The first Merseyside Young Transformers programme workshop was held in Liverpool on Tuesday 11th March 2008.
This workshop was convened as part of the Merseyside Young Transformers pilot programme funded, through the Community Foundation for Merseyside, by the Home Office.
Small grants were made to six local community groups from 4 of the worst affected communities (Stockbridge Village, Norris Green, Croxteth and Bakers Green) in Merseyside with respect to youth disaffection. Funding for the grants came from the Home Office and grants were awarded by a panel made up of personnel from the Community foundation for Merseyside, the Merseyside Police, the Tutu Foundation UK and some key stakeholders from the relevant local authorities and communities.
Grants were allocated on February 7th and are being used to fund activities for and with young people from those communities. This workshop was convened as a part of the pilot programme to add further value to the groups allocated grants on 7th February. By virtue of the short timescales of the pilot programme this workshop was preliminary in nature and provided an opportunity for the Tutu Foundation UK to demonstrate some aspects of the value it brings in terms of fresh ideas, an approach informed and shaped by Ubuntu and interactive tools for reflection and learning.