#3 Youth filming

by

This evening we went along again to the established group of young people that the youth detachment team see every Tuesday. The children had been very keen to get involved with the filming last time we went and Sally text them in advance to tell them we would be there.

Unfortunately for us the weather was terrible, with a big downpour and this reflected in the low turnout of young people. Unlike last time where the group reached about fifteen, there were just three keen young boys who braved it down to the skatepark.

We knew what we wanted from this session, and asked early on if the boys would be willing to talk to us individually about what they feel they have gained from the youth detached meetings (both at school and personally).

We took the Go-Pro camera along with us, to provide another angle for filming shots from the childrens’ perspective and also to provide distraction whilst interviewing the others.

These interviews proved challenging. The boys didn’t really take them seriously at first and were joking with each other for the first round of questions. We decided it would be best to spilt them up, and ask them more serious questions one on one. Although this was a huge improvement, we feel it was the start of gaining trust and them opening up with us on camera. It will probably take another couple of interview sessions to gain the quality of narrative that we are looking for to highlight the youth detached team’s achievements.

#2 Penwith Volunteer Bureau filming

by

Today we spent an afternoon filming with one of the volunteers from the bureau to see what volunteering can offer people in the area.  Chris, the volunteer we were there to see does an audio recording of  a regional newspaper called The Cornishman.  The recordings are then sent out once a week across the country to partially sighted and blind people.  She has been with the scheme for over ten years now, having been originally referred by the Penwith Volunteer Bureau.

We were expecting to turn up to a small radio studio, however, what we found was a far more creative use of a small room in Pengarth Day Centre.  Hair dryers and other equipment had been moved aside and the team of three gathered round the recording deck and newspaper pages to start the readings.

It’s certainly the smallest place we’ve filmed in to day which was a challenge in terms of getting different shot types but it was good fun and great to hear the enthusiasm and personality the readers put into the stories.

Chris and the other volunteers obviously enjoy giving up a small amount of time each week for such a worthwhile cause, having fun at the same time.

After speaking with Sharon Mitchell, the manager at Pengarth, we learnt how grateful she was of Chris for taking over the running of the talking newspaper project.  This has allowed the centre staff more time for immediate personal care throughout the day.

#2 Youth filming

by

In contrast to our last session, this afternoon we joined the youth detached team in a walk-about covering various locations in Penzance where young people hang out.

The purpose of these sessions is to make the youth workers familiar figures to the young people around town. They don’t actually approach anyone until they have been around and seen specific groups on a number of separate occasions.

The lead youth worker Sally, explained the importance of these sessions by highlighting the individual cases of positive engagements, such as helping NEETS (not in education, employment or training) back into education.

It was very evident to us that the youth detached team have already made themselves well known and approachable among the young people of Penzance, as several stopped for a quick chat.

Lucky for us it was a beautiful sunny afternoon and we managed to enjoy a warm stroll around Penzance and even a break for ice-creams!

#1 Penwith Volunteer Bureau filming

by

Today we visited the Penwith Volunteer Bureau for the first time to kick start their short film.  It was a really productive afternoon and we met several volunteers as well as the bureau’s manager – Marilyn Tenbeth.

The filming consisted of a couple of hours in the office chatting with current volunteers and meeting prospective drop-ins.  We also managed time to interview Marilyn about the service.  Then we were whisked off with the longest serving volunteer to her regular project at the bowls club for partially sighted and blind people.

The bowling project is the first of many interesting projects the volunteer bureau works with.  Others we’re looking into include a talking newspaper project and volunteer gardeners at St Michael’s Mount.