The Blue Light Disco initiative was introduced to North Lanarkshire in early 2008 and has been built upon by strong partnerships within the locality area to improve and enhance opportunities for young people.
It provides a safe environment for young people to enjoy themselves and gain access information and support from a variety of local partners. The locality team within Bellshill and surrounding districts is a prime example of partnership working at its best due to the uniqu
e variety of different agencies involved and the commitment they bring to improve the lives of young people within the district. The partnership is assisted by both the statutory bodies and the voluntary sector and the details of the main driving force are detailed bellow.
Ø NHS Lanarkshire
Ø Strathclyde Police
Ø Bellshill & Mossend YMCA
Ø Community Learning & Development
Ø Action For Children, Young Carers, North Lanarkshire
Ø Bellshill & District Youth Forum
Ø Bellshill &
District Community Forum
Ø Bellshill & District Crime Prevention Panel
Ø Strathclyde Fire & Rescue
Ø North Lanarkshire Leisure
Ø Side Kicx
The disco was held on Saturday 24th February within the Sir Matt Busby Centre. Tesco Bellshill contributed towards the evening by gifting great prizes which included a Digital Camera and Flat screen telly. Bellshill & District Crime Prevention panel placed a large amount of effort in to the event by financially supporting some of the prizes along with the event it’s self. Some of the funding has also been received from NHS Lanarkshire and the Alcohol and Drugs Partnership.
The disco attracted over 260 young people and there was an abundance of activities for them to enjoy which included sumo suits, basketball, table tennis and a dance off. Other activities included massages, hand therapy, Hairdressers, nail therapy and dance. There were also many information stalls which included Strathclyde Fire and Rescue, Landed and the Police were in attendance to coordinate the night and provide reassurance.
The main prize, a Flat screen telly went to Abby McPhee from Bellshill and the dance off prizes of £25 I-Tunes voucher and £10 gift vouchers from Tesco went to Reece McDonald (1st) and Taylor McCord (2nd).
Elaine McAteer from Community Learning and Development, Bellshill Locality said:
“We have seen unprecedented success at these disco’s in the past and the mere fact that we attract such large numbers shows that we are getting it right when organising them. We all work very hard to ensure the disco’s have everything the young people are asking for and we also ask the relevant questions to make sure we are on top of the needs of the young people. We carry out a measurement exercise at each disco and the results are very favourable in keeping them going. I can confirm that we will continue to provide the discos every three months and we have funding for this up until 2013! ”.
