Community Wise is a Registered Charity No. 1082841 and a Company Limited by Guarantee, Registered in England No. 4025310

Youth Activities

Community Wise provides the following for young people:

Wise Up - for teenage girls in Year 8 plus.

Live Wires for all young people aged 9 plus. (in partnership with Living Stones Church)

Principles of Community Wise youth work

It is voluntarily engaged in by young people
It is led by adults whose lives model the qualities we seek to develop and encourage
It values excellence
It is holistic
It is relational rather than programme orientated
All young people are valued equally

Aim of Community Wise youth work

To enable and encourage young people to value themselves as an important and integral part of the whole community, with a significant part to play in promoting the good of others.

Objectives of Community Wise youth work

To provide opportunities within which relationships can be developed and in which young people can be secure and valued and where the principles can be worked out and the aims fulfilled through a range of activities
To provide opportunities which will enhance the character development of young people

in particular to

To encourage the development of the quality of other-centredness
To encourage the development of an appreciation of interdependence
To encourage the development of respect for all others, whether in authority, in the peer group, or in the community · To encourage the development of maturity which includes character qualities such as perseverance, reliability, resourcefulness, appreciativeness, confidence and wisdom
To encourage honesty and integrity

WISE UP:

Wise Up aims to help young teenage girls to grow in confidence and to live healthy and fulfilled lives, both in the present and in the future

WiseUp has its own website: www.wiseup.info

What is Wise Up?

Wise Up is for teenage girls in Year 8 and above
It offers a continuous programme of discussion and activity relating to teenage health issues in a fun environment and tackles topics such as friendship, confidence, image, peer pressure, food, boys and smoking, alcohol and drugs
It meets once a week in any relaxed setting - school, youth club or church hall
Wise Up is overseen by a steering group of professionals
Weekly groups are led by a youth worker assisted and supported by selected volunteers who act as friends and role models as well as educators
Wise Up provides a place for girls to make friends, ask questions and gain confidence in themselves
It promotes the value of living a healthy lifestyle in a contemporary way
It helps young teenage girls to understand the pressures they face
It helps to prepare young teenage girls to make wise decisions as they grow older
It encourages young teenage girls to respect their femininity and value their virginity
An interactive syllabus is being developed and policies and procedures have been prepared to maintain quality

Principles of Wiseup

It is voluntarily engaged in by young teenage girls
It is led by adults who aim to model the qualities we seek to develop
It values excellence
It is holistic and educational
It is relational rather than programme orientated
All participants are valued equally

Objectives of Wiseup

To provide opportunities where relationships can be developed and in which the principles can be outworked and the aims fulfilled
Through a range of activities to provide opportunities which will increase the knowledge, self-confidence, self-awareness and relational skills of the participants
To deliver a health education and promotion programme in the context of the everyday lives of the participants and in the knowledge that decisions are made in the context of relationships and groups
To raise awareness of health issues to enable participants to be prepared for decisions which will affect their future health and well-being

Core values

Each individual is of unique value
Each individual is responsible not only to themselves but to their whole community
Each young person has the right to education and nurture which equips them with the skills to make and maintain friends
Each young person has the right to protection and guidance from adults who care deeply for their welfare
The person hood and sexuality of each individual are inextricably linked together
Sexual coitus is a deeply personal and life-changing experience which is best expressed in the context of a single, heterosexual, mutually loving, long term, and committed relationship (permanence is usually indicated by legalising in marriage) and carries great risks to health, both mental and physical, if entered into during adolescence
Sexual coitus is an act which affects not only the individuals but their families and ultimately their community
Saving sex for adulthood is both possible and desirable

WiseUp has its own website: www.wiseup.info

Live Wires

Live Wires is a Friday evening youth club run by Living Stones Church at Community Wise. It divides into two age groups: Live Wires I (school years 4-7) has approx. 100 young people registered with 35 coming along on average. Live Wires II (school years 8+) has approx. 40 on the books with 25 attending most weeks. A team of teenagers have been involved in leading both clubs over the past year.

Cooking and roller discos have been the most popular activities. This year's highlights have been trips to pop concerts and a 'sleep over' at the centre for 18 teenagers - football, cooking pizzas at 4am and constant flow of games, videos, chat and computer games kept them awake all night!