Two Milton Keynes Council-run projects for young people have been shortlisted for the Children & Young People Now Awards 2010, a national awards scheme organised by Children & Young People Now Magazine and supported by the Children’s Workforce Development Council to share and celebrate best practice from across the children and young people’s sector.
The two shortlisted projects, which both come under Milton Keynes Council’s Children and Young People’s Services, are the Milton Keynes Play Rangers and the Virtual Connexions Centre, nominated for The Play Award and The Advice and Guidance Award respectively.
The Milton Keynes Play Rangers is a Council initiative funded by The Big Lottery Fund, offering free, open access weekly activities for children and young people aged 8 -16 years old in 9 urban parks across Milton Keynes. Children younger than 8 are welcome to join in under parental supervision. Activities include arts and crafts, den building, environmental activities, fire building, and team games, which all take place outdoors whatever the weather. The Play Rangers act as role models; they support the children and young people in their play, and involve them in the planning of activities that are fun, challenging and risky but ensure the children’s safety.
The Virtual Connexions Centre was set up as part of Connexions:MK, Milton Keynes Council’s advice and support service for young people aged 13-19 years. The first of its kind in the country, the Virtual Centre uses 3D world technology similar to that used in popular gaming sites such as Second Life. On first entering the virtual centre, young people create their own personalised avatar and can then: use private webchat to obtain information, advice and guidance from Connexions Personal Advisers, including help with completing CVs and job application forms; get their CV up to scratch with the CV Creator game; take part in virtual jobs/training fairs; take part in workshops on topics such as Apprenticeships and applying to university; and browse useful information, such as jobs and training information, in the form of pod casts, posters, RSS feeds and video. There is also a virtual radio station for podcasting production.
The winners of each category will be announced in Central London on Thursday 18th November.
Milton Keynes Council Youth Champion Cllr. Sam Potts said: “I am delighted that these projects have been nominated for awards. It goes to show that Lib Dem run Milton Keynes Council is working well with our young people.”
