News from The RPT at 221 Walmer Road

The Rugby Portobello Trust (RPT) works with those young people in our North Kensington community (London W10 and W11) who need support to develop into positive and fully participating members of society.

We do this by providing them with programmes and activities aimed at developing their social and life skills, as well as their self esteem.
To provide these programmes we need support and funding from others in our community who wish to see our area develop and thrive by including all and excluding none.

•    Music Technology – we would like to offer a number of courses to young people in singing, song writing, and music technology. In order to do this we will need to employ a part-time worker to co-ordinate our work in this area. We have managed to fundraise for the equipment but have not fundraised sufficient money for all the running costs, i.e. tutors.   
•    Design and Technology – Our computer room is currently under utilised. We would like to offer young people the opportunity to develop artistic and practical skills in using software packages such as Microsoft Office by running creative workshops, such as co-ordinating an RPT Youth Magazine. We need volunteers with experience in this area.
•    Computer software - We also need to purchase the necessary software to support our work in the areas of publishing, music technology, and video editing.
•    Food and Nutrition – We would love to develop some innovative courses for young people which combine healthy eating with a sports programme.  We desperately need tutors/volunteers who have the skills to support these programmes.
•    Volunteer Programme – We would like to develop our volunteers programme to help assist us with some of our programmes. In order to do this we will need skilled volunteers who can help us deliver some of the highlighted activities.
•    Sports and Fitness programme – The RPT wants to develop a comprehensive sports programme. We already run football teams, a boxing, gymnastics, badmington and fitness club but we’d like to extend the number of the courses we offer to our young people.
•    Other projects include – photography, cycling maintenance workshops, internet community radio project. Young volunteers programme and a homework club.

A letter from Gill Fitzhugh MBE

The RPT receives £200,000 from local people who either give individually or attend our events. It is difficult to tell you how important this money is to us. Firstly it represents 1/5th of our income and secondly it is money that we can spend as we wish free of the restrictions and bureaucracy of government funding.

We want as much as possible to be sustainable so we truly welcome not only one off gifts but also the gifts of individuals who are prepared to give annually.

In addition we are just about to start work on the development of a plot of land we own: 10 acres of the sea at St Mary's Bay in Kent. This is an enormous project but when completed will be of huge benefit to young people from North Kensington.

Finally in our society today we are surrounded by single parents and very small families and one of the most important jobs we do at The RPT is to act as a community family. This means that a number of our workers will help and support young people way beyond the hours that they are employed to work and if needs be all the way round the clock. This is what makes our organisation so very different from schools and the social services and government run organisations.

We have so much more opportunity to make a real difference and we can do this with your help.

The real world of Michael Kelsick
YOUTH WORKER

“I GREW UP in Stoke Newington (Hackney).

When I was 13, my main influences were friends, their mothers, and their older friends who were heavily involved in criminal activity. We were encouraged to take part because we were young and had to prove ourselves.

I first started smoking cannabis when I was 14. I also dropped out of school at that age, when of the main problems in Hackney were the lack youth clubs, other than Boys Scouts or Army Cadets. By the time I was 17 I was a father.

By 18 I had already been in Youth Custody a few times. Between the ages of 18-22 my life was out of control and I was eventually arrested for multiple armed robberies.

Without the sort of respect that allows them to sail through life without getting into trouble, children get sucked into this kind of society, with no way out. The majority don’t have a stable home life, so they go out and cause trouble, causing crime rates to rise.

Children need stability at home to be able to go out with a fresh mind and be happy. They fail to realise that every time they do something that’s antisocial and deviant, they’re ‘disappointing mum’, who didn’t go through 9 months for you to turn out deviant!

Whilst serving my sentence I joined a project run by prisoners for young people about the early stages of criminal activity. From Wornington Greens Youth Detached Project, I came to work with Barren Hulme, a Youth Worker who first met me in Goldingley HMP whilst I was serving a sentence for various crimes. When I was eventually released, Barren introduced me to the Portobello Trust, or more correctly to Gill Fitzhugh. She took a risk and gave me employment in summer 2000 as a part time outreach worker for Portobello Rd and the surrounding area.

