Issue 16 Summer 2007 Happy 10 th Birthday to Give Kids a Chance Welcome to the Summer 2007 Give Kids a Chance (GKAC) newsletter. This is the 10 th Anniversary year of GKAC in Aberdeen and plans are in place to celebrate this occasion by having a party on Tuesday, 23 rd October at the Lemon Tree. Celebrations to mark this 10 th Anniversary, as it occurs in Fraserburgh, Peterhead and Moray will be planned for the future. This event is being sponsored by Shell Exploration & Production, John Wood Group PLC, the Lemon Tree and Cauliay Publishing. The event will feature some of the young people in Aberdeen who have been involved in a music activity. This is a showcase night to highlight the wonderful achievements of the young people. More information will follow. *** Competition *** Open to all GKAC participants Give Kids a Chance has 2 mountain bikes that are surplus to requirements. The bikes were donated to the project and have been used, but are in good condition. For your chance to win a bike complete and return the attached competition sheet. The questions all relate to road safety and are very important messages to bear in mind during the holiday period. All entries must arrive in the office by Tuesday, 31 st July. The winners will be drawn and the bikes delivered the following week still giving plenty of time to cycle during the summer holiday break. Grace tries out the bikes in the office corridor The bikes will be serviced before delivery and helmets will also be provided.
Monday, 4 th June 2007 National Volunteer Week Give Kids a Chance was well represented during this week with volunteers Michael Molden, Wim Vis and Peter Norcott all speaking about their involvement with the project. Wim, Heather and Michael Wim, and Michael spoke to an invited group of volunteers and staff at the Aberdeen City Council Civic Reception to recognise the work done by volunteers. They spoke enthusiastically about their involvement with the Give Kids a Chance football teams who play in the GOALS 5 a-side league on a Friday night. Heather also spoke about the benefits volunteers bring to organisations and thanked all the GKAC volunteers for their support during the past year. MV Award Night, Wednesday, 13 th June 2007, The Tunnels, Aberdeen The MV Awards are open to all 16-25 year old volunteers and are endorsed by the Scottish Executive. Awards are presented after 50, 100 and 200 hours of volunteering. GKAC has two Millennium Volunteers, Martin and Peter. Martin is helping young people who attend the Sooyang Do Martial Art Class as a Junior Instructor and Mini Bus Escort and Peter is an assistant Music Tutor. Martin and Peter both volunteer their time at an activity they really enjoy. Martin achieved his Sooyang Do Black Belt this year and is training hard to fulfil his new role as a Junior Instructor at the school. Martin receives his certificate for 50 hours of volunteering with Sooyang Do Head of School, Mr Bruce Wood Peter plays drums in a local band and assists GKAC drum and music tutors with groups at Fersands, Powis and Kincorth. Northsound DJ Cammy Campbell hosted the MV Award ceremony and presented the certificates. Peter receives his certificate for 100 hours of volunteering with GKAC Music Tutor, Michael Molden.
Golf in Aberdeen Golf continues to prove popular in Aberdeen with a total of 9 young people attending the Kings Links Driving Range for tuition with Golf Professional Steven Troup. Volunteers support this activity and will help take the young people to the golf courses during the summer months. Golf clubs are always required for Give Kids a Chance. When young people move on from the scheme they need to hold on to their clubs so that they can play independently. Steven, Ritchie, Heather and Alan New participant, Ritchie, received his set of golf clubs when Alan Pirie visited the driving range in June. Alan Pirie from Aberdeen St Machar Rotary Club co-ordinates a fundraising golf challenge each year and in previous years has supported GKAC by donating the proceeds of the event. Since GKAC was launched in 1997 Aberdeen St Machar Rotary Club has donated over 12,000 to the project. This year Alan asked the golfers taking part in the tournament to help us by providing any surplus clubs or golf balls and was overwhelmed by their generosity. Alan was able to deliver 4 sets of clubs, balls, tees and markers to GKAC in time for the start of the summer golf programme. Fraserburgh Activities Give Kids a chance has been awarded funding from Aberdeenshire s Regeneration Outcome Agreement. This will allow new activities to be developed and will also allow us to reintroduce the trampoline sessions that were so popular before. Activities currently available in the area include, Sea Cadets, horse-riding, swimming and golf. Links with Paul Robinson, the Active Schools Co-ordinator for the Fraserburgh area will also provide contacts for a range of other sport and dance activities so please get in touch if you have an activity choice you would like us to investigate. Cooking could be a new GKAC activity. Get in touch if you are interested. Music is another activity we hope to introduce to Fraserburgh. We can t confirm any details yet, but hope to have more information soon. If this is something you would be interested in let us know by contacting Grace Hanvey on telephone number 01224 555293 or by e-mail at grace.hanvey2@nhs.net
Horse-riding in Fraserburgh and Peterhead Young people from Fraserburgh and Peterhead attend Annandale Equestrian Centre on a Sunday morning. Earlier this year each participant was provided with a camera and asked to take photographs while they were at their riding lesson. The horses featured in all of the photographs, along with friends, staff at the riding school and the stable cat. The young people were also asked if they enjoyed attending and if they had any suggestions for improvement. Everyone enjoyed attending and the only suggestion was that we extend the lesson time! We wish that was possible but unfortunately it isn t an option for us at the moment. It is good to hear back from the young people attending GKAC activities so please use the bike competition entry form to tell us what you think about the project and make any suggestions for change. Please get in touch we would love to hear from you. Moray Activities The range of activities in Moray continues to grow. Recent additions are the Red Shoes Theatre Company in Elgin providing acting, singing and music lessons and a model making club in Forres. Give Kids a Chance are in contact with many martial arts groups in Moray, and can now use Cranloch Riding Centre to provide lessons for young people from this side of Moray. Other activities on offer include, swimming, ice-skating and ten-pin bowling, Sea Cadets and Girl Guides. There are now 2 fishing groups in Moray with 5 boys attending on a regular basis. Thanks to volunteer Jim Soutar the group have now built up a good supply of equipment as well as jackets and boots. Three new fishing rods and lines are the latest editions to the equipment stored in Jim s car. The groups still fish at Glen of Rothes Trout Fishery and will continue to meet over the summer holiday period. Congratulations to Jordan who caught his first trout just recently. would not be possible without the support of our many fundraising partners. Sincere thanks are given to loyal supporters, John Wood Group PLC, Scotoil Services, Shell Exploration & Production, Stena Drilling Ltd and Aberdeen St Machar Rotary Club who have all been involved since the project was launched in 1997. Thank you all for your ongoing commitment to supporting young people in Grampian through your involvement with. Is co-ordinated by NHS Grampian, In partnership with local community networks. Denburn Health Centre, Rosemount Viaduct, Aberdeen, AB25 1QB Tel No. 01224 555224 (Heather) or Tel No. 01224 555293 (Grace) e-mail: heather.wilson2@nhs.net or grace.hanvey2@nhs.net