News
24 September 2009
This is the moment schoolchildren teamed up with Derwentside Homes to bulldoze down a set of garages which have attracted gangs of nuisance youths on their estate.
Seven garages were demolished in Woodlands Terrace in Dipton after youngsters complained to Derwentside Homes that they felt intimidated walking past the teenage youths to get to the neighbouring park.
Derwentside Homes decided to tackle the problem as part of its Community Investment Strategy which aims to listen to the views of young people when it comes to improving the environment.
The schoolchildren, who attend Dipton Collierley Primary School, reported the problem as part of Derwentside Homes’ Community Rangers scheme which invites young people to take part in regular community walkabouts.
During their walkabout, pupils reported a range of anti-social behaviour including incidents of litter and graffiti to youths hanging around the set of garages.
Geraldine Wilcox, Chief Executive for Derwentside Homes, said: “Derwentside Homes believes in delivering the best possible service to its tenants and leaseholders – and that means knowing what they want and listening to what they have to say.
“By working closely with the community, we learnt that children at Dipton Collierley Primary School felt too intimidated to walk past the garages to get to the local park because of nuisance youths.
“We found this totally unacceptable and took action straight away because taking the views of young people seriously and tackling anti-social behaviour is very high up on our agenda.”
The aim of the scheme is for young people to learn about good citizenship, the environment and housing issues, as well as highlighting unacceptable behaviour such as graffiti, vandalism, litter and waste.
Dave Grimes, the headteacher of Dipton Collierley Primary School, said: “The Community Rangers scheme is a fantastic opportunity for young people to have their say, and see positive action take place within their community as a result.
“Working in the community is a big part of our curriculum now and it’s nice for the children to see they can make a real difference when it comes to improving the local environment.
“The estate walkabouts also teach children how to identify anti-social behaviour such as litter, graffiti and broken glass. As part of the project they particularly singled out the garages as being a problem area and an eyesore with dark alleyways round the back.
“It’s a fantastic credit to the children that Derwentside Homes decided to take direct action as a result of their views.”
Youngsters bulldoze away problems on their estate
This is the moment schoolchildren teamed up with Derwentside Homes to bulldoze down a set of garages which have attracted gangs of nuisance youths on their estate. Seven garages were demolished in Woodlands Terrace in Dipton after youngsters complained to Derwentside Homes that they felt intimidated walking past the teenage youths to get to the neighbouring park.
Derwentside Homes decided to tackle the problem as part of its Community Investment Strategy which aims to listen to the views of young people when it comes to improving the environment.
The schoolchildren, who attend Dipton Collierley Primary School, reported the problem as part of Derwentside Homes’ Community Rangers scheme which invites young people to take part in regular community walkabouts.
During their walkabout, pupils reported a range of anti-social behaviour including incidents of litter and graffiti to youths hanging around the set of garages.
Geraldine Wilcox, Chief Executive for Derwentside Homes, said: “Derwentside Homes believes in delivering the best possible service to its tenants and leaseholders – and that means knowing what they want and listening to what they have to say.
“By working closely with the community, we learnt that children at Dipton Collierley Primary School felt too intimidated to walk past the garages to get to the local park because of nuisance youths.
“We found this totally unacceptable and took action straight away because taking the views of young people seriously and tackling anti-social behaviour is very high up on our agenda.”
The aim of the scheme is for young people to learn about good citizenship, the environment and housing issues, as well as highlighting unacceptable behaviour such as graffiti, vandalism, litter and waste.
Dave Grimes, the headteacher of Dipton Collierley Primary School, said: “The Community Rangers scheme is a fantastic opportunity for young people to have their say, and see positive action take place within their community as a result.
“Working in the community is a big part of our curriculum now and it’s nice for the children to see they can make a real difference when it comes to improving the local environment.
“The estate walkabouts also teach children how to identify anti-social behaviour such as litter, graffiti and broken glass. As part of the project they particularly singled out the garages as being a problem area and an eyesore with dark alleyways round the back.
“It’s a fantastic credit to the children that Derwentside Homes decided to take direct action as a result of their views.”
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Top Construction Award For Successful Partnership - 27 March 2012
Good Neighbours Celebrated!
