11/06/2010 : BHP holds youth consultation

Brent Housing Partnership's (BHP) Resident and Community Support Team held a consultation with young residents between the ages of 11 to 18. The purpose of the consultation was to find out what activities they wanted on their estate and the surrounding area and get their view on preventing anti-social behaviour (ASB).

This event was targeted at young people from Ainsworth Close and Comber Close in Dollis Hill, and was held at the Comber Close community centre. In response to reports of ASB from young people in the area, BHP wanted to consult with the youth about activities they wanted to participate in, which would help keep them off the street, engaged and less likely to get involved in ASB.

The consultation was carried out in partnership with Brent Youth and Connexions Service. It also involved discussions about issues significant to young people such as gun and knife crime, leisure, sports and education. Young people were informed about already established activities in Brent and were signposted to relevant services.

There was a good attendance, young people were enthusiastic and engaged very well with facilitators.

Jennifer Aneto, Resident and Community Support Officer, said: "It was very encouraging to see young people on the estate express a keen interest in their community and environment. It can be very hard for young people growing up these days with the negative publicity they face and stereotyping. In contrast to this, it was good to see so many articulate and enthusiastic youth expressing their views and wanting to get involved in positive activities. BHP would like to carry out similar exercises elsewhere in Brent, so if you live on a council estate and feel that young people are getting involved in ASB, please call our team and we will try to provide similar consultations."

The feedback given by young people at the consultation was to see activities based around music, fashion ICT and video production. They said they would also like to participate in sports sessions such as football, tennis and dance and to go on trips with their peer group. BHP will be positively considering these activities with the view of taking them forward.