Category: Creative Content

It’s A Full Exhibition of Trail-Blazing Women – International Women’s Day at STEM Girls  

The stars aligned for some perfect timing this week as we celebrated International Women’s Day this year on the night of our weekly female-led youth club STEM Girls.  

For this International Women’s Day, we challenged our STEM Girls to pick an inspiring woman in STEM history or present and create an artistic tribute to them on their mini canvases. Once they were finished, we displayed them in a mini exhibition showcasing their artistic expression and admiration for the many amazing women who paved the way in STEM fields before them.  

Our STEM Girls show us every week what amazing young leaders they are – not just with their keen interests in STEM-related fields but in their intelligence and kindness to each other. Several of our older STEM Girls are now volunteers who go out of their way to help younger members and the group always takes time to help and give advice for those who need it with their projects.  

As we continue our future STEM Girls projects, we do so with the knowledge that International Women’s Day involves celebrating the incredible women of the future as much as it does the past, which is always our aim every Wednesday.  

To sign up for STEM Girls or any of our other free weekly youth clubs, register now on our Eventbrite page and follow our social media for news and updates.  

Anti – Bullying Week 2022 – The Role of Youth Work

For this Anti-Bullying Week 2022, we reflect on the important role youth work plays in reaching out and supporting young people who may feel trapped and isolated from the effects of bullying.  

Bullying is an issue that affects countless amounts of young people every day and is a leading cause of depression, mental health and self-esteem issues. According to the Anti-Bullying Alliance, the theme of this year’s campaign is Reach Out; reaching out to show each other the support we need. One of the primary goals of youth work is accomplish this by providing a safe space for young people to feel comfortable opening up about what may be troubling them, including bullying.  

Organisations like ours seek to provide a friendly and inclusive environment, which is an invaluable resource for young people who may experience bullying from any environment, including digital. Bullying can take many forms, some physical and verbal but cyberbullying has also become a more pressing issue each year. Youth Worker Kieran McPhail states; 

“Bullying is still a major concern and consistent worry of young people with technology and social media making it far easier for a young person to be bullied and picked on even in the comfort of their own bedroom, a place that for many is a safe space, their haven.” 

Youth workers also play a role in helping young people to feel safe and create an open and positive environment. Club activity allows young people to meet and make new friends, get away from stresses they may feel at home or school and receive help from the effects of bullying and other social problems they may be experiencing; 


“I think youth work and in extension youth workers play an indispensable and valuable role in creating and maintaining a safe space for any and all young people, allowing young people to have a space where they can express, create and be themselves freely and without judgement. A youth worker will be there and be dependable, to listen and support a young person.” 

“Behind many of these spaces, there’s a group or organisation with youth workers who are dedicated and willing to create and maintain a culture of openness, no judgement and a space where young people will always be listened to, heard and safe in these spaces.” 

To find out more resources online that can be used to help in the Anti-Bullying campaign, please check the Anti-Bullying Alliance’s website. Together, we can all reach out to do our part to ensure as many young people as possible do not suffer due to the effects of bullying.  

Paisley YMCA October 2022 Newsletter

Check out our monthly newsletter with info about upcoming new activity in our space, as well as an article about some amazing work done by our young leaders. For more regular information and updates from us, please check out our official website (paisleyymca.org) and our official social media accounts! #paisleyymca #paisley #renfrewshire

Summer Begins with Our New Podcast Studio at Paisley YMCA! 🎙️

Our Summer Fun Programme has officially begun! 

For a six-week period, we will be offering free youth club activity focusing on creative projects using the new technology that we recently have set up in our Makerspace. Our first Digital Media Session this Wednesday began with the set-up of our official podcast studio in our space. Our young people have access to a professional soundboard, microphones, headphones and software. Our digital media sessions will give them the opportunity to create their own podcast sessions with their own thoughts and feelings on whatever they would like to speak about.  

This new studio provides our young people with exciting opportunities to learn about podcast development and technological skills, as well as aiding their personal development and boosting their confidence as they find their voices in a safe and encouraging environment. We are also looking forward to developing creative artistic projects, including opportunities our young people will have to design their own badges, tote bags and prints.  

We are excited for the opportunities our new equipment will create over the summer such as coding, game design, playing with sound and editing, art projects and much more! All of these activities and more can be experienced in our weekly digital media sessions, along with our coding clubs, mix of technology and creative projects and just chilling and having fun. Our clubs are free and weekly in Paisley. For more information, contact claire@paisleyymca.scot and tickets are available from Eventbrite.  

Celebrating Sma’ Shot Day with ReMode Youth! All About Our Latest Animation Project 🎥

This year in preparation for Sma’ Shot day 2022, our young people have been working on a short animation project to tell the story of how this historic day came to be. Taking place 2nd July, Sma’ Shot day celebrates the weavers of Paisley, who fought for their workers’ rights to be paid fairly for their use of the Sma’ Shot; a woven yarn used to create Paisley shawls that was invisible to the human eye but invaluable to the construction, for which the weavers were not compensated. After reaching the height of protest, their work was recognised and they gained the right be paid fairly, making a historic moment in the history of Paisley.  

In collaboration with ReMode Youth, our young people have been creating storyboards and stop motion characters to show how creatively they can tell this story of victory for those in Paisley to be paid for their valuable work.  

One of the facilitators from ReMode Youth Joseph, who has been working with our young people to show them the creative process of stop motion animation, states;  

“We’re about halfway through the project, it’s going well and we’re starting to properly get into animating. The goal of the project is trying to explore this story of Sma’ shot day, creating a simple story that encapsulates the idea of who’s in control of products […] and helping people to understand the power dynamic then between boss and employee.” 

Through the creation of sets, stop motion animation, story development and sound design, our young people are on their way to have a finished product they can be truly proud of and signifies an important day in the history of Paisley and equality.  

By the end of the 6-week project, our aim is to have the short film completed and available to watch on our social media channels. If you would like to see the completed project, follow us on Twitter (@YMCApaisley), Facebook (We Are Paisley YMCA) and Instagram (paisleyymca). It will also be shown on ReMode Youth’s social media channels, such as Instagram @remode_youth, Twitter @ReModeit and Facebook @ReMode.