Our focus is on early intervention and prevention with issues affecting young people living in our area

What we do

FAYAP (Framlingham Area Youth Action Partnership) offers a safe space for young people from Framlingham and the surrounding area to meet. FAYAP was founded in 2003 by a group of volunteers in Framlingham in response to the fact that in our rural area young people were isolated and had limited access to facilities and public transport. Our objectives are to help young people in the Framlingham area, particularly through leisure time activities, to develop their physical, mental, social, moral and spiritual capacities, so that they may grow to full maturity as individuals and responsible citizens.

Our trained youth workers staff a daily lunch club, run after-school clubs, a weekly drama club and a Friday evening youth club. We provide a safe place for young people to meet, with positive activities on offer.

Our focus is on early intervention and prevention of issues affecting young people who have limited access to facilities and transport due to their location. In addition to this, we also provide safe and fun/creative activities for youth to engage and build important life skills and resilience.

FAYAP was founded in 2003 by a group of volunteers in Framlingham. and is a Charitable Incorporated Organisation (CIO).

Why we do it

As with many rural communities, there has been a lack of assistance and engagement with vulnerable young people with problems and issues that without help and guidance invariably lead to more serious and costly interventions.

Framlingham is one of the most Rurally Isolated areas for children and young and the town has a higher proportion of 12-18-year-old people than the national average. The recent surge in local housing developments has increased this proportion even further. Our target group is all 12-18-year-olds within the Thomas Mills High School catchment area, which includes Saxmundham, Wickham Market and many of the smaller outlying villages that surround Framlingham, with special emphasis on vulnerable youth..

A pilot outreach programme in 2019 confirmed the urgent need for more effective interaction with the older teenagers in the area. It alerted the organisation to the increasing prevalence of drug use by young people of school age in Framlingham. County Lines activities and drug dealing were observed first-hand. FAYAP worked with young people who were using Cannabis, MDMA and Ketamine and continues to do so.

The FAYAP Project benefits from County, District and Town Council support and harnesses the experience of a committed charity that has been prepared to step up to the mark when the County Council closed its Youth Service provision for this type of work.

Benefits to young people

• Improved happiness with safe spaces to relax and socialise

• Opportunity to develop their physical, mental, social, moral and spiritual capacities

• Improved access for young people to gain support and early intervention with problems.

• Better informed on issues such as sexual health, bullying, drug and alcohol abuse awareness, personal and internet safety,

• Their voices and opinions are heard through sharing ideas and suggestions

Benefits to the Community

• Stronger community cohesion with more active citizens working together to tackle their

  problems better.

• Fewer young people hanging around with nothing to do, so less anti-social behaviour

• The activities give us the opportunity to involve more volunteers which is good for community cohesion. It is a local solution to a local need, in an isolated rural area.

• Help the wider community understand the young people and act as a positive advocate for them with the Town Council, Police, etc.

Challenges facing young people in Suffolk

• A lack of help for young people with problems and issues that without help and guidance invariably lead to more serious and costly intervention.

• A lack of opportunity for young people to have an outlet for their creative skills and gain confidence, team-building skills and valuable experience.

• Increased drug use, both recreationally and daily of all classes of drugs by young people of high school age.

• Anti-social activities arising from young people ‘hanging around’ with nothing to do in a rurally isolated area with limited transport.

• A lack of opportunities for young people to engage with other elements of the community, limited social cohesion and understanding between various groups of the needs and interests of each other.

• Uncertainty about growing up and their future education, employment and housing leading to anxiety and in some cases depression, self-harm, alcohol and drug abuse.