Bridges Project

There are loads of exciting activities happening here at Bridges Project, everything from Powerboating to wii games. Click on the link on the right of the screen to download our programme for September and to avoid disappointment please call Jo or Sandie here at Bridges Project (0131 665 1621) to book onto an activity as places are limited.

Headline Data April 2009 - March 2010

We have created a brief statistical report that supplements the regular service monitoring reports which are submitted to our funders on a regular basis during the year. The data for this report are drawn from the individual databases and spreadsheets used by the different services and from the monitoring returns supplied to managers on a monthly rotation. Click on the link on the right to download a pdf of the document.

Healthy Respect Drop-in

Bridges Project is working in partnership with Healthy Respect and is running a drop-in between 1pm and 2pm on Tuesday afternoons starting on 8 September 2009.

The Healthy Respect drop-in is somewhere to come for free, confidential advice, support and information on all kinds of health issues, from fitness and weight loss to smoking and drinking to stress and emotional wellbeing, as well as sexual health and relationships.

So, if you’re feeling anxious about something, or even if you just have a question to do with your health, you can come to the drop-in for a chat. We can help with just about anything! And, if the worker you speak to doesn’t have all the answers you need, they’ll let you know the best place to go, or who to speak to.

Other services that are available at our Healthy Respect drop-in are:

· c:card (for free condoms)

· contraception

· pregnancy testing

· chlamydia testing

Funding Success and New Faces

Bridges Project has successfully bid to two funding streams to help us to cope with the demand for our Way2Work service and to continue the work of our Personal Development Worker (14 to 18 years).

East Lothian’s Community Planning Partnership has awarded us two years of funding through its Fairer Scotland Fund for an ‘employability’ support worker to increase the capacity within the Way2Work service. Previously a part-time post, this extra funding is already having an effect on our ability to meet the needs of a growing number of referrals. We are delighted to welcome Lynne Anderson on to this team which works in partnership with the local authority, the private sector and the voluntary sector. The BBC Children in Need Appeal has awarded us three years of funding to continue the work of Jan Montgomery, our Personal Development Worker who focuses on delivering coping strategies for those young people who are struggling at home, with carers, in school or with living on their own.

We are also very happy to be able to expand the Groupwork Programme at Bridges Project through the employment of a full-time group worker, Louise Small. Louise will work with Sandie Wyles, volunteers and students to design and deliver a range of group experiences which enable young people to develop social networks, independent living and employability skills and to have some fun. We deliver over 300 group sessions every year and Louise will help us to maintain quantity and quality.

Europe for Young People with Fewer Opportunities

Senior staff have been working very closely with colleagues from Scotland, France and Germany to deliver three multi-national seminars designed to provide more opportunities for those young people who cannot or do not take advantage of all that Europe has to offer young people. We are putting the finishing touches to the development of a recognised network within Europe which we hope will be officially launched within the year. More details can be found here: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/europeanyouthseminar

In the meantime, a group of young people from Bridges Project have been participating in a multi-national youth exchange in Slovenia. Their experiences are recounted in the blog section of this website. Bridges Project has also continued its work with the re-structured Eurodesk, answering enquires about European mobility for young people in Scotland and abroad. www.eurodesk.org.uk

This page was last edited on 30/08/2010 11:52