Blairtummock Mer Tae Me
Friday, 04 June 2010 18:23
9 young males from the Blairtummock area, aged between 9-12 took part in FARE`s “Mer Tae Me” programme, which is funded by GHA, Scottish Government and Sports Relief. “Mer Tae Me” is a 15 week personal development programme targeted at young people who are involved in Gang & Territorial issues or at high risk. The programme was put together to help explore & tackle these problems that the young people face while having fun in a safe environment.
The programme ran for 15 weeks and during those weeks the group meet twice a week. On Tuesday`s at the Pavilion the young people participated in workshops based around gang culture, alcohol/drugs, knife crime, health & fitness and also developed their creative skills in an community art project. For this project the young people cleaned up a storage container which was covered with graffiti at their local nursery (Thistle Childcare Nursery). With help from a graffiti artist they transformed the container from an eyesore into a fantastic mural. For this hard work that they have put into this project, they will each also gain the Dynamic Youth Award.
On Thursday evenings the group enjoyed a variety of fun high adrenaline activities from attending the Scotland v Czech Republic game, bowling, laser Quest and M&Ds as well as many others. By being involved in these activities this reduced their chances of being involvement in anti social behaviour.
The boys meet Scotland manager Craig Levin while on Hampden museum visit.
At the end of the 15 week Mer Tae Me programme the young people invited their families and local funders to the Pavillion so that they could present to them what they have done and learnt from the 15 week programme. The night was well attended and those who attended voiced their concerns that their kids loved and gained so much from the programme and wondered what will be available for them know the programme is complete. FARE are looking into funding to continue working with the group as well as a girls group.
