Give Children an Equal Chance in EY2010 in the North East

See the pictures of the presentation at St Martin's Children's Centre here...

There's an extreme group of children in north-east of England that are making a mark on the region in a very positive way - they are Extreme Durham.

They are making a real difference to the lives of their peers in the region and leaving their mark on Europe too as part of EY2010 - European Year for Combating Poverty and Social Exclusion.

This dynamic group is made up from children with disabilities. But that simply does not hold them back in getting to grips with problems young people face in the region today.

Targeting the right people

They confront the right people in the right places to give practical answers to the problems they face - such as barriers in education and transport access.

But they've also been active in getting the wider picture from their peers in Europe.

They took part in the "Circus against Exclusion" which was organised by the European Commission.

They met the Flemish Youth Council and learned about services for young people in Belgium on a visit to Jes, a training and employability centre in Brussels.

They will present what they learned on their European visit to their own youth groups and also be the stars of the show at the next North East event on Child Poverty in Newcastle on Saturday, 13 November, 2010.

Michelle Martin works for "Investing in Children", part of Durham County Council. She has special responsibility for the Extreme Durham.

"I'm sure the group will continue to meet," says Michelle, "they're looking to expand at the moment - they'll continue to discuss issues as they arise for young people as the world is always changing and so are the issues."

Eddie - Young Ambassador with Extreme Durham

Eddie was impressed with everything that went on when the group visited Brussels and feels that the conference this coming weekend will be a great opportunity to explain to a wider audience exactly what they did and what they want to achieve in the future.

"I see the future of this is we can actually change with equal opportunities and hopefully get more people in rural areas getting jobs - hopefully, it'll change altogether."

Chelsea - Young Ambassador with Extreme Durham

Chelsea has returned from Brussels with new determination to make Extreme Durham more active and was really pleased to get the opportunity to share the group's experiences with both youth and decision makers in Brussels.

Through one initiative that Extreme Durham has been working with, she was particularly keen to ensure that she and her friends are not branded in the wrong way.

"'Truth About Youth'," says Chelsea, "is where they try to put the positive attitude towards young people rather than just the stereotypical."

Luke Bramhall - Youth worker

Luke is a youth worker and is insistent that it's young people who are inspiring and do actually make a difference that need to be publicised and promoted rather than the odd person who does something that they're not proud of.

He says: "When young people are doing good things in the community, which happens all the time, and I see it daily - that needs to be promoted and those negative stereotypes need to be challenged on those views."

Sean - Young Ambassador with EY2010

Sean travelled with Raleigh International to India and found the experience so motivational - he returned to the UK with a different outlook on life and the young people around him.

He says: "Just seeing the children there and even things like giving them some paper and a pen and how much they loved that and how much they appreciated the fact that something so simple has made their day - it made me realise how lucky we are."