News Archive
A Huge Thank You
dreamwall would like to draw your attention to those who have participated in the generous donations in loving memory of Phoboe. These donations are greatly received and will help to further develop our work with the most vulnerable young people in the South East of England.
Summer 2009
dreamwall had a manic summer this year, delivering a record breaking 13 programmes within 6 weeks!
I worked mostly with one of our newly commissioned projects, Hampshire Time Out. It was brilliant to see those young people come away for their second residential and really start to get to grips with what life at dreamwall is all about. We had some amazing weeks, and all involved really threw themselves into all we asked of them. Activities this summer included Team building tasks, night walks, sneaky beaky games, volleyball championships, bog walks, den building, art sessions, low ropes, rope bridges, camp fires, sing-songs, talent shows, limbo competitions and we even got some days of sunshine to go to Bournemouth beach and build some sand sculptures!! You name it, we pretty muh did it this year! What really got me this summer was how close the Hampshire groups got after only 2 weekends, and how many teary eyed goodbyes there were. Although I don’t like seeing people upset it makes me feel so proud to be apart of a programme that gives these young people a place where they feel safe and valued and get to form such positive relationships with peers and adults alike.
I also got to work with one of the Southampton girls groups and can safely say I had the best camp fire sing song session ever in my life! We had 2 camps running simultaneously for most of the weeks, so not only did I get to work with my groups, but I also had opportunities to say hey to the other groups and have a quick catch up which is always lovely :D
Well done to everyone who came away this summer and we look forward to seeing you again very soon!
New projects
It’s exciting times for dreamwall as our established and successful ‘Time Out’ programme for young people in care has now started with Hampshire and Portsmouth! This is fantastic news, as it means we have the opportunity to work with more of our vulnerable young people in care in the south.
New team members
dreamwall would like to introduce and welcome our 3 new team members! Alex and Matt have joined the team as champions and El has joined us as a Course Innovator. To find out more about our new team members read about them at ‘the team’
Juniour Leaders
I am pleased to announce that our Juniour Leader team has 3 new members joining it!
Along with our existing Juniour Leaders, through the summer Mason, Kieron and Sam all volunteered with various groups. They then attended a Junior Leader week at the end of the summer. This was a challenging week for our JL team. They were split into teams and were responsible for running an entire day; from planing/budgeting for/shopping for and cooking the meals, to coming up with new activities and games we could play. I was so impressed with how hard they worked and it just goes to show how exceptional our JL team is. They all give up weeks or weekends to support thier peers and to help the staff team; we really value their time and dedication. The end of the week saw a mini presentation evening (after an awseome french resteraunt themed meal!) where certificates and blue uniform were given out!
Well done gang!
dreamwall Ski trip 2009!
In March 2009 the dreamwall team and 40 young people from the Southampton Time Out programme traveled to France for a weeks ski trip. Traveling by coach to Gatwick in early hours, the group flew on an early morning flight followed by more coach travel to our beautiful resort in Vars. For most involved it was their first experience of skiing. We had an incredible week, and all young people involved worked incredibly hard in their groups with their instructors, resulting in everybody passing their ski exam at the end of the week! It was a week full of smiles, laughter, beautiful views, tired knees and feet, ‘many many snowplows’ and most of all memories to keep for a lifetime. A big well done to all of you who came, we’re all very proud of you! Bethany Grundy, a Junior Leader with us wrote a news report on the week, please click ‘here’ to read it!
March 2009
Wow! We have had a really busy year so far and seen so many young people already!...
Residential Programmes
We had a fantastic weekend with Time Out Boys 1 in January, spending the weekend on a navy base! John Hall, a junior member of the staff team has written his feelings about the weekend, read more at life at dreamwall. The Portsmouth News also wrote a piece on the weekend, read more at dreamwall press releases.Boys 2 have also been away. This time around the Boys were given some physical stance challenges, as they had not done any for a long time. They worked so hard together and really did themselves proud. We also sat and made photo frames and I was so impressed with the effort and patience they all put into their work. It is however safe to say that Time Out Boys group 2 are the biggest fans of ‘Sharks & Fish’ EVER!
Both Time Out girls groups have also been away. The weekends with the girls were thoroughly enjoyable, it is such a delight to witness them all maturing and growing up into to such wonderful young women. We tried our hands at cup cake making and decorating, card making, as well as enjoying the much loved sports and usual dreamwall activities! Both groups have also taken on the ownership of their project by coming up with and planning programme ideas. I think this is just fantastic!
The Portsmouth ‘Preventing Youth Offending Project’ (PYOP) have had a string of residential programmes with us in the last quarter, which have just come to an end. The lads journey and achievements have been caught on camera and the DVD will hopefully be available to view on here soon. We are so proud of how far those 5 lads have come, and wish them every success in the future. Keep up the hard work lads and remember all you have achieved if things get tough, and keep in touch!
Substance Evaluation
An independent evaluation has been published by Dr Gavin Mellor of Substance in January 2009 and is available to be read on the website. Read more at dreamwall Evaluations.
Up and coming!
All abroad!
Dreamwall is embarking on its first ever residential out of the country! Thursday 19th will see a large group of Time Out young people depart for France to go skiing for a week! This residential marks a huge achievement for those young people that have been selected, as the decision has reflected on their hard work and commitment to the project over the last few years. I look forward to bringing you pictures and personal accounts of the visit.
Easter Half Term.
This Easter will again see new faces join our Southampton Time Out programme. I always look forward to this time of year, as we get the chance to meet and form relationships with many new young people. Their first residential will involve them partaking in ice breakers, team building stances, sports, walks, talent shows and the well loved wet and mud! After the Easter residential they will join one of our existing groups to come away with us every quarter.
We hope you are all keeping well and look forward to seeing or hearing from you soon.
Matt@dreamwall.org.uk
12-01-09
Happy New Year!
We hope you all had a fantastic Christmas and New Year filled with plenty of food and good times!
We are in for an action-packed 2009, and are all very excited at what this year has in store for us. So I can guarantee the next newsletter will be jam-packed with updates!
Please note, we have MOVED offices and our new contact details are as follows...
dreamwall
Unit 2a Imperial Park
Empress Road
Southampton
SO14 0JW
02380 839 000
We look forward to seeing you all again soon!