JAMES Ward-Rice, 38, moved to Bridport in June to take up his post as an area youth worker for Dorset County Council.
James began his youth work in Hastings, working on a substance misuse project, before spending 10 years working for Nottingham City Youth Service, where he was once Service Manager.
James was attracted to Dorset after holidaying in the county, where he fell in love with the walks around Golden Cap and North Chideock.
James now lives in Bridport with his wife Susan and their two dogs Eddie and Mac.
What were your first impressions of the town when you arrived?
Clean, sunny, fresh air and lots of things to do. A bustling market, good food and people who looked happy.
How does working for the youth service in Bridport differ to Nottingham?
There are more similarities than there are differences. I think that young people’s needs are consistent across the country at the moment. There are a lot of stresses and strains for young people growing up, more now than there certainly have been in previous years, and I think life is far more complex. There is a lot of pressure to grow up very quickly, to have a job and to do well at school, to get a mortgage. One major difference I find in Bridport is the gap between the wage and being able to buy your first house. The gap is massive, if not pretty much non-achievable. It’s a major issue for the southwest if they don’t want young people moving away.
Are there a lot of options for young people in the area?
Bridport is very blessed in terms of options for young people to volunteer, be creative, or to take part in sport. However not all of those things will eventually pay the way. There are a lot of beautiful things here but they may not be essentially what young people need at that time.
Why did you choose to work with young people rather than adults?
It just so happened that there was an option to do street work, which was focused around young people. I really enjoyed the street work and the work with young people, it had a really good energy about it. It didn’t seem like a job at the time, it was too good to be true. To be paid for something you enjoy doing.
What is the best part of your job?
It’s a cliché, but working with young people. Getting to know the things they find important and giving them a voice in the centre. One thing we have been trying to do over the past couple of months is getting young people more involved in the centre so that they have a voice, they are starting to run the coffee bar and café for example.
What plans have you got ahead?
I’d like to build on some of the good work that Arthur Woodgate has put in place. I think the best way of doing that is to get the doors open in the centre slightly more, in terms of the evening youth work, and also to develop the building so it’s a more comfortable, safe, warm welcoming environment. I want to put on some of things that young people want to do at the moment. So far people have told us they are really interested in games and maybe a potential cinema here. A projector screen to play playstation competitions. I’d like to get better use of the sports hall as well, we need to do some fundraising for better sports equipment so that we can introduce things like short tennis as well as football and basketball.
Is there anything you did back in Nottingham that you’d like to introduce here?
We used to have health drop-ins and we would get health professionals to come in and talk to young people about health issues in their lives. That could range from diet, nutrition and just generally keeping fit to smoking, substance misuse and sex and relationship education as well.
What was the last book you read, film you watched and CD you listed to?
The last CD was Carl Craig, The Sound Of Music - the record label for that is 69. I’m currently reading a Paul Theroux book called The Old Patagonian Express; it’s a very interesting read. The last film was The Hurt Locker; I enjoyed it actually, sombre but very well put together.
What’s the best place you’ve visited and where would you still like to go?
I liked the South Pacific, the islands there like the Cook Islands, Tahiti, Fiji are really beautiful. The place I’d still like to visit is Tibet. It would be a totally different landscape and culture and I’m really interested in that.
No comments:
Post a Comment