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The empty kiosk at the main bus terminus in St Peter Port has been turned into an information and support hub offering a range of advice and services for children and young people.
The outreach kiosk has officially opened after a successful 'soft' launch two weeks ago which saw 265 engagements with the community and almost 100 enquiries from youths seeking advice around a variety of areas and issues.
The kiosk will be 'serviced' by a number of different agencies who are all working with Health and Social Care to deliver the commitments of the States' Children and Young People's Plan.
Services and agencies currently working from the kiosk include:
Deputy Heidi Soulsby, President of HSC, said: "Various providers and partners of Health and Social Care are coming together to reach out to the community and the children and young people so we are not all sat behind desks and working remotely, this is about our people coming out and providing services to people. It goes to the heart of what the partnership of purpose is all about, it is providing that service users centred support. It just shows what you can do quickly, cheaply but effectively"
Pictured: The illustration of the six key commitments in the Children and Young People's Plan.
Deputy Soulsby continued: "This is to support the Children and Young People's Plan and the six commitments that support four different outcomes, this really ticks a lot of those boxes. We know that young people like to congregate around this area and so its all about reaching out to them, not expecting them to come to us. A lot of young people wouldn't want to go near a government building or particular services so to be able to have this available so they can take advantage of the information that is here, nothing but good can come from this."
Pictured: Support kiosk at bus terminus.
Nick Hynes, Children & Young People Plan Development & Implementation Lead, said: "This initiative helps to support and address some of our core commitments within The Children and Young People Plan. I am delighted it has come together as basically it was just an idea that started off from seeing an empty kiosk and we thought it was a great opportunity to engage with some of the children and people who pass through the terminus, that might need that support, advice and guidance but may not necessarily go out to find it.
"As we start to plan forward what we do in the future we want them to direct us and tell us how we may use it differently in the future, it might not be just for advice and support, but certainly some of the groups that are doing their Duke of Edinburgh want to use it for enterprise opportunities and to raise money for some of their projects and things they want to do in the future, which is great.
"I hope that with the additional benefit of new signage (kindly paid for by The Guernsey Community Foundation) that this positive engagement will continue to rise and that young people will be able to advise and influence the future use of The Kiosk as we progress with the project."
Pictured main image: Deputy Heidi Soulsby President of HSC at the new outreach base.
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