The Young Roots project stemmed from the vital work of young people with regards to the Myplace bid for St Mary in the Castle; it aimed to build on the foundations set and to continue to strengthen young people’s stake within the town and its service provision. Young Roots aimed to give young people a stronger connection to their community - past, present and future.
The project set about exploring the social, cultural and architectural history of St Mary in the Castle, Pelham Crescent and Pelham Shopping Arcade: it ran for a year and was recently completed following a tour of the young people’s exhibition around the town.
The project itself focused on the intuitive working practice of youth-led project management, allowing the learnt heritage, history, knowledge and skills to be shared with the wider community, whilst also being used as a tool to facilitate empowerment, build social capital and partnership working; these were at the very core of the project.
The young people not only decided on the route they would take, but also how they would deliver their findings and finally chose how they wanted to evaluate the project and publicise the outcome; this involved several workshops in skills such as archive research, feedback, exhibition planning and delivery and ways to evaluate. A copy of their evaluation report is available from the Hastings Trust.
The project allowed the young people to work in partnership with various stakeholders across the town whilst promoting inter-generational and cross-community working; all of which are important for creating a cohesive community.
