Barrow Junior Wardens

"The young people are the future of the area. If we can help them learn lessons about their responsibility for looking after their neighbourhood, and their neighbours, then we're really pleased. It's great to see them growing in confidence, developing new friendships and taking on tasks they never thought they'd be involved in."
Steve Robson, Neighbourhood Manager

Junior Wardens from Morph Films on Vimeo.

Since 2007, the Barrow Junior Wardens project has brought together children from four primary schools in Barrow-in-Furness, an area that has suffered from rising levels of unemployment in recent years.

Barrow Junior Wardens was set up following tension around older people's perceptions of youth anti-social behaviour, while the young people of the area indicated they wanted to get involved in activities that were organised for them.

Children aged 9 to 11 get involved in beach clearing, litter picking, gardening and tree planting, as well as fun team-building events such as canoeing and dancing, in a safe space where they can learn more about the environment and meet new people.

• Community-centred projects are vital to cohesion and can bring about long-term sustainable protection of environmental resources.
  
• The cost to government agencies of anti-social behaviour is approximately £3.4 billion per year.
  
• Reducing anti-social behaviour in children presents significant savings; by adulthood, antisocial children have cost the public 10 times more than children with usual social behaviour.
  
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  Partners involved in the Barrow Junior Wardens project include: Marsh St Arches and Gardens CIC, Central & Hindpool Neighbourhood Management Team, Inspiring Communities, Cumbria CVS, Morph Films, Cumbria Fire Service, Cumbria Police and local schools. The film is funded by Our Green Spaces.