Unloc & Verizon Business scoop impressive awards at the Better Society Awards 2024
13 June 2024
We’re thrilled to reveal that we and Verizon Business won two awards at The Better Society Awards 2024!
If you’re aged between 11 to 25 years old then there are two exciting new initiatives you can get involved with which will help us as an organisation to develop and grow. You’ll get to meet new people, make new friends, share your opinions on a whole host of topics – and best of all you’ll have tons of fun doing it!
For over 10 Years at Unloc we’ve facilitated a wide variety of dynamic and engaging programmes to enhance student voice across the many institutions and organisations we work with across the UK. As we continue to grow and expand our reach, young people more than ever need to be at the centre of those decisions.
We consider ourselves incredibly lucky that we get to work with over 15,000 young people every single year, we’re constantly surprised, impressed and amazed by the inspirational young changemakers we meet, so the question was posed ‘Why do we have to stop there?’
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From this, our Community Engagement & Development Strategy was created, in partnership itself with young people, which focuses on expanding our community outreach and by truly investing in them and their changemaker journey after engaging in one of our programmes.
This year we are delighted to be launching two exciting new programmes that will help shape and direct our direction as an organisation – our Youth Board & Unloc Ambassador programmes.
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The Unloc Youth Board
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Our Youth Board will be put at the organisation’s centre to consult and guide the Unloc team to focus on what matters to young people within our work. As youth board members, young people will make significant contributions to the organisation, co-produce our session content with our facilitators and have the opportunity to meet other young people with a heart and passion for developing and empowering young people as changemakers.
Our board will also be instrumental in supporting us with making our programmes more innovative and ensuring they are truly supporting the needs of young people.
Hayden Taylor, Unloc’s Managing Director, said:
“It’s essential that we put young people at the heart of what we do at Unloc. As we grow our reach to work with thousands more young people every year, our Youth Board will be able to properly steer the direction we follow and the decisions we make. I’m so excited to see what this group of amazing young people mean for our future as an organisation.”
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Unloc Ambassadors
We are also establishing our Unloc Ambassadors Programme. Our new young Ambassadors will get the chance to attend our programmes and sessions to help inspire other young people and share their experiences, plus attend exclusive events with our partners to showcase the impact they have made through their changemaker journey.
Both our Youth Board and Ambassadors will receive training and support throughout to develop their public speaking, communication, networking skills and more.
The 2 programmes will work in harmony by meeting for a joint development day in early 2024, and then meeting with the rest of the Unloc Community (any Young Person who has completed a programme with us before) in August for our first-ever Unloc Changemaker Conference.
Ben Dowling, Co-Founder of Unloc & Director of People & Resources said:
“As we grow the work we do, it’s only natural that the young people who engage in Unloc programmes should become advocates for the programmes that are empowering and engaging them in what matters most to them. Through our Ambassadors programme, we can make sure that genuine role modelling of young changemakers can be built into all the work we do, whilst also providing yet another leadership opportunity for young people across the Unloc Community.”
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Emiley Hinton, Unloc’s Community & Alumni Engagement Officer said:
“The community strategy is an amazing chance to grow the amount of young people who will get the chance to access experiences to grow their confidence through a variety of opportunities. This is such an exciting strategy and it’s only the beginning, can’t wait to see the impact this strategy and both programmes will have on the young people and Unloc itself!”
These opportunties not only help Unloc as an organisation continue to grow and best meet the needs of young people, they also provide unique opportunities for young people to develop themselves, network and meet like minded other people, and to grow their skills and empowerment to voice their opinions and take action on issues which are important to them. Don’t just take our word for it though, take it from someone who knows!
