Chichester Community Development Trust (CCDT) is unveiling new opportunities for young people from school year 6 and above to get involved with social action projects that will encourage intergenerational connections whilst making a difference in their community.

This 6-month youth-led CAP Programme will offer opportunities to develop new skills and build confidence, bringing older and younger residents together to collaborate on initiatives to tackle local issues, and explore ways to create more connected communities across generations.

Projects delivered last year by other Community Ambassador groups include intergenerational sessions in care homes, the creation of a wheelchair accessible beach boardwalk, and a community fun day with activities designed for all ages to bring local people together.

The first stage of CCDT’s project will be working with the young people to identify challenges facing the community before agreeing ways to make improvements. This will be led by the new CAP youth club night on Fridays, starting from January, from 5:6:30 at the Chichester Shed.

Funding for this programme has been provided by Clarion Futures, the charitable foundation of Clarion Housing Group, as well as Places for People and Sovereign Network Group. Additional support has been provided by the #iwill Fund, made possible by a £66 million joint investment from The National Lottery Community Fund and the Department for Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) to support young people to access high quality social action opportunities.

Organised by the #iwill Movement and taking place from 18-22 November, #iwill Week is a celebration of the incredible work young people are doing across the UK to improve their lives and communities through social action. 

About CCDT & youth programmmes…..

Sarah Nute, Youth Programme Manager at CCDT said:

“We’re extremely grateful to Clarion and the other partners for funding enabling this project. We are passionate about getting the youth voice heard, and helping them to shape the community that they are growing up in.  Equally, we want to encourage communication with older generations, with the aim of breaking down barriers between generations and lessening feelings of fear and isolation on both sides. The CAP programme is a great opportunity for us to enable more young people to get involved in their community and the issues that matter to them and, importantly, to have a great time doing it. That’s the only way to bring about lasting change.”

Matt Parsonage, Head of Communities at Clarion Futures, said:

“We’re excited to be teaming up with CCDT on this new phase of our long-running youth social action programme which focuses on changing perceptions. Working alongside trusted partners who are deeply rooted in their communities, through early engagement with social action we hope that this programme will help create a habit for life for young residents.

“Collaboration between generations has been shown to have such positive effects, and so this remains at the heart of the programme, with projects designed to bring people together to tackle shared challenges.” 

To find out more about the CAP Friday night youth clubs please take a look at the Chichester Shed page of the CCDT website (www.chichestercdt.org.uk) and book a space before it fills up.