Kids U-Nite at Hopwood Hall cohesion day

Team Eight trying to balance whilst passing water, one of the active workshops at the U-nite Event

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Hopwood Hall’s Middleton Campus played host to the annual U-Nite ‘Community Cohesion’ day with over 200 children from around the borough turning up to join in a combination of both serious and fun activities and workshops, all of which were centred around breaking down the barriers between young people from different backgrounds and providing them with the opportunity to meet people from various agencies from around Rochdale.

The 12-16 year olds arrived to be spilt into teams with an assigned a youth worker and a Police Officer. Throughout the day the teams rotated around six different workshops. Three of these workshops were physical activities, held outside in the fabulous sunshine. These activities focused around team building and communication and were led by members of the Fire and Rescue Service, Fairbridge Rochdale and Rochdale AFC players.

Local Authority Liaison Officer Phil Greenwood, who is also a member of the Greater Manchester Fire Service, commented: "The event always goes well and it is an achievement in itself that so many young people are here. We are so pleased to be involved and I think all of the workshops have been very effective in getting the young people to demonstrate team building skills and work together, even though they represent a diverse cross section of the community. We also have been able to encourage the kids to have respect for both the agencies here today and each other."

Three workshops included presentations about anti-social behaviour and alcohol abuse by Rochdale Council ASB Team and Greater Manchester Police. In the ‘Safety on the Streets’, worshop urged young people to suggest a positive and a negative aspect of their areas and they were given an imaginary £5000 to spend on making proposed improvements.

Inspector Steve Ellis from Greater Manchester Police said: ‘The young people have been very responsive in all of the workshops and it has allowed us to get their opinions on local matters which is a rare opportunity and it is great to see kids from all different backgrounds acknowledging their differences and the ways in which they can overcome these.’

Event Organiser and Principal Community Safety Officer for Rochdale, Tom Byrne said: "This is the fourth year of event and it seems to improve every year, especially in terms of attendance. We are very lucky that the agencies such as the Police and Fire Services are willing to work with us and this also helps us to break down the barriers that exist not just in the community but also between young people and statutory agencies. It gives the young people of Rochdale a chance to meet people from these agencies and feel more confident about voicing their opinions about the community and what their hopes are for the future."

In the evening the young people returned to the college for a disco and a presentation of awards to the best team and the best individual. Prizes included free tickets to a Rochdale AFC match donated by the team.

The organisers hope to stage the event again next year, with funding already in place.