Every time we receive updates from Youth Shedz and their collaboration with the wonderful DangerPoint, we just know why we do what we do, and why we support this incredible charity. So, for this latest update I am going to hand you straight over to the fantastic Scott Jenkinson. Well done everyone, amazing work!

“Who stabbed the Sherriff!!????!!!!”

Thankfully nobody stabbed the Sherriff!

But the High Sheriff of Clwyd was given a rather life-like stab wound to her face during her visit to February’s Knife Crime VR session in Colwyn Bay. We met in No2 Station Road to do some scriptwriting and to learn how to do some prosthetic makeup and the High Sheriff Kate was invited to meet the Shedderz and hear all about the amazing work that they are doing to raise awareness and educate their friends and peers about the dangers of carrying a knife.

Our Cara whose post is funded by the fantastic Neumark Foundation is not just a Youth Shedz coordinator but is also a talented make-up artist – High Sheriff Kate was a great sport and jumped at the chance to be ‘scarred’ for the cause!

We don’t want to share too much about the script and the plans the kids have for filming but we can say that unfortunately as a result of going out with a knife one of our youngsters does become the victim – to make it even more life like we thought it would be great for Cara to work her magic and apply some rather gory knife wounds – we think they look amazing and are sure they will have the desired effect in the end product – showing the reality of what happens when the wrong choices are made and the consequences that follow.

As you can see from the pics the youngsters and Kate had a fantastic evening – it was also a really good opportunity for the Colwyn Bay Shedderz to receive their coveted Youth Shedz banner! Every new Youth Shed has to earn the right to be call a Youth Shed – they do this by demonstrating the ethos and the principles of what we stand for. They have done a fantastic job of doing this since they started under the expert guidance of Hannah and Kene. They have embraced what it means to be a Youth Shed evidenced by the amazing community projects they have undertaken in their local community since they started. With the handing over of their banner they officially become a member of the Youth Shedz family – well done!!!

It only felt right that Kate whose role it is to champion and support community projects and groups that contribute to a safer society, presented their banner.

Thank you Kate!

Unfortunately we had to cancel a filming session at DangerPoint due to nearly all of the Shedz team getting Covid, as soon as we recovered we met with the Shedderz and caught up with scriptwriting and storyboarding – led by Sonia (member of staff who started out as a participant Shedder) the group brainstormed ideas and completed the story board ready for our next visit to DangerPoint – all being well the filming will be done and ready to upload into the digital VR domain!

A huge thank you to the Neumark Foundation for funding this awesome piece of work with some really awesome young people!