Our FYV Youth Commissioner Marion shares her experiences of Southend YMCA and the projects and initiatives she's been a part of...
"Being involved with Southend YMCA and the FYV project has been invaluable to me. I have gained so much confidence through meeting new people and discussing ideas for new projects. I have also had some amazing opportunities whilst working with the YMCA."
I was able to go gliding at Cambridge Gliding Centre as part of a project to get vulnerable young people more involved in activities that they may not have had access to ordinarily. This was such an incredible experience as we were taught how to fly a glider and then were given a mini lecture on the aviation industry after we had been flying. I am normally quite scared of heights, so for me to have flown the glider more than 2000ft in the air was something that I was very proud of."
I am also grateful to be able to work on and develop projects that will directly help young people in Southend. One project that I am excited for is the Fix It Fund, where young people can submit applications for funding to run a project, which will benefit other young people in their community. It is going to be so interesting to see what ideas people come up with and it feels very rewarding to be able to fund the creativity of young people who otherwise may have not been able to carry out the project on their own. It will also give us insight into what activities young people want to be involved in, and the FYV project could possibly deliver some of the mini projects on a larger scale if they are successful."
I have thoroughly enjoyed my time with the YMCA so far, and I am looking forward to running even more projects in the future!"