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Katie Reid
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Katie Reid took part in the Inspiring Change programme last year, and her group ‘See the difference’ created an awareness campaign about bullying and how to get help and support. This was inspired by their own personal experiences, and was a topic that they cared deeply about and wanted to take action on. Through the programme Katie and her team mate Sasha were invited to the House of Commons to speak about their impressive project at the PAC Parliamentary Event, Katie’s said:
“When I look back at who I was just over a year ago I can’t believe i’m the same person. I first got involved with Unloc through the Inspiring Change project in Summer 2022. The Unloc programme absolutely changed my life, it opened so many doors for me inside my own head, showing me that I have a voice, what I can be capable of, that I can speak up, I can speak passionately, I can come up with ideas of my own and actually create change around me in the world.“
“I feel a lot more confident in my future since completing the programme, and I think I’m more likely to be successful now too because I actually know what I am capable of. I’m not just abandoned by Unloc, I keep getting to do more and more with my future!“
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Click here to find out more about our Unloc Ambassadors programme
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Click here to find out more about the Unloc Youth Board!
We are very excited to launch our exciting new programme for young people: Inspiring Change: Young people tackling Youth Violence, together! An 8 month experience for young people aged 15-19 living in Portsmouth, Southampton, Eastleigh or Totton.
This free initiative is part of the Peer Action Collective and in partnership with Artswork and Youth Options, and will see young people take the lead in tackling youth violence in their local communities through 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 be delivered from April-December 2022 and will consist 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 will allow 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. This programme will allow the energy, ideas and passion these young people possess to make 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. They are conducting research around the impacts of youth violence in order to support the social action projects.
Youth Violence & Social Action Facilitator, Jess Cowling, said:
“We are really lucky and excited to have the opportunity to support young people in tackling youth violence as part of our Inspiring Change Programme and supporting them to become changemakers in their own right!”
The deadline for applications for the Inspiring Change programme is the 25th March, and applications are already coming in thick and fast. If you or someone you know is interested in signing up then be sure to do so quickly!
For more information or to apply, please click here!
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 this exciting new project.
About Unloc
Unloc is a leading education non profit founded in 2013 by award-winning young leaders and advocates Hayden Taylor and Ben Dowling. We help schools, colleges and organisations inspire and empower young people to be changemakers through bespoke and innovative programmes in entrepreneurship, leadership, career pathways and student voice. We work towards our mission by delivering inspiring educational programmes in our growing network of schools and colleges.
Our mission is to empower young people to be innovative changemakers who seek to build stronger communities and sustainable businesses. We develop young people’s skills, enhance their potential and boost their determination to succeed.
Sign up for Unloc’s monthly Digital Update straight to your inbox by clicking here!
About Artswork
Artswork has empowered children and young people through arts and culture for the last 30 years. A national voice celebrating the arts, creativity and cultural development for, with and by young people, they are committed to improving their life chances and making a difference.
Artswork strive to make the arts and creativity available to absolutely everyone. Aiming to break through barriers and develop new ways for people to discover the success, empowerment and sheer joy that the arts and creativity can bring to classrooms, communities and careers.
For more information about Artswork click here!
About Youth Options
Youth Options was established in 1937. They believe that every child and young person has the potential to realise their abilities and aspirations, and to make a valuable contribution to their communities. They are committed to supporting young people to develop their social and emotional skills, engage with learning and to stay safe. Youth Options services are individually tailored to deliver vibrant, dynamic and ever-evolving opportunities that connect with and inspire young people.
About 20 per cent of Youth Options services are open access for all young people, whilst 80 per cent are targeted projects delivered to young people with specific needs. They work with young people in a wide range of situations, including those in care, care leavers, those at risk of exclusion from school or society, those already excluded from mainstream education and young people who are NEET or likely to be NEET on leaving school.
For more information about Youth Options click here!
As a new term begins there’s never been a better time to encourage the young people at your school or college to be their own boss one day, and empower them to become young entrepreneurs.
As the world, and technology changes, the job market will rapidly alter within the next decade. Providing young people with the confidence, ideas and passion to think for themselves and shape their own future is the best gift we can give them.
