Where In The World...?

We've been aware that a lot of people who read our blog aren't in the UK and even if you do live over here, we know that you may not be local to Stockton-on-Tees where we work. I find it's really helpful to be able to imagine where people live and work if I can picture them geographically on a map. So this is where we are!

In some ways the North East is a really vibrant, exciting place to be. But in other ways, this is a really hard place to live and work. The North East has one of the highest rates in the country for depression, and Stockton has some of the worst rates in the region. Stockton-on-Tees is 33% higher than the national average for people with depression (www.nepho.org.uk). 

The North east also has one of the highest levels of deprivation in the country. Middlesbrough is ranked as one of the most deprived wards in the UK (according to the Indices of Deprivation 2010) and one third of children live in poverty (www.endchildpoverty.org.uk). In Stockton, nearly a quarter of children live in poverty (End Child Poverty).

It sounds pretty grim but things are changing. We've seen extraordinary turnarounds in the lives of women and young people. This map shows just a few things we get up to to fight poverty and depression in our area:

(Click on the map to see a bigger version of this image.)

This is only a glimpse of the wide array of work that we do in and around Stockton. Some things we can't shout about online because we need to be sensitive and protect the vulnerable individuals we work with. For more in-depth information, our website is the best place to find out more.

Love from A Way Out x

Boys Group Embark on Coast to Coast Cycle

This weekend a few of our project workers took six of the boys they work with on the Coast to Coast cycle route. We've met these boys through working on the Grangetown estate near Redcar and it is one of the toughest areas we work in. Some of the kids we have met struggle with problems of anti-social behaviour, violence and knife-crime, to name but a few things.

Fresh and breezy at the beginning of the cycle

The work that Mark and Pete, (our Community Development Worker and our Youth Worker) have been doing in this area has been life-changing for many boys. Mark and Pete spend time investing in young lives through activities such as photography courses and anti-knife crime projects and have also taken the boys away overnight on survival trips which include shelter-building, fishing, outdoor cooking and map reading.

A few of the lads found out recently that funding might be running out for the work in Grangetown and they decided themselves to organise a fundraising event to raise money for A Way Out and the Grangetown community work...

Probably slightly less breezy but with a sense of achievement

...Last weekend they cycled 100 miles over a day and a half from the east coast to the west coast of England together with Mark, Pete and Matty (Youth Outreach Worker). Five young people cycled the route and one, who was injured, rode in the car handing out water bottles along the way! These lads raised £400 for A Way Out, ensuring that the work in Grangetown can continue for the immediate future which is brilliant. It's so important to have be a consistent presence for people we work with, especially when so many other areas of their lives can be chaotic.

The next event that Mark has got lined up in the TS6 postcode area is a week away at Soul Survivor, a Christian youth camp in the south of England that attracts thousands of young people every year.Some of the funds raised from the Coast to Coast cycle ride will go towards paying for this trip in August.

Hope you enjoyed the read! Love from A Way Out x