Street Stuff
The final item of business today is a members’ business debate on motion S4M-05218, in the name of Annabel Goldie, on street stuff. The debate will be concluded without any question being put.
Motion debated,
That the Parliament notes the exciting Street Stuff project, a youth diversionary scheme, based in Renfrewshire, which it understands has helped to reduce youth crime by offering activities such as street football, “The Box” and the Street Stuff buses; notes that Street Stuff is a partnership between St Mirren Football Club, Renfrewshire Council, Strathclyde Police, Strathclyde Fire and Rescue, Engage Renfrewshire, McGill’s Buses and Reid Kerr College; supports the Kick and Collect programme run by Street Stuff, which sees youngsters take part in voluntary work in the community and be rewarded with prizes; congratulates all those involved who, it considers, work tirelessly to ensure that the scheme benefits local young people who learn about social engagement and mutual respect, and believes that Street Stuff is an asset for the whole community.
17:04
I am delighted that the motion has been selected for debate, and I thank everyone who has supported it.
The street stuff project has been operational across Renfrewshire for the past four years. The project is core funded, managed and co-ordinated by Renfrewshire Council’s education and leisure services, and it is delivered in partnership with environmental services, St Mirren Football Club, Engage Renfrewshire, Strathclyde Police, Strathclyde Fire and Rescue, and McGill’s Bus Service.
I want to thank and pay tribute to all those partners as well as to the main drivers of the project: Councillor Eddie Devine; Stephen Gallacher, who is the project’s co-ordinator and a St Mirren member of staff; Carolanne Robertson of Renfrewshire Council environmental services; and Fiona Watson, who is the sport and health services manager for the council.
Every member in the chamber will have experienced the thrill of excitement and hope that arises from coming across something completely unexpected that has success written all over it. I remember vividly my first visit to street stuff. On a rather damp evening in a not very accessible part of Renfrew, I had been invited to inspect the box. I had repeatedly got lost and I was totally unprepared for the animated enthusiastic young people who welcomed me with open arms. They could not wait to tell me about the project and show off the box, which is a fitted-out and heated metal shipping container. They told me how proud they were of the project and how much they enjoyed being able to meet up with one another, and they entertained me with some song and dance.
The enthusiasm and passion of those young people are matched in equal measure by the people whom I have already mentioned and by the other supporters and volunteers, whose commitment to the young people is unwavering. My second visit, on the cold frosty night of 7 December, was just as inspiring, and it included a visit to the Inchinnan bus depot to see the two specially adapted buses.
What is the project all about? Street stuff is a youth diversionary scheme that aims to give kids in local communities something to do in the evenings as an alternative to hanging around the streets. The project has helped dramatically to reduce youth crime and antisocial behaviour. Let me just give some of the facts: between 2007-08 and 2011-12, the number of incidents of vandalism and youth disorder fell in Paisley North from 3,150 to 1,768, in Paisley South from 2,356 to 998 and in Renfrew and Gallowhill from 2,668 to 1,312. I do not know about other members, but I call that inspiring and impressive.
How does it work and what happens? Working with disaffected and hard-to-reach young people aged between 10 and 18 in some of the most deprived areas of Renfrewshire, the project seeks to do the following: with the local police, identify youth disorder hot spots; engage directly with diversionary activity; inform the young people of the opportunities open to them; support referral to the local employment initiative; provide training and volunteering opportunities; encourage the young people to participate in local youth clubs or sports clubs; and deploy a range of mobile equipment, including four mobile football pitches, a youth bus, a gym bus and the box to which I have referred. All of that happens six nights a week for 48 weeks of the year, with additional facilities being provided during school holiday periods.
The box is a multipurpose entertainment unit kitted out with computer games and dance mats. The two buses are very impressive. The youth bus offers information technology equipment, including computers and a Wii game. The gym bus has been fitted out with state-of-the-art gym equipment. Obviously, both buses are mobile, and McGill’s both garages and maintains the vehicles and provides drivers as required.
But there is something else. The kick and collect programme, which is run by street stuff, encourages youngsters to take part in voluntary work in the community, for which the youngsters are rewarded with prizes. They learn about mutual respect and they learn about the community. That is real hands-on community engagement, and it works.
The kick and collect programme continues to engage with young people who are willing to volunteer in their communities. In partnership with environmental services, a range of clean-ups, litter picks and graffiti removals have taken place across Renfrewshire. Each time a young person volunteers for a clean-up or community activity, the young person’s kick and collect card is stamped. Once the young person has collected a number of stamps, the card can be redeemed for a reward.
To date, all rewards have been donated by a number of local organisations and businesses, including Renfrewshire Leisure, Xscape, Domino’s Pizza, Filshill and Showcase Cinemas. The rewards and experiences provide an opportunity to participate in activities that are potentially out of the reach of very vulnerable young people.
