Canllaw

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Canllaw

Fujitsu as lead sponsor worked with Canllaw on a project to expand opportunities for young people in Wales. A three year project began in Spring 2004 establishing 150 digilabs across Wales.

The Challenge

The Youth Service is often described as the ‘Cinderella’ of public services, with disadvantaged young people facing further disadvantage through a lack of appropriate support services. By the late 1990s, this was the situation in Wales: after several years of under funding, youth services were not really reflecting the needs of an information society. Young people and the staff employed within the sector lacked both access to technology and the skills to utilise it meaningfully.

In response to this situation, the National Assembly for Wales (NAfW) began to fund a number of initiatives designed to combat social exclusion and transform the skills and economic prospects of young people in Wales. One of these is an information service for young people delivered by a not-for-profit organisation called Canllaw Online, which works in partnership with a range of organisations.

In 2000, Canllaw Online and Fujitsu joined forces to expand upon what Canllaw Online was already doing. The shared vision was one of a socially inclusive, highly skilled and entrepreneurial culture for young people in Wales. To achieve this, the two partners set out to create a digital youth information facility that would use the latest technology and integrate fully with existing youth services.

The challenge was to justify the long term benefits of this approach, prove the concept, seek European Union (EU) funding and, in turn, win match funding from the private sector.

The Solution

The intention is to establish a network of 150 digital facility centres within existing youth organisations across Wales. These centres, designed to be digital production laboratories or Digilabs, will be furnished with computers, scanners, printers, cameras and sophisticated software. The Digilabs will connect to existing networks and have access to project portal services.

Named CREDU, which means ‘to believe’ in Welsh, this initiative will enable young people to use Information and Communications Technology (ICT) creatively. The aim is to develop Wales into a highly skilled information society capable of competing successfully in the global digital economy.

A key element of the initiative is that CREDU will also deliver the necessary support to enable youth service organisations to make the most of their Digilabs. Staff will undertake a Knowledge and Leadership Programme to enable them to exploit the opportunities presented by the technology so that they, in turn, can raise awareness among young people.

The Benefits

CREDU is based on the belief that if individuals are better informed, they can make better life choices. Digilabs will provide wide access to quality up-to-date information so that young people can assess their options and the consequences of any decisions they may make. Activities such as those described below, which arise from young people’s interests and motivations, are used as awareness and engagement vehicles for further progression routes.

"The project is not about changing what youth service centres are doing but enhancing it" said Elise Stewart. "As young people and staff acquire skill sets, they will be able to shape their own future. Local centres will be able produce their own local information on a variety of new media platforms, improving and extending their appeal to young people."

"The benefits are already apparent" commented Jill Tatman, Llandovery centre manager. "Young people who have trouble reading are now being motivated by their passions. I know two youngsters, interested in wrestling and Formula One racing respectively, who - wanting to get the most out of the internet - are really showing curiosity about words and their meaning."

The Carnivorous Goldfish, a breakdance group in Llandovery, used the internet to find a team of tutors and has used computers to set up spreadsheets to administer their accounts. In the same centre, a band is using software applications to create multimedia shows. The Bible Worship group created a video to support Christmas and Easter drama events. Participants at an international YMCA gathering in Prague are planning to maintain contact with young people they met there via email and web discussion groups.

In Caerphilly, one group of young people set up a project on teenage suicide and produced information postcards to alert their peers to the issues. Homeless young people are taking digital cameras onto the streets and collecting stories and poems about homelessness. "The Digilabs are about possibilities; the joy of this approach is that when individuals start out they do not know where they are going to end up" commented Mick Conroy, manager at the Caerphilly Digilab.

Andrea Jackson, manager at Wrexham Young People’s Centre commented: "We have a young men's group which could not decide what to do; it is now creating a web page for the centre. The Right 2 Respect young women’s group is preparing a motif for a sports bag. Barnado’s Compass young parents, who have never had anything to do with the computers, have generated a number of ideas. The potential is so clear that Wrexham Council has just granted funding for another youth worker." As CREDU establishes itself, it will be providing thousands of young people with the opportunity to increase their self confidence and raise their aspirations. Through accessing information widely and quickly they will more easily be able to fulfil their potential within society. At the same time, the programme has clear economic and socio-political objectives and will operate to measurable targets. CREDU will provide the incentive for young people to progress into further education and training and then productive employment. CREDU will be helping Wales to build a highly skilled workforce that will attract inward investment. Not only will it will equip young people to be valuable employees, it will also nurture them as innovative entrepreneurs. In this way, the programme will underpin the creation of hi-tech businesses across Wales and open up more employment opportunities.

The Implementation

CREDU is to be rolled out over three years initially. Canllaw Online and Fujitsu are currently seeking EU funding for the programme. CREDU will initially be aimed at Objective 1 areas, which include 15 out of 22 Welsh unitary authorities. However, it is hoped that in the future the programme will cover all of Wales.

Fujitsu has funded the hardware, software and training for three pilot Digilabs in different parts of Wales and in different types of organisation. These were opened in 2003. Representing the North, the Wrexham Digilab is in a Local Authority youth centre. Llandovery, in the West, in a rural Welsh speaking area, has a centre within the local YMCA. Canllaw Online, in Caerphilly in the South, houses a Digilab at its own premises.

The programme is now recruiting and selecting 150 Digilab partners by targeting youth services, Local Authorities and voluntary organisations. Digilabs will be sited in places where young people already congregate outside of school, for example, sports clubs.

"We are opening up this opportunity to all service providers for young people in Wales" explained Elise Stewart. "The support that is built into the programme will address any apprehension youth service organisations may have about their existing lack of knowledge, skills, resources or time."

The main requirements from participating organisations are commitment and enthusiasm. They need to allocate and manage a suitable space for a Digilab with staff dedicated to recruiting and supporting local groups and running workshops to fit in with the needs of the young people they serve.

The Expertise

Fujitsu has provided the capability to think in terms of what is possible and then turn a vision into reality. Working with Canllaw, it first consulted with people in Wales and funded relevant research. It then drew on its experience of bidding for EU funding and its extensive knowledge of management structures for large projects.

Not only does Fujitsu bring its own planning and implementation skills, it brings access to the skills of its many partners. With these partners and existing customers, it has already delivered many projects around skills development, lifelong learning and innovation.