s the gist of it from the official site:

“Five batons, designed by Stockport school children, will set off from five different green spaces across Stockport. The batons will be carried along five routes, calling at participating green spaces along the way until all five batons meet up at Reddish Vale for the finale.”

The finale in question will feature a brass band, some face painting, and some Zorbing – although whether it builds on Jez’s idea for a water-zorbing race including celebrities still remains to be seen. Don’t hold your breath for that bit – but the rest should be quite fun.

Find out more information about the event on the official Pass the Baton site.

by Ben Stroud

Sweat Shed Boot Camp - Survived!

June is over and so ends my first month at Sweat Shed. I have to say that I have really enjoyed the majority of the sessions (apart from one with an unmentionable amount of burpees) and have been able to sweat my way through them, with somewhat questionable performance at times.  I have become accustomed to walking like a cowboy, unable to walk up and down stairs without groaning, as well as moaning about every single muscle in my body aching at some point.

Enough about my complaints, I’m sure you want to know what the benefits have been! Well I feel much fitter. I was fairly active before however Sweat Shed has boosted my fitness to new levels. I am stronger and more confident in trying new exercise and as a bonus have lost a bit of weight. I (mostly) look forward to the sessions, even though the ones I have been to have started at 6:30am. I can’t say that I would say the same if it were winter and the mornings were dark!

The evening (6:30pm) and Saturday morning (10am) classes have been the busiest but that doesn’t mean that you can slack off, in fact I found that the busier the class the more difficult it has been, even if the exercises were meant to be the same! The early and mid morning classes tend to have between 6 and 15 people at a time, so it really feels like value for money when you get such small groups.

I would encourage anyone to sign up who wants to be pushed to the next fitness level, no matter whether you are a novice or a pro. Unfortunately you will have to wait until August, as Sweat Shed is fully booked for July. However they don’t just offer boot camp, individual and group personal training are now available and new this month is a ladies only Boxfit class run by new Sweat Shedder Jenna.

 I have enjoyed boot camp so much that I have signed up for another month, and this time am dragging Reddish News team members Ana and Ben along to be put through their paces.  Jez is still unconvinced but I think we will get him there.

 Thanks to Mat Leigh, for an awesome month of hard training, and here’s to another month of progress and pain!

Check out Liz's previous Sweat Shed Boot Camp write ups here and here!

Check out the Sweat Shed site for more details including their Facebook, Twitter and You Tube sites.

by Liz Edwards

Get Stuffed

A couple of the Reddish News team took a little trip down to Houldsworth Mill this afternoon, on the off chance that Reddish's very own taxidermy shop 'Death Warmed Up' would be open. Sadly, it was all closed up, but luckily for us there will be an exhibition of Patricia Calder's work starting with a preview tomorrow (Saturday 30th June)!

So if you are as intrigued as we are (which is VERY) then get yourself down to Unit 33M, Vauxhall Industrial Estate, Greg Street, Reddish, Stockport SK5 7BR!

by Ana Hernandez