YOBS, Youths On Bikes Scheme

Overview

Youth on Bikes Scheme (YOBS) is part of the Drongan Health Initiative co-ordinated by Drongan‘s Citizen of the Year 2007/08, Rosalie McCluskey. Rosalie runs a fresh fruit and vegetable home delivery scheme for older villagers and the housebound. During the week, shopping lists are collected. On Saturday mornings, young and older volunteers meet at the community centre and put the produce, supplied by local shops at reduced prices, into bags. Then the young people set out on their bikes with trailers attached to deliver.

Drongan is small community about 10 miles east of Ayr, created in the late 1960s/early 1970s on the banks of the River Coyle. In those days mining was the main industry, with many of the men working at the Killoch Pit.

The young volunteers are well known in the community now, and the shopping lists have grown from more than fruit and vegetables, particularly during the winter months, to milk, newspapers and even hair dye! In exchange for this valuable service, the young people have the use of the bikes during the week.The project was one of over 350 nominations for the prestigious Philip Lawrence Awards in 2008. It was one of six winners from across the UK, and one of the smallest projects ever to win.

Benefits to the Community

  • Perceptions have changed for the better between younger and older people
  • Builds relationships and respect between generations – Older people see that young ones aren‘t so frightening and young people see that adults aren‘t always complaining about their behaviour.

Benefits for the Younger People

A young volunteer said “I‘ve been quite surprised getting to know old customers. Before I did this they were people who just shouted at you! I think they also saw young people as stereotypes, like we were all bad. So it‘s good to get to know them for that reason.”
Another said, “It keeps us fit and active!”

Benefits for the Older People

A customer says,
“Fruit and veg are heavy to carry, so when we heard these young people were delivering in the area, we thought it was a great idea. We have been receiving the service for over two years now and it is excellent – very good value for money.”

Funding

The Coalfields Regeneration Trust funding purchased equipment,which has made a tremendous difference to the community. It is affordable and accessible to all so that the Health Initiative is not the only project to benefit – a wide range of other groups in the area are also benefiting from healthier lifestyles.

This project contributes to the Scottish National Performance Framework (NPF)

Scottish NPF Outcomes

The main NPF objectives that this project contributes to is:

  • Healthier will enable people to live longer and healthier lives
  • Safer and Stronger aims to help local communities to flourish and become stronger, safer places to live

Scottish NPF Outcomes

We live longer, healthier lives: Securing longer healthier lives for the people of Scotland will always be a top priority for governments and individuals alike. There are significant challenges which can only be addressed by everyone in Scotland working together, pursuing this goal through improving lifestyles and life circumstances, and a shared ownership of an effective NHS.

We have strong, resilient and supportive communities where people take responsibility for their own actions and how they affect others: Being part of a strong community gives us the support we need locally. It minimises crime, antisocial behaviour and their social and economic costs.