Dreamcatchers
recognises that for young people to develop they need the input of
their community.
We
believe
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Society needs to have a vision of what it wants for its young people.
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Young people grow up in communities not programmes or projects.
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Adults need to work in partnership with young people in an effort to promote positive youth development.
To effectively combine Youth Development with Community Development we
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Develop young people’s connections to their own identity, culture and community
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Recognise that young people are assets to their community
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Engage young people as community leaders on issues that matter to and directly affect them
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Bring young people and adults together to work as equal partners
Our youth projects offer young people opportunities to develop personally, socially and emotionally. We do this by using a blend of experiential activities, developmentally focussed projects and alternative education programmes.
Dreamcatchers meets the developmental needs young people whist recognising
•
Their need for stability
and security.
•
Their need for consistency,
reliability, and continuity.
•
Their need for new and
challenging experiences and activities.
•
Their need for praise,
acknowledgement, and recognition,
•
Their need to be trusted
and gain respect and responsibility.
We believe that true and lasting development or progression can
only be achieved if young people’s individual needs are met
therefore our projects encourage young people to develop a variety
a skills using diverse experiences in a range of
environments.
Many young people find our youth projects to be a safe and
attractive alternative to anti social behaviour, and other criminal
activities.
Participation in our projects offers young people many of the
qualities they seek when entering a gang - such as companionship,
acceptance, support and social interaction.
We believe positive actions lead to positive results, so we enable
young people to take control of the services that are set up to
help them, thus ensuring our work effectively meets young people's
individual and collective needs.
