Paisley is getting streetwise

More than 600 people attended activities organised by the Street Stuff initiative in the Paisley North area from January to March this year.

A report that is going before Paisley North Local Area Committee on Thursday states that in addition to the normal scheduled timetable during this quarter, extra afternoon sessions were arranged during the school holidays in February at the Paisley 2021 Stadium, with attendances averaging 65 per day.

Activities during these sessions included football, dance and bus activities.

Each participant at the sessions was provided with a healthy meal.

The report adds that throughout Renfrewshire, there were 31,218 recorded attendances in 2017/18.

Funding from Paisley North LAC in 2017/18, the reports adds, has allowed Street Stuff to deliver extra sessions in local areas.

In total, Street Stuff provided nine sessions over five days per week in the winter months in the Paisley North LAC area.

The report also revealed that Street Stuff staff have received training from the Street Doctors charity.

The charity works to end youth violence by giving young people at risk of violence the skills and confidence to be able to help in a medical emergency, whilst also teaching them the true medical consequences of violence.

In 2017, the report stated 84 per cent of young people attending Street Doctors sessions said that they would be willing to act if someone needed first aid, and 95 per cent said that they understood the consequences of violence.

Street Doctors training is taught by a group of volunteers who are either medical students or junior doctors.

Street Stuff staff received their Street Doctors training in February. The session covered ‘ What to do when someone is bleeding’ and ‘What to do when someone is unconscious’.

This lifesavers training will now be rolled out to young people in Renfrewshire at various Street Stuff venues throughout 2018, the report adds.

The meeting of Paisley North Local Area Committee will held on Thursday in Renfrewshire Council chamber from 6pm to 7pm.