Nick Hurd and the art of motorcycle maintenance
April 2011
What do the names Sam Fitzgerald, Jessie Wright, Michael McCarthy and Ben Kinsella have in common?
They were all young victims of violent crimes in Islington whose pictures and press cuttings form a special area of remembrance at Sparkplug – an Islington community youth initiative tackling antisocial behaviour.
Young people who have been excluded from school with multiple needs, along with NEETS (Not in Employment, Education or Training) come to Sparkplug for the practical tuition and the work experience of repairing motorcyles, gokarts and push-bikes (the local police are a major source of wrecked bikes for workshop). The big carrot is that when the bikes are repaired, they get to go on off-road bike and karting away days in an Essex forest, learning to ride a vehicle in a safe environment. And they get to keep or give to friends the repaired push-bikes.
The project was founded by youth worker Martin Willis back in 2002 as a solution to deal with the large numbers of stolen scooters in the area. He secured funding for five motorbikes and safety equipment for 15 young people and has never looked back. Scooter crime fell and as a local councillor put it took “lads that might otherwise stray into trouble and put them firmly on the straight and narrow”.
Sam, Jessie, Michael and Ben were among 500 to 600 kids that youth worker and founder Mark Willis has had taking part in Open College Network Level 1 accredited motor mechanics courses.
Funding
The Sparkplug Motorcycle Project is one of 183 charities most vulnerable to spending cuts that are to receive funding from the government’s Transition Fund. Nick Hurd the minister for Civil Society met some of the staff and young people learning new skills in the workshop on 22 March and told
Caritas that not only did it meet all the eligibility criteria
[1], but that it was “a good use of taxpayers’ money” because its plans for the future were “impressive and sustainable”.
The charity was 80 per cent dependent on local authority funding and found itself having to look more widely at some of the other ways it could help young people form their own personal learning and development plans. Willis explained that having “all your eggs in one basket made you too vulnerable to funding cuts.” To support the diversification process, the charity has a mix of youth workers, teachers, therapists, counsellors, playworkers and mechanics tutors who all work together. There are six paid staff and a further bank of volunteers. For example, the charity has a therapist with specialist conflict management experience running sessions tacking the emotional issues behind the the young people’s negative behaviour and barriers to progression.
Out of toilets
Willis explained that they project originally operated outside from park toilets “which got very cold in the winter” but they managed to benefit from some ‘section 106 money’ where a developer has to make a payment towards something that benefits the community because of the greater demand the development may make on public services. The new Sparkplug building comprises a light, airy workroom, a music room, games/class room and stores for the protective equipment as well as washing and laundry facilities. There is also a minibus to transport the kids to the off-road venues.
Lorraine Gibson, the charity’s main fundraiser, explained the Transition Fund application process was “good in comparison with some”; something Hurd was relieved to hear as he said they had tried to make it as “straightforward as possible” to apply. She also confirmed that the new funding would help develop Level 2 accredited courses, something that provides an even better alternative for young people unable to engage in the main educational system – although there have been two ‘successes’ who went on to college full time after the Sparkplug course.
The Transition Fund has had a total of 1700 applications so far with over 200 charities and voluntary groups having had awards of around £17m. The balance of the £107m fund will be awarded from April 2011.
Author: Clarissa Dann
Clarissa Dann was the editor of Caritas as well as an HR and management online service,he People Bulletin until July 2011.
She is now the editor of the specialist trade finance magazine, Trade and Forfaiting Review which can be viewed at www.tfreview.com but does write on charity finance and investment from time to time.
Clarissa has a background in legal and professional publishing, as well as business journalism and holds an MBA from Cass Business School. She has been one of the judges for the non-profit category of the Chartered Institute of Marketing's Excellence in Marketing Awards for the second year running.
She has also acted as clerk to the trustees of a small almshouses charity and as a member nominated trustee to a pension scheme of a multinational publishing company.
Click here for other articles written by Clarissa Dann
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