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The High Sheriffs' Trust The High Sheriff's Initiative In Association with Island Youth Water Activities Centre Island Youth Water Activities Centre IYWAC is a charity operating for the benefit of all young people on the Isle of Wight. IYWAC's prime aim is to provide a variety of water-based experiences, which combine challenge, safety and enjoyment for the young people of the Island. IYWAC has the facilities to offer dinghy sailing, yacht cruising, yacht racing, canoeing, kayaking and powerboat driving. They have the professional, motivated and experienced staff who are qualified to run programmes of water activities for all levels of competence. IYWAC - Working with Disaffected Youth Confidence and competence on the water are powerful antidotes to frustration, turning some of the most troublesome of young peoples into good sailors and useful citizens. IYWAC have had a great deal of success with small groups of disaffected boys and girls of school age. IYWAC have been delivering this type of programme for the Island's High schools for almost 10 years. IYWAC - The High Sheriff's Initiative In June 2005 IYWAC embarked on a new programme in partnership with the High Sheriff's Trust. This programme is targeted at young people who are on the young offenders register or are at risk of offending. Under this project IYWAC has provided activities for over 70 young people. These individuals were referred by the Youth Offending Team, the Early Interventions Service and the Clatterford Tuition Centre. There has been a variety of positive outcomes for many of the young people involved in the project, and for some the experiences have had a major impact. Proposed programme April 2007 - March 2008 Building upon the success and experience of the High Sheriff's Initiative, the High Sheriff's Trust and IYWAC propose a similar programme for the next 12 months. The core of the programme will be weekly sessions for groups of 8 young people referred by the Clatterford Tuition Centre. Each term will see a new group of young people and they will embark on a three month course of activities to include dinghy sailing, kayaking and powerboat driving. During the school summer break sessions will be organised for the Looked-after Children's Service and/or Youth Offending Team. The proposal includes a number of high impact special projects which will be targeted at young people who have displayed aptitude and/or enthusiasm during the regular visits. Most of these projects will take place on the IYWAC yacht and will take the form of training and then competing in a yacht race or participating in a short cruise living aboard for 2 to 3 days. Outcomes All activities can lead to the award of certificates. Some participants may take up one of the activities in their leisure time, some may even gain employment. Most participants will enjoy their time on the water and learn some skills and useful life skills as well as benefiting from the discipline which the use of a boat of any kind involves. The special projects will have a greater impact on social and teamwork skills. These outcomes will be monitored by IYWAC staff and reported on a regular basis. We believe that our provision of activities will have a positive impact on each of the participants, to the extent that they feel more engaged in society and less likely to offend. Monitoring and regular feedback by the Clatterford Tuition Centre staff are an important element in the scheme, to ensure that is having the desired effect on those attending. A quarterly report on the scheme will be submitted to the High Sheriff, including evaluations of its success from IYWAC & CTC.
The Trust welcomes applications for grants from organisations who broadly align with the aims of the Trust. |