One night Kate King had a dream. That dream was that one day she would be able to set up a project where young people could contribute to society.
When she woke up, she set about turning that dream into reality in Sheffield, where she was living at the time.
That was 12 years ago, and since then about 50 Dreamschemes have launched across the UK, run by housing associations that generate funding to pay for trips through local businesses and fundraising. Twelve schemes also exist in Uganda, which started up when two of King's Ugandan friends took the idea abroad.
At the time of the dream, King had been living on the Flower Estate with her husband, then a Baptist minister, and had been carrying out informal work with young people.
King, who is now "director-inspirer" of the Dreamscheme Network, says: "In Sheffield some young people were causing problems so we offered them an open house. They used to come round and get involved in baking or gardening, or fix bicycles, which gave them something positive to do instead. I went to bed one night and I dreamed of the work, points and trips programme out of the blue."
"Work, points and trips" make up the essence of the programme. Young people do bits of work in the community, such as gardening or cooking, and earn points for each hour worked. They can then exchange the points for trips and days out.
"We've found that the work, points and trips element works best with 11- to 18-year-olds so we focus mainly on them," says King.
The scheme recently received recognition in Gordon Brown's new book, Britain's Everyday Heroes, which highlights examples of initiatives that help fulfil the Prime Minister's own dream of building a more "civic society".
King believes the scheme does just that by helping young people gain much-needed adult approval: "There is a lack of socialisation happening with young people today, where they are not being accepted into the adult world."
Although King believes the dream was a "gift from God", she is keen to stress that the organisation is not faith- or church-based. It took six months working with the local community to set up the first Dreamscheme project. "We had a group of 20 adults who helped with the scheme, with about 100 young people - roughly 40 per cent of whom had been in trouble with the police. At Christmas the young people cooked us a wonderful Christmas dinner, for which they got points," says King.
After three years in Sheffield the King family moved to Preston, where they live on a canal boat "on the river between Liverpool and Leeds". The Preston office provides training to Dreamscheme staff, who also pay a membership fee to be part of the network.
Over the past year, the programme has been piloting "Prosbos". When a young person earns a lot of points or does well in an activity, they receive a "Prosbo", short for "pro-social behaviour options", in the form of certificates, T-shirts or a letter to their parents, explains King. "We want to stand up against Asbos and offer a balance to the nation," she says. "We have become too negative towards young people, and have low expectations, so much so we don't notice it. Dreamschemes help young people to learn about working hard to get something they want. They also learn practical skills, social skills, discipline, values, friendship, fun and team spirit."
Getting a mention in Brown's book has meant King managed to speak at length with the Prime Minister on her views. "We need to rebuild our social capital. I'd like to see the Government support and fund people and projects that can change negatives to positives for young people and show that young people can do wonderful things," she says.
www.dreamscheme.org.uk
FYI
- Kate King started the Dreamschemes initiative in 1995
- She has a degree in education and sociology and worked as a foster mother in Cumbria in the 1980s
- She has five children and five grandchildren
- She lives on a canal boat with her husband in Lancashire.