Our Enterprise Short Course is a practical, creative and structured programme that develops the entrepreneurial mindset and skills of young people.
Our programme is built by former young entrepreneurs and experts, recognising the important lessons and journey they made, and is targeted towards different age groups and level levels.
Available in a variety of formats including 12 week courses or 2-4 day bootcamps depending on your requirements, young people on the programme will explore the key skills and knowledge associated with starting a business, with learning geared towards creating their very own businesses, projects or charity concepts.
They’ll use their creativity and logical thinking to come up with an idea for their own business, then think through how that would logistically work, how it would run, who their customers would be, how they would market it, and how they would make a profit.
By the end of the inspiring programme our ‘apprentice’ participants will have:
In order to graduate the programme and receive Unloc’s employer-backed completion certificate, each young person will present their concepts to a panel of school/college and Unloc facilitators.
These will include:
Whether your students need to develop their confidence and employability, or they’ve proactively decided that self-employment is the route for them, the Unloc Enterprise Short Course will provide an inspiring and insightful personal development journey for all.
Could your students or young people be empowered by our Enterprise Short Course?
Get in touch by giving us a call for an informal chat on 02394 008 180.
Or click the ‘Get in touch’ button above. You can also fill out our simple to use webform by clicking here and we’ll come back to you.
There’s no commitment and we’re always happy to talk and see how we can best meet your needs.
It’s a New Year and a new look! Orange is the new black don’t you know! If you haven’t visited our website lately then you haven’t seen our new look, and all that unloc.org.uk now has to offer, with a range of extensive courses, programmes and day events created specifically for young people in schools, community groups and colleges.
Our look for 2022 may be shiny and new, but our educational offer is steadfastly tried and tested, with our expert facilitators providing the very best support to schools, colleges, and our dedicated Changemaker Studios spaces across the country.
If you’re an education professional seeking to deliver the very best for your students then Unloc is here to help. We are a not-for-profit organisation created by young people, for young people, and motivated by the desire to enable others to become changemakers.
We can organise courses around you and your schedule to help you meet your educational needs. Whether it’s Student Forums, Student Voice, Enterprise Courses, Community Programmes, or Social Awareness (to name but a few), we’ve developed engaging and inspiring events and programmes to ignite and inspire your young minds.
We also recognise that in an ever-changing environment due to Covid-19 and it’s variants, that planning ahead can be difficult, that’s why we’ve re-formed our programmes and courses to be available either in-person or digitally, ensuring that no matter the current rules and guidelines, we’re still able to deliver.
Our programmes and courses include
Take a look at the school and college courses we currently offer by clicking here.
How can we help?
To find out more about what we can offer to your school, college or organisation, get in touch by giving us a call for an informal chat on 02394 008 180.
Or click the ‘Get in touch’ button above. You can also fill out our simple to use webform by clicking here and we’ll come back to you.
There’s no commitment and we’re always happy to talk and see how we can help your young people get the very best out of their future.
We’re thrilled to reveal that we and Verizon Business won two awards at The Better Society Awards 2024!
Last Thursday industry professionals from across the country gathered at Verizon’s slick London Hub in at MidCity Place, Holborn, for a Changemaker Moments event on Manufacturing.
During the February half-term and Easter holidays this year, 53 young people, in Year 11 and 12, from across Portsmouth participated in our ‘Portsmouth Inspires’ Programme, funded by NCS.
. We’re looking for a passionate & creative young person aged 16-25 in the Portsmouth or London areas to become our first official social media
We’re thrilled to reveal that we and Verizon Business won two awards at The Better Society Awards 2024!
Last Thursday industry professionals from across the country gathered at Verizon’s slick London Hub in at MidCity Place, Holborn, for a Changemaker Moments event on Manufacturing.
During the February half-term and Easter holidays this year, 53 young people, in Year 11 and 12, from across Portsmouth participated in our ‘Portsmouth Inspires’ Programme, funded by NCS.
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