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The Somali Youth Forum is being launched for young Somalis (aged 13-19) to enable them to take part in youth-led activities and to provide them with the opportunity to learn new skills and overcome disadvantage to develop greater potential for their future lives.
At present, we are consulting the young people themselves to find out more about what they would like from the SYF, but we are already providing a young women’s youth club and have a football club for the young men.
The SYF is centred around the forum itself, which will encourage self-determination through the involvement of 24 young people, who are currently receiving training including management and leadership training and will then take on responsibilities such as organising events and making decisions as to how funding and grant money is spent by the young people in the community.
A long-term objective of the SYF is to promote community cohesion and to include members of the wider Bristol community, with the reduction of crime and anti-social behaviour and the development of more successful futures for young people who may lack recognised qualifications.
The SYF already has some funding and there are further applications taking place to hopefully support the project over the next five years. The long-term aim, however, is that the SYF can become sustainable, as the young people learn to fundraise and support their own activities. Social Enterprise options are being considered with the support of CEMVO.
