What would we do with £10,000?
Roehampton still ranks in the top 5% of income deprivation. It is also characterised by a high crime rate and young people “hanging around on street corners” as well as those who have become so severely disengaged that they are almost agoraphobic that feel unable to leave the estates. It has been like this for over twenty years. Complex transport routes and a lack of appropriate learning facilities have exacerbated the problem. The projects suggested would be mainly targeting Roehampton residents and delivered there.
A common complaint among advisors is that “young people won’t travel even to earn”. Yet Skilltrain has a history of attracting young people from Roehampton and other difficult areas of the borough who have then become motivated to learn more and progressed into profitable careers. We also attract the young people who, for many reasons, cannot initially contemplate entering any environment where they may be placed in groups with their peers or where they are likely to meet other young people until their confidence has increased to that level. Skilltrain specialise in projects that precede group interaction. They provide a vital bridge for these particular young people to being able to access any other learning or young peoples’ experience. Without this help facilities such as the Prince’s Trust, school (& college), Fairbridge and NVQ or apprenticeship programmes are closed to them.
This donation from the profit being generated by Give it Away’s building projects would pay for us to supply “Powerful Me” which is a special support mechanism that was designed by previous Skilltrain clients and is for those who won’t (or can’t) consider any formal learning. The project
Uses specially trained actors coaching 1:1 gradually enlarging into small workshops.
Uses simple lateral thinking techniques to lead the students away from their negative self-image to recognition & pride in their strengths & achievements.
Strengthens their personal enterprise skills. These are the skills that develop & increase self-esteem. Using the dictionary definition they are the skills of boldness and initiative. This project helps these young people to become more adventurous with their personal strengths so that they can take the positive risks needed to redirect their future career patterns and develop an enthusiasm for learning.
By participating in “Powerful Me” young people learn how to combat the fear, isolation & anger often involved in re-engaging with their peers.
If all this sounds like rhetoric the bottom line is that with £10,000 we could reach out to at least 20 (possibly 30) young people who are excluded, unable to access other learning, are at risk of offending or are ex-offenders and engage them in 1:1 coaching and/or workshop activities that will change the way they see themselves and others. Whether it is learning how to use an A-Z, read a dictionary, research jobs / learning opportunities, how to present themselves, how to negotiate with their families or counteracting the fear of their peers, each participant will acquire the techniques to manage their personal reactions to different situations & environments. This is not just about changing behaviour but having the choice about how to behave and respond positively in the most negative situations. And then feeling confident enough to do it. Most of all we will help them to raise their expectations of themselves in line with the strengths that most of them don’t yet know they have, open the door to further learning opportunities and motivate the clients to want to increase their skills.
Finally £10,000 would also mean an enormous amount to Skilltrain as well as helping to change the lives of our clients. Attracting funds to a larger charity is difficult; for one that is small and concentrates on one locality it can be almost impossible. This money would help us to attract other funding and may even be usable as “matched funding” which could double it’s potential value. It would help secure our future for another year and help us to feel we are important again instead of being tiny fish in a big, sometimes threatening sea.
We are delighted that Give it Away is so keen to support our endeavours and hope that we will also be able to send some of our youngsters to work alongside the project to get first hand work experience in a number of areas related to building and property development.
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