TEENAGERS in Darwen have produced a leaflet about sexual health to help other young people deal with their concerns.
A group of 18 boys and girls from Youth Works, a government-funded project aimed at keeping youths off the streets, took part in a project last April called The Thin Blue Line, which aimed to raise an awareness and understanding of the issues young people face.
These included the most commonly talked about issues of teenage pregnancy, sexually transmitted infections and emotional learning and well-being.
The project was named after the tell-tale blue line in pregnancy testing kits which shows whether a person is pregnant or not. It included a 12-week programme of sessions and activities, followed by the young people taking a virtual baby home for the weekend, taking part in the production of a video and producing the sexual health/emotional well-being leaflets for boys and girls.
The leaflet is supported by the Teenage Pregnancy Partnership, a Blackburn with Darwen-run scheme working with the Primary Care Trust and other agencies to help young people to make informed choices about sex, relationships and effective parenting. Tracy Scott, Youth Works's Darwen project manager, said: "The young people have researched what is already available and what they feel needed to be incorporated.
"I feel the leaflet is really positive and has given the young people we work with an opportunity to express how they feel in relation to issues explored through the Thin Blue Line Programme.
"They have worked really hard to get their message across."
The Youth Works project arrived in Sudellside in April 1998 following success of a pilot scheme in Roman Road, Blackburn.
It was originally based at the Old Tramshelter, in Bolton Road, and through outreach sessions young people, who were causing a nuisance or criminal damage in the local area, were targeted. Many young people had asked for a building they could attend on a daily basis and Youth Works decided it needed to offer an alternative where these young people could go, where they could spend time building up relationships and in time challenge offending behaviour and attitudes.
In April 1999 the first drop-in centre was opened in Anyon Street, Darwen, but due to the Two Gates Estate being earmarked for demolition, the project has now acquired new premises at 15-19 Ash Grove Darwen.
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