Benchill Young People Premiere Motorbike Film
A group of young people in Wythenshawe have produced a short documentary film to showcase the issues around off road biking.
The film was premiered in front of special guest the Lord Mayor of Manchester, Councillor Eddy Newman, local Benchill residents, Real Benchill Partners and local young people at the special launch at Benchill Community Centre.
The ‘Wythy Off Roaders’ project was created by young people in Benchill who want to reduce illegal off road biking in Wythenshawe and find a safe and suitable alternative.
Over the past 6 months, the group of 8 young people have looked at all the issues connected with illegal off road biking and have interviewed representatives from the Police, Fire Service and local council, not to mention local people who have been affected by the issue..
At the event, the young people talked about their experiences making the documentary and highlighted the issues they’ve came across as well as offering a solution to the problem.
‘Wythy Off Roaders’ grew out of the ‘Real Benchill’ project in 2017, where local people were asked to raise the issues that were important to them as part of the #ourmanchester campaign.
Illegal Off road biking was one of the issues that arose from this consultation and a group of like-minded young people who wanted to make a difference to their local area formed the ‘Wythy Off Roaders’.
The Lord Mayor of Manchester, Councillor Eddy Newman, said, “The young people involved in this project should all be commended. They’ve engaged with the local community and public services to take a hard look at the issues surrounding illegal off road biking. From these conversations they’ve created a fantastic documentary film to showcase their serious concerns, and have taken a keen interest in developing a solution to an activity that is both dangerous and antisocial.”
Wythenshawe Community Housing Group CEO Nigel Wilson said, “Congratulations to all the young people involved in this project. They have not only made what is fantastic and well thought out documentary, but they have managed to successfully highlighted the issues around illegal off road biking to the Lord Mayor of Manchester, the Police and the Fire Service.”
Ben Hargreaves, 18, is a young person involved in the project, he said, “Our project is about bringing young people off the streets and keeping them from harm’s way. The event went well; it was nice to see members of our community and other services especially GMP supporting us”.
You can follow the group of Twitter @WythyOffRoaders Facebook wythyoffroaders or instagram wythenshaweoffroaders