Not surprisingly, street stuff has been recognised for innovative practice and has received 12 awards over the past 18 months. The project has been cited as a model of best practice in Scottish Government publications, and it has been shortlisted for a 2013 Convention of Scottish Local Authorities excellence award.
Street stuff is a huge success, and I believe that the initiative could be rolled out across Scotland. Street stuff staff have told me that they would be very happy to share their experiences. Perhaps the minister could encourage that. I urge her to go and see the project for herself. She will find it an uplifting and informative experience.
Street stuff is an exemplar of organisations working in partnership with a team of dedicated individuals who are all committed to making a real difference to young lives and to their local communities. I wish everyone who is involved in the project the very best for the future, and I sincerely hope that the initiative can be rolled out across the rest of Scotland.
17:10
I congratulate Annabel Goldie on her motion. The street stuff project is an example of the best use of partnership working to deliver positive change in our communities.
At the end of her speech, Annabel spoke about her hope that the project could be rolled out across the country. If a project or any area of the public sector is really successful, I am only too happy for that work to take place. I hope that Renfrewshire Council will provide information to the Local Government and Regeneration Committee, which is undertaking an inquiry into public sector reform. It is entering phase 3 of the inquiry and it would be very useful if the council gave it some information on this subject.
The street stuff project is a youth diversionary scheme that is very popular in Renfrewshire. It combines the resources, skills and experience of a number of partners who all work towards a common aim. As we heard from Annabel Goldie, the project consists of the youth bus, the gym bus, mobile football pitches and the box, which is a converted transport container that provides an area for dance mat sessions, DJ sessions and chill-out zones. The project attracts more than 20,000 young people a year and, as we know, has led to youth disorder dropping by between 18 and 15 per cent in each area in which it operates. That is an important point that MSPs could highlight in areas that they represent.
All too often we hear negative stories about young people—about youth disorder and so on—and it is important that MSPs, councillors and MPs in the areas that they represent highlight the positive things that go on. Many of our young people do tremendous good work in their communities and they do not always get the recognition that they deserve.
The street stuff project involves a wide range of partners including St Mirren Football Club, Strathclyde Police and Strathclyde Fire and Rescue.
The initial two buses—the youth bus that contains various PlayStation and Xbox consoles and games and the gym bus, which was the first mobile youth gym in Scotland—were provided by Arriva. Since Arriva was taken over by McGill’s Bus Service, the buses have had a makeover and are now back on the road, providing a wider range of diversionary activities to young people across Renfrewshire. The support of McGill’s adds to the partnership approach inherent in the street stuff project.
Street stuff was launched in 2009 under the investing in the future initiative by the then Scottish National Party-led Renfrewshire Council. The project was established because evidence showed that some young people were committing acts of antisocial behaviour and violence, partly through gang-related behaviour and partly—allegedly—through boredom. A number of hotspot areas where the project could make the biggest difference were identified. Street stuff engages with disaffected and hard-to-reach young people through a host of diversionary activities such as football, electronic gaming and dance.
I am conscious of the time, Presiding Officer.
To date, the street stuff initiative has won 12 awards, including the Scottish Premier League best community initiative award two years in a row with St Mirren Football Club. Some members will know that I am a great Morton fan, so it takes a lot for me to give any credit to St Mirren, but they deserve it in this case. The project has been cited as a model of best practice by the Scottish Government and the street stuff co-ordinator won the role model/mentor of the year at the national youth worker of the year awards in 2012.
Those awards highlight the street stuff project’s success and I pay tribute to everyone involved in it. As I said, the project was established in 2009 by the SNP-led Renfrewshire Council. It has gone from strength to strength and I hope that it continues to do so. I warmly welcome the debate and I pay tribute to Annabel Goldie for bringing it to the chamber. I look forward to street stuff being even more successful.
17:14
I thank Annabel Goldie for the debate, which is a great opportunity for us to highlight the excellent work that is being done by street stuff and the impact that it is having on young people across Renfrewshire. From speaking to young people in Renfrewshire and across the west of Scotland, I know that they are looking for things to do. I doubt that any member in the chamber has not spoken to a young person who has complained about there not being enough for them to do in their area. They want varied, engaging, affordable and accessible activities that prevent them from being bored and I believe that the street stuff project is successful in providing those things to thousands of young people between the ages of 10 and 18 in Renfrewshire each year.
As we know, the project takes into communities activities that would otherwise not be available there. It delivers for hard-to-reach and disaffected young people throughout Renfrewshire. One of the reasons that the street stuff project has proved to be so successful is the variety of activities that it offers. That is vital for keeping young people engaged. Those activities include street football, youth gym sessions, interactive dance mats, DJ workshops and computer gaming. There are a number of important mobile facilities, including a youth gym bus and a mobile youth activity unit.
