Check out our 2023-24 Impact Report!
Our latest impact report for the 2023-24 academic year is now available! Inside you’ll find a whole wealth of information of the work we’ve been carrying out over the past academic year!
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!
We’re so excited to launch our brand new programme for 11-17 year olds in Portsmouth – The Young Changemakers Incubator! This innovative new experience is a free weekend-based opportunity for young people living in a PO1 – PO6 postcode who are looking to create positive change in the world.
The Young Changemakers Incubator programme allows young people to plan and deliver social action projects in their local community, getting to the heart of current issues, getting involved, and taking action in order to inspire and create positive change.
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Change begins within, but all too often we feel strongly about a cause or issue, but don’t possess the skills to do something about it, or we do possess the skills – but have no idea how to use them!
Young Changemakers Incubator is here to change that!
Over the course of four months, April to July 2022, you’ll work with leadership experts to develop your skills and knowledge, growing and nurturing your inner changemaker, encouraging personal development, and learning how to impact change in the world around you.
You’ll join together with other young leaders in Portsmouth for one weekend each month to develop your plans and learn new skills, with the aim of implementing a project or campaign of your choosing.
Whether that’s social injustice, racial equality, bullying, transphobia, food poverty, humanitarian aid, community development or raising money for an important cause – the possibilities are endless.
At the end of the programme there will be a celebration event where all our Incubator Changemakers will be brought together to celebrate each other’s achievements.
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The programme includes 4 exciting and immersive weekends, with the first on 22-24th April at April Park Place – an overnight team building residential.
The following weekend events will be held locally in Portsmouth and include:
Throughout the Incubator experience you’ll develop your existing abilities and using your creativity and the support of our expert facilitators, you’ll create actions that encourage the change that you wish to see in the world.
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By choosing a cause, topic or issue that you feel strongly about, you’ll learn how to channel your passion, energy and determination into impacting positive change towards it.
We’ll help you learn how to use your network, grow it, and impact the influential people around you to help make your desired change happen.
All this will be supported by our bespoke online development programme, as well as our expert Unloc Facilitators Steve Baker and Clair Martin.
Steve is an experienced leader that has enabled young people to make change for the last 20 years. He has a solid understanding of democratic and representative processes that enable young people to make their voice heard, and shares how to engage with their local communities to make change happen.
Clair is a social entrepreneur, visual artist and digital storyteller with over 20 years experience in the creative technology industries, developing and delivering engaging learning experiences to children, young people and the wider community.
Steve said:
“Our new ‘Young Changemaker Incubator’ is a great opportunity for young people to learn the skills they need to make the change in the world they wish to see. Part of the Young Changemaker Cities scheme, our Incubator will be a fun and engaging experience giving young people the opportunity to meet local leaders, focus their passions to good causes, and giving them a voice and the skills they need to make changes inside and outside of their school environment.”
Clair said:
“The Young Changemakers Cities project is an essential tool to spark creative thinking and doing to help bring about social change. The project gives young people the confidence to ask for change and to feel confident change will happen!”
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There are only 30 places available for the Young Changemakers Incubator, the first 30 changemakers to apply will secure their place, so if you’re interested don’t delay – be sure to sign up right away!