Community Awards 2006 Nominees

Urban Project of the Year

MAP (Multi Arts Programme)
YOUNGSTERS out of education and with no job are often shunned by society.

But a Banbury-based youth group is working hard to help them and has been nominated for the Urban Project of the Year award.

MAP (Multi Arts Programme) works with people between the ages of 16 and 25 not in full-time education, employment or training and at risk from social exclusion. Based at The Mill Arts Centre in Banbury, it develops projects based on people's interests and helps them get a qualification.

Selma Wakeman, who runs the project with Ellie Colven, said: “We offer activities young people in the town really enjoy, for those who maybe didn't get on in school. We also try to help them deal with other more personal issues in life, as well as trying to get them qualifications and help them find work.”

MAP started in Banbury six years ago and now runs projects across the county but most of the people it helps are from the town.

It is funded by the Learning and Skills Council and works with other agencies including Oxford and Cherwell Valley College, career advice organisation Connexions, mental health centres and housing agencies.

Banbury Young Homelessness Project
The Banbury Young Homelessness Project (BYHP) looks after more than 400 under-25s in Cherwell and a further 100 in West Oxfordshire.

BYHP is no stranger to our awards. Last year it clinched our Community Group of the Year title.

The charity has been in existence in Banbury since 1989, but last year it saw £350,000 of its Oxfordshire County Council funding slashed. That's equivalent to £565 for every person it helps and half its annual income.

The shortfall brought an end to its 24/7 service which offered 24-hour housing and around-the-clock support for homeless young people with disabilities and mental health problems. Eleven members of staff lost their jobs as a result.

There has been better news of late, however. A garden party held by Sir Dominic and Lady Cadbury - one of BYHP's patrons - in the grounds of their north Oxfordshire stately home raised £40,000 for the charity, with a similar amount set to be donated courtesy of the Big Lottery Fund.

The contributions will go towards employing outreach workers to run a medium-needs service to go alongside the existing drop-in centre provision.

BYHP director Lynda Chalcraft said: “The idea is to make sure no young people drop out of the system.

“We have been working hard to try and ensure that young people who come into the system get a really good service.

“We want them to have somewhere to go which is their place, somewhere they feel confident and where they can get assistance. The outreach workers will go out and work with these people on their own terms.”

Ms Chalcraft said the ideal solution was to try to reach some kind of compromise that would allow the young people to remain at home with their families.

She added: “A lot of the people who come to us have left home in a flash of anger, and more than half of them don't get around to making a homeless application because we are able to prevent it. That support is critical.”

With the future perhaps now a little brighter than it had seemed a few months ago, Ms Chalcraft added BYHP was determined to look forwards rather than back.

She said: “Losing 24/7 has made a huge difference, but we will be making changes in terms of remodelling the organisation's services and are hoping to relaunch ourselves in September.

“BYHP is beginning to pick up again. The message is we are still here and we are not going to go away.”

LiveArts at St Mary's
LIVEARTS at St Mary's has been nominated in recognition of its work with performing arts in the town.

The voluntary organisation has transformed St Mary's Church in Banbury into a thriving entertainment venue.

The organisation was launched in October 2002 following an appeal to raise money to repair the church.

Matthew Hunter of the management committee said: “We're not trying to get our names up in lights. We just enjoy doing it and have been fortunate in our efforts.”

The introduction of LiveArts has led to an influx of popular entertainment in the town, including jazz nights, gospel evenings and exhibitions. The popularity of the venue has attracted a wide range of national acts.

“The whole idea of running LiveArts was seriously questioned by consultants outside of the area. Now it is rather nice looking back at those formal documents and realising we have been successful in getting support,” said Mr Hunter.

The group is planning to add lunchtime performances to the schedule following the success of a pilot scheme earlier this year.

LiveArts receives funding from Cherwell District Council and the Oxford Community Foundation. Any money it makes through ticket sales helps to pay for repairs to the church and fund children's workshops.

Visit www.livearts-at-stmarys.co.uk

Peggy Myer, Fairtrade
A MODEST campaigner has had years of hard work recognised with a nomination for Urban Project of the Year in the Banbury Guardian Community Awards.

Peggy Myer, of Horton View, Banbury, has spent two years leading the campaign to introduce Fairtrade products to local shops and businesses.

Her hard work and dedication finally paid off when Banbury was recently awarded the status of a Fairtrade town.

Mrs Myers, 68 was put forward for the award by her neighbours Sue and Jim Privett. They were eager for the local and international benefits of Mrs Myer’s Fairtrade campaign to be recognised after her ceaseless work.

Mr Privett said: “Peggy has raised the profile enormously. She has kept perservering and been successful. She is a very modest individual.”
He admitted his ties to Mrs Myer had had a “lasting impression” on him and made him more aware of a subject he had little involvement in.

Over the years Mrs Myer has worked to promote Fairtrade goods as a better shopping alternative. She has been supported by a steering group and is hesitant to take sole credit for their work. She said: “What we have done for Fairtrade has been a team effort.”

Although her dedication to Fairtrade in Banbury spans the last two years, her overall work with Fairtrade products dates back more than two decades. She said: “I believe in justice and Fairtrade is a way towards solving poverty, giving people dignity and allowing them to work their way out of poverty.”

Having visited East Africa in the early 1970s, she has witnessed first hand the effects of poverty in the developing world and knows Fairtrade products can help the plight of Third World Farmers.

Fairtrade offers an alternative approach to conventional international trade. It considers the needs of the farmers by providing better trading conditions and works to improve sustainable development for disadvantaged producers.

For more information visit www.fairtrade.org.uk