DCYG (Deaf Centre Youth Group) are remarkable young people. Some of the members are Deaf and/or come from severely disadvantaged or refugee backgrounds in an area where there’s a high level of youth crime. When they first started meeting up, many of them didn’t believe they were capable of going to university or finding good careers. Some of them had never been out of Newcastle. We set out to change all of that.
We wanted to empower them, give them a safe space where they can be themselves and then we ask them to use that support to dare to step out of their comfort zones.
Feedback that we receive from the Group members tells us that they feel ‘happy and safe’ coming to the ‘supportive, welcoming space’ in the Deaf Centre where they are ‘never judged.’ They have made new meaningful friendships.
We started the DCYG to give young people a safe inclusive and welcoming environment where theycould dare to dream big and feel empowered as they expanded their horizons and learned more about the world around them. Now as they’ve grown in confidence and knowledge, we’re honoured to watch them fly.
The local area has high levels of teenage crime and drug use and so our next collaboration was with the Police who held an Awareness Workshop. This helped the group to understand the dangers of county lines and how to stay safe online. This wasn’t an easy day as it dealt with some very unpleasant subjects. However, the young people told us that “everything is easier when done together’ with the people they like to be around; in the space they love.
