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Member Profile: Info-Nation Swansea

04 December, 2008

Info-Nation provides young people with the resources to make informed decisions about their lives, not just now or in the next few months, but indefinitely. This impacts not only upon their lives, but on the lives of the people around them and the city in which they live. Here’s how:

Info-Nation aims to:

ensure that young people in Swansea, are able to access information, advice and support (topics include housing, employment and health)
empower them to make informed decisions about the life they choose to live
enable them to influence the world around them.

This is achieved through:

Info-Nation in the City Centre, a one-stop-shop where young people aged 11 to 25 can access information, advice and support that is relevant, up-to-date and appropriate to their needs.

4U@Info-Nation, young people’s support centre, which aims to improve young people’s access to mainstream services and to enable them to engage confidently with those services. Info-nation works in partnership with other organisations in order to provide an accessible city centre location from which they can develop and deliver their services to young people.

Info-Nation also provides community information to young people in the communities where they live and associate, through workshops delivered in schools, youth centres and other young people’s groups; Info-Stations – young people’s community information points located across Swansea; and promotional activities in school assemblies and young people’s events.

With computers and mobile phones playing an increasingly large part in our everyday lives, Info-Nation is committed to developing the confidence, skills and understanding of young people in the use of digital technology, and to developing information services that make use of this medium.

Info-Nation’s services:

Surf’s Up - access to computers and the internet
U-Turn – the only counselling service in Swansea that young people can refer themselves to.
SCVS – a drop in provide by Swansea Council for Voluntary Service to help young people explore the volunteering opportunities that are open to them.
Off It - a drop-in service for young people to find out more about the risks of misusing drugs, alcohol and other substances.
Sexual Health Clinic – a clinic, provided by nurses from the young person’s sexual health service, where young people can access professional advice about any concerns they might have, as well as pregnancy testing and emergency contraception.
Condom Distribution Scheme – a scheme providing young people with advice about sex within consensual relationships and access to condoms and other forms of barrier contraception.
G.U.M. Clinic - a clinic, provided by the G.U.M. team in Singleton Hospital, offering young people access to testing and treatment of sexually transmitted infections.
Digilab - An IT suite where young people can develop their skills with computers, music, art, photography, etc

Recent landmark achievements include

I-Nation, Info-Nation’s very own social networking site, exclusively for young people in

Swansea. Modelled on sites such as Bebo and Facebook, I-Nation provides a safe environment where young people can communicate with each other, create their own content and access reliable advice and information.
RAY, a project for young people who are affected by domestic abuse or abuse within their personal relationships. Info-Nation provides a drop-in service, an awareness raising programme and is currently developing a support group.

Info-Nation’s Impact

Andy Edwards, Information officer comments “It is difficult for us to always know the impact that our work has on individual young people: a piece of information given to a young person in June may influence a decision that they take in December.”

So, over to some of the young people benefitting from Info-Nation’s services:

‘They were fab at information and we could talk to them because they could understand'

Sexual Health workshop participant

‘Excellent, told us to release our emotions in a healthy way, lovely speakers, very friendly and helpful, thank you’

Emotional health workshop participant

And an example of the under one roof approach in action at Info-nation:

A young woman, Y, came into Info-Nation one afternoon in order to use the computers. After about an hour, Y asked if she could register on the Condom scheme and an hour later she asked for a private discussion to discuss a substance misuse problem. Y was provided with information regarding her issue and supported in accessing a more specialist service to address that issue.

Info-Nation and Youth Access

Info-Nation’s Andy Edwards recently took part in Youth Access’s most recent Coordinators’ event, commenting:

"Attending the coordinators event in Birmingham gave me valuable insight into how youth information services are being developed and delivered in other parts of the UK.The support offered by Youth Access in driving forward good practice in rights-based services for young people provided renewed inspiration for how we can further develop our services in Swansea."

If you’re interested in coming to Youth Access’s forthcoming coordinators’ events, please keep an eye on www.youthaccess.org.uk/events, and we will also keep you posted with details of the next one.

Info-Nation in numbers:

May 2002 - Info-Nation opens

2,700 young people seen (in 2003)

April 2007 to March 2008:

22,000 young people received at Info-Nation’s one-stop shop

4000 contacts with young people through the workshop programme.

Have a look at Info-Nation’s website…