The only complaint that I have ever heard about the street stuff project is not really a complaint, but a compliment. People would like it to be brought into their areas, which is testament to how popular and highly regarded the project is across Renfrewshire.
The key aims of the project are to develop the social and interpersonal skills of young people who are engaged in the project, to increase physical activity and to promote active and healthy lifestyle choices. Those aims are all welcome. They help to educate young people and build on the skills that they already have. The project also provides training and work experience to support young people into education and employment. We have also heard that one of the main aims of the project is a sustainable reduction in antisocial behaviour and violence in our communities. The success in achieving that is shown by the reduction in the incidence of youth crime across Renfrewshire, which has fallen significantly in recent years. Although there is no doubt that a number of factors have contributed to that fall, the positive impact of the street stuff project on local communities is clear.
The project has not stood still since it was first launched, but has looked to improve and build on its success. The kick and collect programme was added in 2011 and we should thank St Mirren and the other businesses that have provided free tickets for that initiative. It is a great way of motivating young people to play an active role in improving their local communities and I hope that the programme can be rolled out across the country.
I join other members in paying tribute to all those who are involved in the street stuff project for their fantastic work in our local communities. I also thank Councillor Eddie Devine, Stevie Gallacher, Angela Convoy, Fiona Walsh, and Carolanne Robertson at Renfrewshire Council and the local area committees and businesses for their invaluable financial support. I will also mention some of the project’s partners, including Strathclyde Police, Strathclyde Fire and Rescue, Engage Renfrewshire, St Mirren FC and Reid Kerr college.
The street stuff project relies on core funding and LAC funding and any reduction in that would mean a direct reduction in the services that the project is able to offer. In these challenging financial times, I hope that the street stuff project continues to receive the necessary support to ensure that young people in local communities across Renfrewshire continue to benefit from the project’s excellent work.
17:19
I also thank Annabel Goldie for bringing the debate to Parliament.
My background with this project probably goes back to the summer of 2008 when, as a councillor in Paisley South, I decided to go along and see what was happening. I went every Monday night to Glenburn, which was an area that the police had identified as a hotspot for antisocial behaviour. Much to the annoyance of my wife, I went every Monday night to see how the project worked.
Dealing with young people is not exactly rocket science—it has been done for decades by church groups, faith groups, the Boys Brigade, the cubs and scouts and the YMCA—but the big difference with this project is credibility. The coaches sit with their St Mirren tracksuits on talking to the young people. Those coaches may have the same sports qualification as a social worker or someone who works in education or leisure, but they have the credibility with the young people that others do not.
The first time I was at the project was quite interesting. A group of young men were drinking alcohol in the play park. They decided to come across and talk to us. Right away they said to me, “Big man,”—that seems to be the term that people used when speaking to me, not “Councillor”—“If I’d known this was here, I wouldnae have had a drink.” The gentleman who spoke to me was 14. At the time, I had just turned 40, so I turned to him and said, “I like a beer as well, but the difference is that I’m 40 and you’re 14.”
We need to move away from that situation. The football project made the boy engage. It took him and his friends away from antisocial behaviour and, on that evening, stopped them drinking. They came back week after week.
The work is challenging for the coaches because there have been various times when young people have turned up after taking drugs. Let us not kid ourselves: the social issues are still there, regardless of how good the scheme is. The coaches must deal with those social issues and the challenges that they present. The good thing about the project is that the coaches and the people who run the buses are trained to deal with young people in those scenarios. In some cases, they have got some of the young people to become volunteers, got them involved in the project and given them an opportunity to access a different way of enjoying themselves locally.
When the project was set up, it was basically a case of Derek Mackay, the then leader of Renfrewshire Council, banging a few heads together. The ideas were there; what was needed was to get everybody in the one room to discuss them. Arriva had talked about providing buses, and St Mirren wanted to do more work in the community. They were all talking about what they could do, but without talking to each other. The fact that they have got together has made such a difference—my council ward has seen a dramatic 25 per cent reduction in antisocial behaviour.
Mr Bibby is correct to say that the local area committees were the prime funders during that time. I was a chair of one of them. There was cross-party support—I assure members that that was radical for Renfrewshire, but everybody agreed and could see the progress that we were making.
Eddie Devine and I shared a council ward. Both of us were big St Mirren fans, and we saw the project as a way of getting a new generation of buddies involved in football. Stevie Gallacher, who runs the street football project for St Mirren, is a legend. He is brilliant with the children and young people, who love him. One thing that people involved in the street stuff programme constantly say to St Mirren is that they have won more silverware and more prizes than the premier league football team has. However, in Paisley, we believe that that can change and, come 17 March, St Mirren could have a trophy to go along with those of street stuff.
