Home » About Us » Sheffield Homes News » November & December 2007 » Young People get a New Lease of L.I.F.E in So
Young People get a New Lease of L.I.F.E in South East Area
Sheffield Homes’ is helping to give young people in the south east area of the city a chance to develop essential life skills while learning how to prevent and tackle fire. South East Area Board Chair Brian Wrigley will be presenting a cheque for £5,000 to the Firefighters based at Mosborough Fire Station on Friday 23 November. The money will be used to help fund a group of local youngsters to take part in the South Yorkshire Fire and Rescue Local Intervention Fire Education (LIFE) Project.
The Project is run by South Yorkshire Fire and Rescue and is specifically aimed at youths who display behavioural or confidence issues to give them the insight into the day-to-day work of fire fighters.
The LIFE project offers a full-time one-week course on fire prevention, complete with the use of fire-fighting equipment. Those taking part learn about commitment, teamwork, effective communication, discipline and punctuality.
Shaun Nolan, Sheffield Homes’ South East Area Manager says: “ At Sheffield Homes we try to deliver long term benefits to communities and it is excellent that our Area Boards can support young people in their area to join in initiatives such as this. “
“The L.I.F.E Project is designed to challenge young people by trying to get them to realise the consequences of anti-social behaviour and also to help build confidence and self-esteem which hopefully they will take forward into their everyday life.”
Referrals to the project are made by a range of agencies including the Youth Offending team, the Police and local schools.
The course ends in a formal 'passing out parade', where the families and friends of those taking part watch the young people demonstrate the practical skills they have gained and receive a certificate of achievement.
South East Area Board Chair Brian Wrigley says: “The success rate so far suggests this is a very worthwhile project. Feedback received from the young people who have finished the course shows that they have enjoyed taking part and more importantly have gained a lot from the experience.”