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Tyne & Wear
Voluntary Sector Support
High Sheriffs take every opportunity to support the efforts and activities of the voluntary sector whose work is often essential in sustaining healthy and strong communities. A few examples from my year are:
1. Emergency Services:
SUNDERLAND RNLI
Sunderland RNLI lifeboat station is proud to own the tag of the “oldest operational lifeboat station” in Great Britain, having been established in 1800 and taken over by the RNLI in 1865.
I was privileged to visit the station (not the original but a modern purpose built boat-house) and meet some of their volunteer crew members and other station volunteers and learn about their wide range of activities including their role in education and training about sea safety, the role of the beach lifeguards, their work in flood rescue and their fund-raising. And then there were their statistics for 2009 – 101 Lifeboat launches, 93 people rescued/assisted!!
Each day it costs the RNLI an average of £378,000 to run its service and they rely on local and voluntary support. Paul Nicholson, senior helmsman at Sunderland RNLI says that the support from the High Sheriff helped them raise their profile within both the local and business community which as a charity is essential .
For more information see www.rnlisunderland.org
2. Volunteers supporting the Criminal courts:
THE YOUTH OFFENDING SERVICE
As High Sheriff of Tyne and Wear I visited Sunderland Youth Offending Service to find out more about what this award winning service has been doing to cut youth offending in Sunderland.
During the visit I had the opportunity to observe a Referral Order Panel. Referral Order Panels include a restorative justice element that aims to confront young people who have been convicted with offending with the victim of their offence as a way of ensuring young people who offend understand the consequences and impact of their behaviour. The panel was held for a young person convicted of a public order offence and shoplifting. The young person met directly with the mother of the young victim of the public order offence and signed a Referral Order contract to make amends, with 18 hours community payback including direct payback to Debenhams department store where the shoplifting offence took place.
The panels are supported by trained local volunteers who act as Community Panel Members. Dave Wilson, one of the YOS’ longest serving volunteers, was one of three community panel member sitting on the panel that evening. Dave has been volunteering with Sunderland Youth Offending Service for over a decade, having been awarded the national volunteer of the year award in 2005 for his voluntary services.
Dave Wilson explained to me that Referral Order Panels are based on the principle of making young people answerable to their local community as well as the idea that the local community should be involved in deciding how the young person can pay back for their offending and deciding what support and guidance they need.
Dave, who is a retired teacher, feels that there are personal benefits of being a volunteer. When he retired he felt that he still had something to give and that he had relevant skills to contribute to supporting young people. He enjoys working with young professionals and gets great satisfaction from maintaining an interest in young people.
What I observed demonstrated that Referral Order Panels are an excellent way of bringing the young offender, who has admitted their crime, into contact with members of their local community who conduct the panel meeting, and also to hear how their criminal behaviour has affected their victim. This can have a huge impact on the young offender and jolt them into re-assessing their view of what they did. As High Sheriff of Tyne and Wear I had every admiration for the skill of the volunteers in conducting the panels and would like to acknowledge the huge contribution they make to helping the young people they meet put crime behind them.
Restorative Justice is just one of the services provided by Sunderland YOS that contributed to a 26.7% reduction in youth re-offending in 2009/10.
For more information go to www.sunderlandcitycouncil.com/yos
 
Dave Wilson
Referral Order Panel
3. Voluntary Organisations working to provide opportunities for young people in local communities:
HENDON YOUNG PEOPLES’ PROJECT
Hendon Young People’s Project (HYPP) was established in 1979 to provide a programme of Play and Youth activities for young people living in some of the more deprived wards in Sunderland, and in 2004 their work developed when they received a commissioning contract from the City of Sunderland Youth Development Group. HYPP have continued to provide quality Youth and Play provision for young people aged 5-19 to the present day. Activities include special provision for children with disabilities, programmes working in conjunction with local schools, detached work and holiday provision. A Vintegration project has provided opportunities for members of the local and wider community to volunteer within the Play and Youth sections and a partnership organisation Young Asian voices
The Project is active every day of the week and is particularly busy during school holidays. During the February half-term a Funday was held and I visited as High Sheriff and saw a range of activities included Football, Penalty Shoot Out, Crossbar Challenge, Face Painting, Funhouse, Jewellery Making, Nail Art, Ginger Bread Man, Jewellery Box Making, Goody Bags and a Pool Tournament.
For more information go to www.hyppsunderland.co.uk
 
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