Education is central to all services offered by Caledonia Youth teams. We know it can help young people make more informed choices - from negotiating safer sex with partners to saying “no” if they feel unready to enter a sexual relationship.
We interact with thousands of young people every year, exploring topics that focus on emotional wellbeing - managing relationships, promoting self esteem, assertiveness, exploring sexuality, negotiation skills and risk situations – as well as the biological aspects surrounding STIs, contraception and pregnancy.
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How do we develop programmes?
When it comes to positive relationships and sexual wellbeing, the support and involvement of parents, carers, schools and other agencies all help towards making a sustained difference to the experience of young people. That’s why we work closely with them all when we are developing our specially tailored, age-appropriate education programmes. Before we begin, we consult directly with clients to identify baseline knowledge and gaps in their awareness and skills.
Where appropriate, our team attend pre-programme parent’s meetings or undertake phone consultations to discuss needs, concerns, programme content, context and ongoing support. More and more are taking advantage of these opportunities, particularly parents or carers who have children with additional support needs.
All education workers undergo SHARE (sexual health and relationships) training and those with a training responsibility have Training for Trainers Certificate.
Where do we deliver programmes?
Our education programmes can be delivered at any suitable venue, although we also have facilities in our own centre in Edinburgh. Services are also offered on a consultancy basis across Scotland.
Special projects
Our education programmes can be tailored to target specific groups, such as our Offenders Project working in collaboration with four Scottish Prison Service (SPS) establishments.
Offenders' Project
When offenders were identified in the Scottish Government’s sexual health strategy Respect & Responsibility as a group vulnerable to sexual ill health and relationship problems, we began developing a special programme with the SPS following a successful pilot project already completed at Polmont Young Offenders Institution (YOI).
Financial support was secured from independent charitable funding bodies, the Robertson Trust, Lloyds TSB Foundation for Scotland, the Pilgrim Trust, the Rayne Foundation and the Gannochy Trust, which recognised the importance of this work along with our capability to deliver.
Services began in 2007 with relationships and sexual health education, information and support, delivered to group and individuals in four prisons – HMP and YOI Cornton Vale, HMP Edinburgh, HMYOI Polmont and HMP Greenock.
The first independent review by the Robertson Trust has already fed back a positive report, mirroring the findings of Caledonia Youth’s own internal evaluation system.
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