Grange Road Action for Youth (GRAFY) was established in 1991 when the existing Project Co-ordinator, a parent of two teenagers, identified (with their peers) a lack of free, flexible, accessible youth provision in the Darlington borough. The organisation was set up in response to these needs and to complement the fully structured youth provision that was already available at that time. It is now a registered charity with the main aim of providing a safe, warm, comfortable, sophisticated venue where young people can meet. The organisation has an evening drop-in centre, known as ‘Top Deck’, for 11-18 year olds where they can talk, play pool, table tennis, watch TV or listen to music. The centre operates on 4 evenings a week with an ‘open door’ policy. They also offer a ‘Saturday Club’, which consists of controlled activity sessions for children aged between 8 and 12 years, which requires specific parental permission. In addition to this GRAFY organise off-site activities and trips for both children and young people.
The organisation provides a unique service for the young people of Darlington as access to all of the services are offered free of charge. Some of the young people have been excluded from mainstream education and/or are prone to drinking or experimenting with drug/substance abuse. Approximately 70% of the children accessing the service are from the travelling community. GRAFY is very much a user led organisation. Direct input and feedback from the children and young people is fundamental to its continued success. The views of service users are important to the staff and management committee and help them to identify and develop new areas of provision.
Over the years GRAFY has received a number of grants, including £6,000 which contributed towards the costs of providing IT training and refurbishing the Top Deck room.
As a result the I.T. skills acquired have widened the interest of the youths by introducing them to digital photography, power point, and setting-up websites. The refurbishment (in which the youths were involved from the onset) has given them a real feeling of pride in "their place".
‘We all feel like Top Deck is our
club … anywhere else we would be told what we are going to do but here
we are always given the opportunity to give our input and suggestions as to
what we want to do. I don’t think there could be a better youth provision
in Darlington.…. In my opinion, nothing comes close to it.’
Chris, Saturday Club volunteer