Weekly Update – 07/10/2019

Dear all, 

I hope you have all had good weekends. 

It was very sad to receive the news last week that our previous Chair, Michael Howlett passed away. We really cannot thank him enough for the love and commitment he put into TRAIN over the years, without which we would not be able to offer the level of support we provide to Didcot’s young people today. He was a true Unsung Hero, quietly working throughout his life to the greatest benefit of the people of the town. We will miss him and his regular drop ins to the office greatly.  

In regards to our provision schedule, last week was very busy, but really very positive. As the young people are gradually getting to know the new staff better, there has been a rise in energy and general enthusiasm to engage throughout our weekly sessions. 

Highlights of the week include:

– 1:1 Mentoring – Justina carried out mentoring at UTC and DGS with a number of students, continuing to build relationships with each.

– Young Women’s – a really brilliant session based around the ‘First to a Million’ interactive film. Addressing the risks of online activity, the film gave the young people power to influence the scenario by responding to options given throughout.

– Young Women’s Football – a fantastic turn out of 10 young women, who had a great time engaging in a match. 

– Young Men’s –  6 young men put on their creative caps to design and make milkshakes before pitching their creations. All thoroughly enjoyed the session, even showing lots of enthusiasm to tidy up all the chocolate wrappers afterwards!

– Participation – Harry held two sessions with young people keen to gain greater responsibility at TRAIN, during which 3 were awarded Young Leader and Ambassador titles! Lots of mind-mapping was carried out of ideas for various projects they would like to pursue. 

– TOPAZ – young people who came along enjoyed watching the documentary Queer Eye.

– Dinner and Debate – two positive sessions with team building games (‘Splat’ and Million pound drop) and discussions, as well as the all important Gregg’s delivery. 

– Detached and Outreach – a number of young people were met by the team during their visits around the town. 

We hope you all have lovely weeks and, as always, feel free to get in touch if you have any questions. 

Kind regards,

The TRAIN team