Positive Activities for Young People (PAYP) is a national initiative bringing together a range of funding streams for 'diversionary' activities for children and young people (aged 8 to 19).

The funding we have been able to access through this has been essential for us to deliver a wide range of activies, some of which many of our young people have never had access to and essentially this funding has allowed our young people to broaden both their horizons and aspirations.

These activities have included:

• sports
• outdoor activities
• arts and craft
• dance & drama
• residentials
• day trips
• educational workshops
• training courses

• The aims of PAYP are to:

• reduce crime and anti-social behaviour
• support young people back into education and training
• support the transition from primary to secondary school
• bring together young people from different communities
• provide access to quality sports, arts and cultural activities
• give young people opportunities for personal development
• encourage volunteering and active citizenship

• Who is PAYP for?

Our young people who are most at risk of engaging in crime or anti-social behaviour are targeted and encouraged to participate in a range of 'positive' activities. 'At-Risk Criteria' has been developed to identify the core target group and enable referral onto the scheme. This is centred on one or more of the factors below:

• engagement with youth offending team
• known to police (arrested, convictions, held in custody)
• anti-social behaviour/causing a nuisance
• social services involvement
• educational attainment/behaviour of concern
• school exclusion (fixed-term or permanent) or truancy
• special educational needs/learning difficulties
• vulnerable groups: refugee/asylum seekers, teenage parents, substance mis-users, young people leaving care, young carers, etc.

Whilst the target groups for the scheme are quite prescriptive many of our young people have simply entered onto our programme because they where invovled in a negative peer group or where potentially at risk of causing anti social behaviour. The latter of the two was mainly attributed by the lack of things for them to do.

visit our news archive for details of some of the PAYP projects we've run this year