The Soul and Fame group will give a presentation to more than 150 people at the regional parliament, which has the theme of advocacy. They will show other groups how they developed skills and confidence through creative activities.
Soul and Fame is a project aimed at young people aged 13 to 25. Based at Chilypep, the youth empowerment group in Sheffield, Soul and Fame has nine regular members, some having learning disabilities such as autism, and four staff.
It aims to develop confidence and communication skills, take part in consultation, feed into local youth parliaments, and deliver training in disability awareness and participation skills. When it started in 2004, there was one group called SOUL, which stands for Speak Out U Listen, but a second group FAME (so called because everyone in it wanted to be famous!) was formed to allow more young people to join in.
The group was originally funded by Comic Relief, but when that money ran out, they submitted bids to the Government's Youth Opportunities Fund (YOF). Their second successful bid to YOF this year resulted in £7,517 which will fund activities in 2008/09, some of which they have already spent on a laptop and projector.
