The JAM Project

J.A.M which are the initials of Jesus Anointed Ministry is the outreach arm of Wembley Family Church. Due to our lack of facilities during our Sunday service, the leadership decided to launch a youth club specifically aimed at meeting the needs and aspirations of the young people in our fellowship. Consequently JAM was launched as a means of engaging young people and also as a tool for outreach into the wider community.

Aims

The JAM Project aims to assist young people, particularly but not exclusively Black boys, to develop lifetime skills including: literacy, numeracy and a variety of social skills so that they can make a positive contribution to society. At the club, they participate in team activities such as football tournaments [we run an academy called Football Mania], Cultural Diversity courses, practical computing courses, Arts and Crafts and one on one counselling sessions.

Currently we attract about 40% girls and 60% boys of which about 75% of those attending are from the BME community in our cohort of 30-40. Our aim is to double this number within the next 12 months and to provide activities, such as a number of Table Tennis tables, Pool Tables and a variety of board games and electronic Computer games to operate on the Wii and play-station games consoles. We also run short courses many of which are requested by the young people who attend JAM.

We are developing links with many agencies and in particular the local schools. In October 2011 we were invited to meet with the Head Teacher of Wembley High Technical College, East Lane, Wembley to discuss the JAM youth project and how the local children from the school could access it. To this end the school agreed to promote JAM in their newsletter to parents and staff.

Baseline evidence/local consultation:

Within the Sudbury ward and particularly around the local estates, and specifically the Roundtree estate, a lot of young people 'hang out' with nothing to do. The potential is there for many of these young people to gravitate towards forming gangs and being involved in 'post-code' wars. The aim of this project is to provide an alternative safe space, where young people can come to and have the option to talk to trained counsellors about particular issues and learn about cultural differences or to develop latent skill for the benefits of others and themselves.