Skip to playerSkip to main content
CCNTV6
  • 2 years ago
The St. James Police Youth Club is undertaking several programmes to enhance not only young people, but parents and by extension their families. The work involves children who have been suspended from school.


But there is a problem when it comes to funding, and the Youth Club is appealing to corporate T&T.


Alicia Boucher tells us more.
Transcript
00:00 Empowering young people and giving them viable options.
00:04 That's where the St. James Police Youth Club says its focus is,
00:08 as it has embarked on a number of programs like Boys Without Fathers,
00:12 launched on June 19, 2023, targeting males
00:16 whose dads are absent for one reason or another,
00:20 including by way of incarceration or homicide.
00:24 According to the youth club's founder, Police Officer Derek Shabady, it allowed many of them to open up.
00:28 "They're missing their dad. Their dad is involved in A, B and C.
00:32 But more than that, we had men who were there to step in
00:36 and to work and to make sure there's a relationship established.
00:40 The Port Ispanyo Youth Club is doing excellent work with us in terms of a Big Brothers program,
00:46 where young men are learning to fill out an application form,
00:50 prepare them for the world of work, how to stand, how to sit, how to eat."
00:54 He says an agriculture program, a female support group and a literacy program
01:00 are among other initiatives geared towards better equipping young people,
01:04 giving them alternatives to a life of crime and steering them away from gangs.
01:10 "We have established the first suspension program, where children are suspended from school report to our center.
01:16 And it's not just coming to the center, but it's also making recommendations for them to go to Soho Hall,
01:20 to go to White Tap, to go to schools that are probably more vocational.
01:24 They come down to the center, they're seeing pandas, they're seeing gemology, computer classes,
01:28 and then they say, 'How can I join the Port Ispanyo Youth Club?'
01:32 So therefore, the youth club is not seen only as a place where you correct,
01:36 but as a place where you can come and have a second chance, it's a safe space."
01:40 Despite the work it is doing, Shabady states that funding remains a major issue for the club.
01:46 "We need more funding, we need to sustain our projects, we need to ensure that our projects blossom
01:51 and grow from strength to strength. We are launching a program with TV6 called 'Taking in Front'."
01:57 Shabady tells us the youth club is also in need of administrative assistance,
02:01 meals for the children who utilize the space and transportation.
02:07 "Sometimes they come from high-risk areas. Our bus is personally down, you see that.
02:11 And therefore, we have to guarantee the children leaving at-risk communities,
02:16 coming down to the center and reaching back home safe. So therefore, transport is paramount."
02:21 Help from the state covers certain costs, like utility bills and one or two other ventures,
02:27 once approvals for funding are granted.
02:30 "But we appeal to the private sector. The private sector within this geographical space,
02:35 it's the same as Shabady, I understand you're doing a good work. We would like to help.
02:39 We would like to take up assistance with the family. We would like to help you with your carpentry course.
02:45 We would like to assist you with a course for the females, basic things."
02:50 He calls for community service to be part and parcel of private sector engagement.
02:55 The St. James Police Youth Club has a match planned for March 30, 2024,
03:00 at a Queens Park savannah, which it calls a patriotic day.
03:04 "Sending a message our country is not for sale. We intend to get the blessings from the commissioner police.
03:11 We'll be using the savannah and just a massive day of red, black and white."
03:16 [BLANK_AUDIO]
Be the first to comment
Add your comment