Support for young people is giving off the right Vibe
YOUNG people across Halton are now benefiting from increased support thanks to a new partnership between Halton Borough Council and youth services provider Vibe.
Through the partnership, Vibe is providing three specialist programmes within the community: Halton Youth Outreach, Halton Youth Cabinet and Where’s your head at, all for young people aged 11 to 18.
The Halton Youth Outreach programme will see the Vibe team work with young people across Halton providing an effective and responsive early help referral service for those who require targeted preventative and diversionary support.
It will encourage young people to get involved in activities that complement and enhance their physical and emotional wellbeing, as well as support their educational attainment and transition to employment.
Halton Youth Cabinet will engage young people who receive the support they need to host fortnightly cabinet meetings, with a view to attending Youth Focus NW events including Youthforia and residential events (British Youth Council) as well as organised Government visits to the Houses of Parliament, for annual sitting as members of UK Youth Parliament.
The Where’s Your Head at programme is an initial mental health awareness intervention and is provided over a structured 12-week period of activities, focusing on exploring and developing coping strategies, expression, self-care, mindfulness and managing stress.
In addition, Vibe will also provide engaging activities focussing on being healthy and active over school holidays, as a delivery partner for the Holiday Activities and Food (HAF) Programme in Halton.
HAF is a government initiative which went nationwide in 2021 to provide those families with young people in receipt of free school meals with support over key school holidays.
Halton Borough Council executive board member for young people and families, Cllr Tom McInerney, said: “This new partnership is good news for the young people of Widnes and Runcorn, who will benefit greatly from the facilities offered.”
Vibe is dedicated to supporting young people in building positive relationships with themselves and others and has played a central role in creating vibrant communities through the provision of specialist interventions and programmes since 2013.
Originally starting out as the main provider of youth services to Knowsley Metropolitan Borough Council, Vibe was founded as Knowsley Youth Mutual, providing services only to organisations and councils within Knowsley.
Having made significant connections with other organisations and councils, the organisation made the decision to rebrand as Vibe in 2020 and has since expanded across the Northwest.
Alongside this expansion, Vibe continues to support young people within the Knowsley area through a number of council-led programmes and local initiatives, including the NEET programme which focuses on developing PSD skills in young people to reengage in employment, education or training and the Knowsley Holiday and Food provision, centred on providing food during the school holidays.
Following a directional change internally at Knowsley Council, as of January 31, 2022 the core youth services provided to the borough of Knowsley, will no longer be managed by the team at Vibe.
Vibe CEO Paul Oginsky said:
“We are proud of the longstanding relationship we have built with Knowsley Council and the difference we were able to make to the lives of young people and their families during our partnership.
“We have served the Knowsley community as an external agency for nearly a decade, establishing strong local connections, and are proud to continue to do so with other contracts and programmes in the area, despite not being the main provider of core youth services.
“Our organisation has grown and as a result, our valued services are now reaching new boroughs including Halton, St Helen’s, Wirral and Liverpool.
“We’re over the moon to be working with Halton Council to provide additional support services to the young people of Halton and can’t wait to see the difference we can make through this partnership.”
To find out more about the youth services being provided in Halton and surrounding areas, please visit www.vibeuk. org.