Dr Mz, the youth project based in Carmarthen has continued to work with and support young people, during the pandemic, by providing events online and encouraging them to engage with the community.
Gayle Harris is manager of Dr Mz and proud of the work the staff team at the youth centre has continued to do during difficult times,
“During Covid and lockdown we continued to work providing 4 times weekly online youth club with activity packs being delivered weekly to support the sessions where young people cook with free ingredients, grow things, make things and take part in games and competitions.
We delivered 15 Christmas Dinner hampers to 16–25-year-olds who were living independently, we provided a takeaway Christmas Dinner and online party for 23 young people, our young people made up and delivered hampers to older people in the community as part of their volunteering.
From March 2020 to now we have sent out over 1000 activity packs to our members.
We teamed up with Oriel Gallery to send out 50 fantastic art packs.”
Members of the Dr Mz youth group also became involved in producing weekly recipe videos on TikTok, as well as taking part in baking for neighbours and friends as part of Random Acts of Kindness Week.
The move to working virtually also meant the opportunity for a few surprises for the group, Gayle continues
“We have had guests like Helen Enser Morgan running a Zoom session on well-being and being a radio presenter for the day. I have had a surprise chat with Rod Gilbert online.”
Dr Mz are making the most of online facilities during restrictions and have planned a virtual group walk, using the World Walking App, to walk from London to Tokyo in time for the Olympics, encouraging the young people to look after their physical health and to go walking daily.
There are also some exciting opportunities to link up with other communities across Wales.
Gayle adds,
“Our Digital Project is joining forces with Point Youth Centre in Fishguard and Cardiff Youth Service for a gaming tournament in the near future.”
Dr Mz is a full-time youth drop-in centre for aged 8-25 years and first began in 1996, set up by a group of young people who were Youth Town Council Members. One of these young people was Elis James, local comedian, radio broadcaster and actor who is now their Honorary President. The name of the Youth Project commemorates the late Dr. Margaret Evans, a local G.P. and Councillor, whose vision, enthusiasm and selfless efforts inspired the project.
Gayle has worked for Dr Mz for 25 years. She explains how it first started,
“It was set up to tackle the lack of facilities and safe places for young people at the time.
We were successful in gaining a National Lottery Grant to start the project and the youth council identified a small shop front in Queen Street, our first premises.
It began with a computer, pool table, TV and coffee bar and now 25 years later we own the former Carmarthen Athletic Rugby Club and have a Centre which houses a cafe, an allotment /community garden hosting a Grow it – Cook it – Transform It Project, a Volunteering Project, a Health and Well-being Project, a Digital Project, our 7–11-year-olds Transitionz Project, LGBTQ project and Little M’z Young parents’ project.
We have worked with thousands of young people since, providing a safe place, opportunities to learn new skills, fundraise, help out in the community, earn time credits and gain support from qualified staff.”
While doing all this, Dr Mz notes, the young people have learned to be better friends, better team players, more skilled in speaking and listening, better members of the community, meeting people in high places and talking to them as equals and helping others.
Dr Mz is a registered charity that relies on funding and donations to run, they are supported by Carmarthenshire County Council and Carmarthen Town Council. They say they are,
“always looking for more funding to support the work that we do and to develop the Project as the needs of the young people and The Youth Work Strategy for Wales dictates. We are always interested in any opportunities for corporate sponsorship and support from local businesses.”
The project has been very successful and grown since it’s early beginnings. Gayle says,
“I have had the privilege to meet these young people as I was there in 1997 too, and I have seen many of them grow into responsible and lovely adults who say ‘Hi’ to me in the street and come back from time to time to see us all. Some went to the army, some became parents, some went to university and others got jobs and came back to work for us. I hope that all of you who read this and who were a part of it are happy and enjoyed the Dr Mz experience. I have.”
One parent recently sited the benefits of the youth group for their child, particularly their work during the pandemic,
“I can’t thank Dr Mz enough for the zoom sessions for the children, having activities and interaction with other children and adults has been fantastic. I, for one, know this has helped K… loads and I see him becoming more confident, crafty and it’s amazing. Thank you so much for all your hard work.”
Although these online events have allowed the group to continue and to expand in new directions and explore new ways of working together in the community, Gayle and the team are keen to get back to meeting in person and beginning new projects,
“We obviously can’t wait to be back face to face, but I think the team has been absolutely fantastic during lockdown, consulting with the young people to find out what they want and delivering fun, exciting and challenging activities, looking after and supporting the young people’s emotional and physical health, helping with the challenges of school work and supporting families through difficult times by providing recipe packs and care packs. I am so proud to work with them and look forward to exciting climate change projects when we return to the centre.”
Find out more about Dr Mz or sign up to the youth project on their website here or Facebook page here. Try one of the Youth Project’s Tiktok recipes here.