17:23
I thought that George Adam went rather off-topic at the end of his speech; I will not be following him down the alleyways of football preferences.
Like other members, I, too, congratulate Annabel Goldie on securing the debate. I know from conversations with her how enthusiastic she is about the street stuff initiative. Her opening remarks communicated perfectly how inspirational some of the projects can be.
I welcome the debate. It emphasises the importance of partnership working and actively involving members of the community, even those who may be difficult to reach, in supporting our aim of a safer and stronger Scotland.
As Minister for Community Safety and Legal Affairs, I believe that our local communities are our greatest strength, and the key to a flourishing, successful Scotland. All members of society, of all ages, have an important part to play. That includes young people who, in particular, are critical in ensuring a positive future.
Local projects such as street stuff in Renfrewshire play an important role in offering young people opportunities to develop new interests and skills, and in diverting them from sometimes harmful and risky behaviour; we have had one or two examples of that. They provide what Neil Bibby identified as important—interesting activities that young people want and can access easily. Adults—particularly older folk—can sometimes be a little prescriptive in putting in place activities without thinking about whether they are what young people want. A particular activity might have interested us, but these days other things are important. It is vital that we ensure that what we put in place is what young people want.
I am glad that Neil Bibby namechecked some of the individuals who put time and effort into making the street stuff project work. We sometimes forget that a lot of personal commitment is involved.
I want to say a little about the cashback for communities programme. The Government recognises the value of access to high-quality diversionary activities for our young people, which is why we introduced the unique and innovative cashback for communities programme back in 2007. Essentially, it involves taking the ill-gotten gains of crime and investing them in community programmes, facilities and activities that are largely—but not exclusively—for young people who are at risk of turning to crime and antisocial behaviour. One hopes that, over the years, that will begin to create a more virtuous cycle.
The programme helps us to create safer communities by providing young people with opportunities to get off the streets and into positive activities. Since 2007, more than £50 million that has been recovered from the proceeds of crime has gone back into communities the length and breadth of Scotland. More than 600,000 young people have benefited, and more than 11,000 young person volunteers are now putting something back into their communities. I am sorry, but I cannot remember which member made the point that some of the young people involved graduate to become peers and mentors.
Of the money that has been put back into communities, more than £1.2 million has been invested in Renfrewshire and East Renfrewshire, which has benefited more than 47,000 young people in communities in those areas. I am delighted that street stuff is one of the local projects that have benefited from that investment.
Since the start of the project, the cashback for communities programme has been a key delivery partner: it has funded street stuff coaches and has provided diversionary activities for boys and girls through cashback Scottish Football Association street football, midnight leagues and schools of football. We are committed to ensuring that the cashback programme continues to support local communities, and we will use the proceeds of crime receipts to fund the programme to 2015-16.
The no knives, better lives initiative is part of the work that is being done. Street stuff has been working in partnership with the Government’s national youth initiative, no knives, better lives, which is an education and diversion initiative that aims to get across to young people the dangers and consequences of carrying a knife and encourages them to make positive choices. The partnership between street stuff, the cashback programme and no knives, better lives provides a safe, non-threatening environment for young people to discuss issues to do with violence and knife crime, which, in turn, gives them the skills to identify positive alternatives.
The approaches that we and our local partners are taking to divert young people away from crime and antisocial behaviour are working—members have already indicated how they are working. At a national level, recorded crime is at a 37-year low; offence referrals to the children’s reporter have fallen by 66 per cent since 2006-07; and the number of recorded crimes and offences committed by children and young people—eight to 17-year-olds—decreased by 32 per cent between 2008-09 and 2011-12. Some extremely positive impacts are beginning to feed through into the statistics and the system.
However, there is always more that we can do. The approach that has been taken by the street stuff project and all its local partners is exactly the kind of responsive partnership working that we would expect to see across community planning partnerships in Scotland. That approach of responding collaboratively to local need and having a clear focus on positive outcomes for communities is what the Government intends to support under the national priorities for CPPs.
I thank Annabel Goldie for putting forward the motion and I thank other members for their valuable contributions to the debate.
Stuart McMillan is right when he says that it is important that MSPs and others take time to recognise the hard work and dedication of those who lead local projects that are having positive impacts on their communities, such as street stuff.
George Adam reminded us of the huge challenges that confront some of the young people who are involved. However, despite the challenges, we can often learn much from them.
I say to Annabel Goldie that I would be only too happy to visit the project. My officials will set that up as soon as possible.
Meeting closed at 17:30.