I think one of the reasons I work well with young people in W11 & W10 is because of my background. Because I’ve lead the life of a street criminal, I understand more and can communicate on a deeper level about what life’s like on the street. Also my prison ‘credentials’ helped in how the young men view me, because they see me as from their world. This helps enormously as they’re very distrustful of most people - especially anyone who works for the Government.

My personal opinion on young people in W11 & W10 is that poverty is the issue. Living where the difference in the haves and the have nots is very noticeable. Temptation plays a huge part in the level of crime in Notting Hill. So does the ongoing drugs and violence amongst various youth gangs in West London. The area is on a knife edge concerning many issues: such as terrorism, drugs and inter-area rivalry.

As most people know, North Kensington is a very diverse area going from quite poor council estates to very excellent streets where many famous and wealthy people live. Because of this the area is quite unique in the problems that these extremes pose: seeing wealth and what appears to be a better life style has a negative effect on the less well off young people in North Kensington. Because most know they will never attain that kind of prosperity that they see surrounding them.

Sometimes this has the reaction of “let’s take from them – because they can afford it”. Ladbroke Grove has a well known name as a place to buy drugs of all types, which attracts people into the area with that purpose in mind, which often leads to them getting ripped off. Also Westbourne Grove has been known as a place where sex is plied, which attracts even more.

At present the area is quite tense, as various gangs are at loggerheads and fighting between opposing areas, which lead to many very violent incidents recently.”

The real world of A CARE & SUPPORT WORKER and former Houseshare tenant

“I was referred to what was then called the North Kensington Student Hostel (25 Oxford Gardens) by the Social Services when I was 17 years old. In those days 25 Oxford Gardens was the only hostel in the organisation.

I had been in ‘care’ for most of my teens and had known very little routine or security in my life until this point. I was trying to re-build my relationship with my mum and had moved into her house a short time earlier, but things were unbalanced and difficult because she had severe drug addiction problems, and being in the same house as her meant that I suffered a lot of emotional abuse. The past was constantly being dragged up and it was difficult to defend myself against her because I was still so young and couldn’t actually remember a lot of the events she was always going on about.

Moving to Oxford Gardens gave me some space away from her, and gave me the independence I needed. I was already quite independent, but being in the hostel sort of made it ‘official’. It meant I could feel and command more respect for myself. It was the ideal combination of being safe and supported, with being independent and not having to involve myself with my family and their problems. And at the same time I was local enough to still be a part of their lives and a part of my community, which was important to me and I would have felt a real sense of loss if I had been made to leave the area.

I began to have more of a social life, as being in the hostel meant that I met a lot more people my own age. We went on a residential holiday once to Wales which involved loads of outdoor activities. The best thing about this was that I really felt like I was among my own. All the holidays I had been on before were cases where I had been taken on someone else’s family holiday, and I felt like I had been ‘added on’, but in this case we were all in the same boat and we now have loads of great memories of that holiday.

Another good thing about being in the hostel was getting to know all the other residents and their way of life. I feel that I had the privilege of learning about many other cultures, in a really intimate way too, because when you live with people you get to know almost everything about them. I also liked the feeling of other people in the house. I think this might be because I’d spent a lot of time by myself as a child. It was really nice to have people knock on my door when we had finished college and maybe cook something together. I realise that not everyone likes to share their time with other people, but the hostel gives you the option of keeping yourself to yourself if you prefer as well.

The warden lived in the hostel with us, so I always felt safe, and knew there was someone there if needed. I felt that he genuinely cared about us, even though we were probably a nightmare to deal with at times! I can't begin to say just how important this was, as in may cases (certainly in mine) we had not had that sense of safety and security, and of feeling that there was something this solid in our lives that we could rely on. We had some contact with him most days, through house meetings or quick visits to our rooms to check we were okay. I feel that without this in my life I would have been extremely vulnerable.

Being in the hostel gave me the feeling that I was in control of my life. In those days I don’t remember planning much for the future, so being on the housing list while I was in the hostel meant that one part of my ‘future’ was being taken care of for me.

I really do feel that it was exactly what I needed at that point in my life, and I have really fond memories of this time.”