Ana Tovey and Ally Cocksedge joined the West Bowling Youth Initiative boys, a youth group from Bradford, on a 3 day residential to the Lake District as part of the Streetwise "Touch" Documentary, from 6th - 8th June 2011. The documentary is following the research of academics from Newman University as they investigate the issue of street violence for young people across Europe and the role that street-based youth workers can play in reducing street violence. Bradford is one of the European case studies (the others being Islington in London, Graz in Austria and Cologne in Germany).
We followed Mike and Sab from Newman as they met youth workers from West Bowling Youth Initiative and learnt about the work they do. Staying in the tiny village of Brigsteer in Cumbria, in a converted old school called Lumley Fee, the boys enjoyed 3 days away from the city and away from life as they know it. They had the opportunity to get out of their comfort zones by taking part in activities such as caving in the Yorkshire Dales and absailing 50 ft down a disused quarry, high up in the Lakes.
Along side the documentary filming, filmmaking workshops were ran for the young people so they could have a go on the other side of the camera. They are currently in the middle of making their own documentaries/short films exploring what Bradford is like for young people and their opinions on street violence.
We were really thankful that the weather held out for us during our stay up in the Lakes!
The next stop for Ana and Tim is the European leg of the project in Graz taking place at the end of June.
Take a look at our photos from the residential.
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