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Young men from the Castle Road estate, from left: Sean Nevin, Mickey Deeney, David Harkness and Jon Jon Sexton. |
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Have your say: Youths get behind campaign to make themselves heard
YOUNG people have this week been contributing to the Book of Grievances campaign, taking a golden opportunity to voice their concerns about life in Camden.
They have been filling out their entries for the book – likely to be the biggest collection of youth voices ever amassed in Camden – in schools, youth clubs and on estates. The Book of Grievances was launched last Wednesday with the help of the New Journal and has already had backing from children’s charities, senior councillors and community activists. (see letters).
The book’s premise is simple with two clear questions: What is wrong with life in Camden for young people? How must things change?
It is open to all young people in Camden and has already begun spreading from its starting point in Kentish Town – where teenagers upset by the murder of their friend Tommy Winston, 18, last January, got the ball rolling last week. The book will ultimately be presented to politicians.
Scores of teenagers added their thoughts this week.
Abdulkadir Arshe, a youth worker based at the Somali Youth Development and Resource Centre in Kentish Town, wants to see more training for young people. “The council issued more Asbos than opportunities. They’ve got it the wrong way round.” Mr Arshe, who did a heating apprenticeship with the council in 2001, called for the same to be offered to today’s youth.
The major redevelopment of the King’s Cross railwaylands should also be duty-bound to provide jobs for Camden’s youths, both building the site and when it’s completed, he said.
Once a week Somali teenagers use the Castlehaven youth club in Camden Town for a private session. In the future Mr Arshe, one of the organisers, hopes to integrate Somali youths into the usual sessions held there.
Youth worker Abdi Ahmed said Somali teenagers he worked with were unhappy at the way they are perceived by the media and the public – particularly press coverage of Mahir Osman’s murder. Their friend Mahir, 18, was fatally stabbed outside Camden Town Tube in January last year.
Mr Ahmed said: “They don’t like being called gangs, they are just friends. Since Mahir’s death it has calmed down a lot. There was a feud between north London and Camden (Somalis) and I don’t think that exists anymore. They’ve seen the consequences of fighting and seen that people can get hurt.”
Youngsters on the Castle Road estate in Camden Town had similar grievances. When asked what they didn’t like about growing up in Camden they all said: “Because it’s boring.”
David Harkness, 16, said: “There’s about 30 kids our age, between 13-18, hanging around here most nights just dossing. We’re here from three to 11 getting cold and bored.” A youth club and a snooker table would go down well with him, as well as trips away. “Training and apprenticeships in plumbing and electrics,” were also on his wish-list.
Mickey Deeney, 15, said: “I’d rather be somewhere fun. I’d like training to be a bricklayer.”
Rose McCarthy, 11, wants to be a midwife. She had similarly dismissive comments about her area. “There’s no training around here,” she said. “Just a block of flats, some trees, bins, junkies – that’s about it.”
Her friend Suzanna O’Leary, 13, said: “It’s nice growing up round here but it’s boring.”
One young person who wrote in this week was Lucy Kavanagh, from Highgate.
Lucy, 18, said: “When you’re my age you feel politically there’s no way for you to express your opinions on a stage where there might be something done about them. That’s why the Book of Grievances seems like a good idea.”
Lucy, who studies web design and works part-time at a betting company, was attacked after school when she was 13. She knew some of her assailants and said it left her shaken. “It shaped some of my opinions now – it did make me more timid than the average teenager, although it’s surprisingly common.”
She wants to see young people brought up with more respect and feels responsibility lies mostly with parenting.
Adults in support
COMMUNITY leaders have thrown their weight behind the Book of Grievances.
Members of a Kentish Town community group, the Caversham Neighbourhood Partnership (CNP), decided to add their support at a meeting on Tuesday night.
They will pay for a youth worker in the area.
Meric Apak, chairman of the CNP, said: “You can consult adults until the cows come home but it’s not the same as the kids – you need to listen to their views.”
It was a unanimous decision at the meeting, held at the Peckwater estate tenants hall, to support the book he added. “I hope it achieves more resources from Camden to divert young people from activities which may end up in tragedies.”
It was also decided that the CNP would organise an annual football cup named after Tommy Winston, the Kentish Town teenager murdered last year by his friend. The first competition will take place at the end of the month.
Book of Grievances campaigner Alan Walter said they were also in talks about ways to commemorate the deaths of others in the area.
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