Sunday 22 November 2009

A new challenge....

On Thursday I had a job interview with the Benjamin Foundation, for the post of Project Co-ordinator for an exciting new project in Thetford. I am delighted to have been offered to post, which I will start at the beginning of January. The project, has been funded by the Government (Over £400,000!)and is the only one of its kind in the whole of East Anglia. There were 15 projects in total funded across the UK. It aims to address the fact that many children in Thetford have such low aspirations and leave school at 16 going straight into employment with few remaining in education post-16, and less still going on to University after that. The project will take over the empty Community Centre on Redcastle Estate and turn it into a Youth Cafe, and Community hub for learning, and education. It is very exciting!!! I would welcome anyones ideas and thoughts about what sort of activities could take place to help children while at school (e.g. home-work clubs) and what can be done to get more children staying in education post-16.

3 comments:

Corinne Fulford said...

Hi Terry, good stuff. I am tryng to get a number of projects off the ground with both Dad's Army & Charles Burrell museums to build on the success of the school events that we are running. Maybe this is something we could develop? Corinne

Anonymous said...

Terry
As a local community worker have you come across the two words "stone curlew"? they are the cause of much angst amongst Breckland and Forest Heath Dc councillors as they inhibit the promotion of housing scemes around the districts. It appears to me that they have been sold a good story by the RSPB and Natural England who say that you cannot have development because it scares the stone curlew and there is no legal way of "mitigating" for this effect on the stone curlew nesting within their specially protected area. This story has been accepted by Breckland DC and Forest Heath DC and enshrined in the policies in their core strategies. BUT for some reason the RSPB have rolled over and accepted the loss of ten stone curlew territories through the A11 Fiveways Thetford dualling, accepting a mitigation package from the Highways Agency. The only moderator acceptable comment is hypocrisy.
Burhinus Oedicnamus, the Cambridgshire stone curlew

TJUK2013 said...

Not so much with my community worker hat, but certainly with my town councillor hat I am aware of the stone curlew debate. I am not one who believes that it is a "houses or birds" issue, nothing is ever that simple, I believe that it is important to protect our environment and rare birds, and that new housing should not unnecessaily, or too greatly damage our natural habitats, that said - for this to occur, there needs to be clear evidence and information available regarding the topic and that is the one thing we do not seem to have with regards to stone curlews