Northbourne Street Youth Initiative

Northbourne Street Youth Initiative (NSYI) was formally set up in 2000 by a group of local residents who identified a need for young people’s activities. It became a registered charity in May 2006. Our mission is to support young people’s development through activity and achievement. We offer children and young people (8-25) a range of opportunities to further their personal experience and social development. We run 7 play & youth work sessions per week from our base in Elswick in the West End of Newcastle. We run Junior (8-12) and Senior sessions (13-19) in order to meet the needs of the young people and to offer them the most age appropriate service for their growing needs. Our sessions are aimed at allowing young people to recognise their abilities and to celebrate their achievements. We support young people to work towards accreditations and in house certificates as well as take part in informal drop in sessions. We have a strong focus on young people working towards reaching their future aspirations and with a team of qualified and experienced play & youth work staff and additional support from local volunteers we are able to do this effectively. We currently have around 80 children and young people who access the project on a regular basis. The play and youth sessions are a mixture of recreational activities such as DJing, arts and crafts and cooking as well as accredited activities including the Adventure, Service, Challenge Award Scheme and the Duke of Edinburgh’s Award. We also offer issue-based sessions addressing the current trends in the area and local need. The young people are actively involved in the planning and direction of our programme.