A Wirral youth group says it is helping to “bridge the gap between the different generations” through its community outreach work.
Teenagers at The Hive in Birkenhead say they want to tackle stereotypes that young people “are always up to mischief”.
The group carries out a range of projects in the local community, including visiting local supported living schemes, helping “period poverty” initiatives and litter picking.
“There’s so much in the media about the divide between the generations,” says 16-year-old Hive ambassador Charlotte. “There’s lots of negative stereotypes about young people and we wanted to fight against that.”
The Hive, which opened in 2017, provides local young people with a place to hang out with friends and, with the help of youth workers, also get involved with projects to help learn valuable life skills.
The group recently started on an intergenerational project in which members visited residents at supported living schemes and delivered a range of activities.
“We did ‘engaged in conversation’, we did tea and coffee, it was just really nice getting to bridge the gap between the different generations,” said 15-year-old George.
Isobel, 17, said that project was “one of the best things we’ve done”.
“The fact that some of them came out of their rooms after three months to see what we were doing, I think that’s why it’s made this impact,” she said.
Jess, 16, said the group were happy to make “such a difference”.
“We’ve had so many lovely compliments coming from the people that we went to visit,” she explained.
“There is such a stereotype around teenagers and how awful they are and all they do is get up to mischief and they were saying how nice it was to see a different side to teenagers.
“It feels incredible to know that we’ve been recognised for all the hard work and effort that we’ve put into trying to make a difference in our community and trying to help people understand that not all teenagers are getting up to bad things.
“Some of us really do care and we want to make a difference.”
Manager Bex Pollard said The Hive had “an incredible group of young people” who advocate for teenagers within the community.
The group, which has also undertaken projects including tackling loneliness and poor mental health, has been recognised by the BBC Make a Difference Awards.
“They do everything within their power to support the community,” Ms Pollard said.
