IN BRIEF
SEFTON HOSTS A VERY CARING CHRISTMAS WITH TWO PARTIES FOR YOUNG PEOPLE
A PROJECT THAT ’ S MAKING A “ WHEEL ” DIFFERENCE
Tune into BBC iPlayer to see one of Liverpool ’ s incredible community projects on the small screen .
Sefton Council hosted its very first Christmas events over the festive period for cared for children and care experienced young people in partnership with Waterloo Community Centre and the Plaza Community Cinema .
Care experienced young people were invited to a full Christmas experience including Christmas dinner , quizzes and games , great raffle prizes and a personalised gift bought for them by businesses signed up to our Caring Business Charter . The event saw a special guest performance by Francis Doran , lead singer of Red Rum Club , a local band fresh from their latest US tour ! Our cared for children were invited for a movie night at The Plaza where they joined some of our staff to watch Matilda : The Musical and went home with a goody bag of sweets and treats and a book token ready to spend on a new read for the new year !
The feedback so far has been positive and Sefton are keen to keep events like these going .
Cllr Mhairi Doyle , Cabinet Member for Children ’ s Social Care said : “ I am thrilled to see us celebrating Christmas with our children and young people this year . Some of these young people may have been spending Christmas alone so having this Christmas experience to eat , drink and take home a haul of presents will have definitely made their festive period a lot brighter . We are so grateful to community groups and our Caring Business Charter signatories for their help in pulling these events together , making donations and ultimately delivering a great bit of festive fun to our children and young people .”
This event was a first for Sefton Council who are keen to increase engagement with young people and use their local influence to create great experience for all the children they work with .
Toxteth ’ s Cycle of Life project was the subject of We Are England , broadcast on Monday 9 January , on BBC One , which also features a council-funded initiative .
Cycle of Life was founded by Ibe Hayter in 2020 with the aim of encouraging more people , particularly those from diverse or vulnerable groups , to get cycling alongside bicycle maintenance sessions .
In 2021 , the council approached Ibe to see whether Cycle of Life could set up a course especially for unaccompanied asylum-seeking young people to give them confidence to get around their new city and to support them to learn new skills .
Ibe ’ s team developed a six-week course which is set to welcome its third cohort of young people next month . At the end of the course the young people receive certificates and their own bicycle at a special presentation event . The programme features Ibe and also follows 18-year-old Yasser , who arrived in the city from Kuwait , and has taken part in the council ’ s initiative .
Chris Browne , acting deputy manager of the council ’ s unaccompanied asylum seeking children ’ s team , said : “ As well as learning all the important skills needed for riding and maintaining a bicycle , our unaccompanied asylum-seeking children also built new friendships and networks that will help them to develop greater resilience and independence as they grow up . But this is no ordinary cycle programme . Ibe ’ s team had to address a unique range of needs , including meeting the racial , cultural and language needs of a diverse group of vulnerable young people , including translation and interpretation . We ’ re delighted that more people will hear about Cycle of Life ’ s great work and look forward to the third group of young people getting on their bikes next month .”
The 30-minute programme is available to watch back on BBC iPlayer .
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