Wootton Park Recreation Association

Youth Opportunities Contact:  JoJo Yohannes, email jojo@teamviy.com

Project Manager Contact:  Mick Loftus, email mick@teamviy.com

Norfolk & Suffolk Careers Hub

We’ve delivered a highly successful schools programme in partnership with The Careers and Enterprise Company since 2016. Originally delivering our programme to schools in two Local Enterprise Partnerships, Birmingham and London, the programme developed into a national programme reaching 25 out of 38 LEPs, partnering with over 15 Careers Hubs in the process. This is in addition to the SEN schools, Pupil Referral Units (PRUs), Alternative Provisions (APs) and Virtual Schools we’ve worked in, and had learners referred from, too.

See our work creating a community cafe in partnership between Doncaster Careers Hub and 10 local SEN schools here

In 2024 we’ve been supported by Norfolk & Suffolk Careers Hub to complete two local one week community workshops, both benefitting local community spaces whilst enabling local students to have their first taste of the construction industry – and/or the VIY experience before a larger community project.

At John Grant School, a SEN school in Caister, over 15 of their own students took ownership and co-designed this project to improve their own environment internally and externally, by redecorating one of their breakout spaces and constructing planters for their external space. A project also supported by our programme across Great Yarmouth through the Know Your Neighbourhood fund.

We were also able to create additional outdoor furniture and a dry store for tools and equipment at Marlpit Community Centre in Norwich, where we’ve delivered previous improvement projects through this Norwich City Council fund.

Impact of these projects:

• 28 young volunteers gained hands-on construction skills
• Many gained an Entry Level 3 City & Guilds accreditation in Carpentry or Painting & Decorating during these week long projects
• John Grant School told us: “Our students benefitted from working with unfamiliar people they didn’t know, both VIY staff and other students from in school. Those students who have never done any work experience / volunteering before really got stuck in.“
• Marlpit Community Centre benefitted greatly from additional works completed through this VIY workshop: “The work carried out by VIY, is fabulous. We are delighted that we now have a store in our wildlife garden which will enable us to keep all the tools and equipment needed in a safe dry place. The garden bench is lovely and will give our users a nice shaded place to sit and enjoy the wildlife. The two tables are fabulous as they can be moved and used in all outside areas at the centre, and really set the whole outside off as a usable space.”
• Ed Sellwood, COO & Co-Founder of VIY, shares the value of short & sharp experiences for young people, having overseen many VIY workshops like this one: “It’s about that first taste of construction, an Entry Level 3 City & Guilds accreditation that acts as the first step on the construction career ladder, all for young learners who may not otherwise have access to this kind of training, or for whom a more practical way of learning is better for their development.”

Eastwood Community Centre

Project Contact: Graham Blackburn, email graham@teamviy.com

Docking Village Hall

Youth Opportunities Contact:  JoJo Yohannes, email jojo@teamviy.com

Project Manager Contact:  Mick Loftus, email mick@teamviy.com

North Wootton Village Hall

Having spread our wings across Norfolk since 2022 through the Community Renewal Fund, including a great project at Kaset Skatepark, we’re back in West Norfolk working with King’s Lynn & West Norfolk Council through the UK Shared Prosperity Fund, renovating three community venues.

The project:

Here we were helping North Wootton Village Hall to double the size of their storage space for their vital maintenance equipment by building a new external storage unit, and decorating parts of the venue externally to help the village hall to become the most appealing it can be.

The impact:

• Over 15 local young people volunteered on the project, referred from local youth partners including YMCA Norfolk, Norfolk Youth Justice Service and Headway
• 10 young people gained an Entry Level 3 City & Guilds accreditation in either Carpentry or Painting & Decorating
• We’re working closely with Boost Norfolk, not only on referring young people to this project and others locally, but to support our young people post-project with further employability and job-searching
• Take a look at what Bob Angell, in charge of maintenance at North Wootton Village Hall, told us:

“The team have completed a fantastic job on the tasks set out. They have been a pleasure to have working here.

It is so important today to have an organization such as yours, that can give young adults the opportunity to try their hand at construction. Having run a business myself in the locksmithing profession for over thirty years, I know that first hand, as some of my staff that I employed had not even used a screwdriver when they joined us as young men. Teaching is invaluable and from my opinion, Dave and Dom did just that. Brilliant.

Maintenance on a village hall such as ours, which is now over 87 years old, is continuous. In the last seven years since the present management team took on the task, we have brought an almost derelict building back into our village community, so VIY have helped us enormously. A job very well done.”

Belchamps Scout Activity Centre

Bottisham College

Bradwell Community Centre

Bunyan Sports Centre

Burnt Mill Academy

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