Our dynamic Inspiring Change Programme is currently in full swing over the Summer with our group of inspiring young changemakers! To kick things off we recently held our first epic team building residential where our young people took part in a wide range of fun and team building activities.
These included Laser Tag, discovering some very tactical members of the team, a plot twist riddled Murder Mystery event, and an (extremely messy) cooking challenge where our bake-off trainees took to the ovens to prove their skills!
It was a huge amount of fun and clearly everyone enjoyed themselves – and more importantly bonded with one another ready for the next step of Inspiring Change!
Our young changemakers are now in the process of planning their Social Action Projects with the aim to tackle youth violence in their communities which they will deliver in October!
Their ideas, their energy and their passion to work together has really impressed us so far and we cannot wait to see their social action projects come to life!
This free programme is an 8 month experience for young people who are aged 15-19 and living in Portsmouth, Southampton, Eastleigh or Totton. It’s all a part of the Peer Action Collective and in partnership with Artswork and Youth Options.
Throughout the Inspiring Change programme we’ll see young people take the lead in tackling youth violence in their local communities through self designed and created social action projects or awareness campaigns.
There is also the chance for young people to apply for funding of between £1000 and £3000 to support their project they design and plan.
The programme will continue through to December 2022 and consists of 4 immersive weekends including a 1 night residential, monthly check-ins, employability workshops, and fun, interactive sessions to allow young people to make an impact!
Inspiring Change is allowing young people of all backgrounds to develop their project management skills as well as make a positive impact in their local communities.
Youth Violence & Social Action Manager, Katie Aris, said:
“This is a really exciting project and a unique opportunity for young people to make a positive impact in their communities and in the world around them. Youth violence is a problem in many areas, towns and cities around the UK. The programme is allowing young people to channel their energy, ideas and passion into making a real difference, and will support the national efforts in tackling youth violence around the country.”
The programme is part of a wider project in collaboration with Artswork and Youth Options which has seen 12 young people employed as peer researchers since September 2021. They are conducting research around the impacts of youth violence in order to support the social action projects.
We’d like to give special thanks to the Youth Endowment fund alongside the Co-op and the #iwill Fund for their support and funding for the Inspiring Change programme. Their support and belief in young people has allowed this project to become a reality and we cannot thank them enough!
Keep an eye on our social channels to see what they get up to over the next few months!
