Upper Nithsdale is a rural area with few youth facilities. This Project aims to link young people in Upper Nithsdale (Sanquhar; Kirkconnel; Wanlockhead) with refugees/asylum seekers in the Sighthill area of Glasgow. This will be done through video conferencing and residential visits to their respective areas.
The Project aims to develop equitable, inclusive, anti-discriminatory practices with the young people while addressing their literacies needs. Each group will in turn be given the opportunity to choose an article or piece of written work relating to their respective values, cultures and beliefs. These will be used as the basis for integrated literacy group work sessions and discussion using video conferencing.
In addition to this there will also be three residential trips focusing on art, sport and the culinary traditions of the participants. Again, these activities will be used as the basis for the groups to engage in integrated literacy work.
Second Quarterly Visit – 26th May 2005
After an initially slow start to this pilot the youth exchange programme is now progressing well. The Upper Nithdale Group had originally negotiated this piece of multi – cultural work with a group of asylum seekers in the Sighthill area of Glasgow, however due to re-structuring and staffing issues the Glasgow group had to pull out of the programme. It has taken the Upper Nithsdale group longer that anticipated identifying another suitable partner and have had few learning experiences along the way. Most notably, one group of prospective partners pulled out at the last minute because of religious and cultural issues surrounding mixed groups working and going on residential weekend together. The co-ordinators of the programme freely admitted that as they were used to working in a very rural area of Scotland they had no appreciation as to the significance of this issue.
In the end the Upper Nithdale Groups identified a group of Young Africans based at the Meridian Centre in Glasgow; negotiated a programme of activities with them and travelled to Glasgow to meet with them. The initial meeting was a big success, the two groups finalised a more in depth programme of activities and agreed details for a residential week-end at an activity centre at Keswick that will be taking place on the week-end of 2nd & 3rd June. The programme of events has not, in the main, altered greatly from those envisaged when the funding application was made. Some activities some activities are are given greater weight, but in general the original outline of the programme has not changed.
The project will end with a joint residential week-end at New Lanark were the two groups will hill walking, paying a visit to the Falls of Clyde.