The Venturists – school approach.
Leading the way – youth social action.
15 young people from Newby Primary school have been changing their local community through the Venturist programme, funded by The Manjit Wolstenholme Fund.
Over 12 week – working alongside Participate, businesses, community partners and their peers – the young people have:
- Identified the issues that are important to them
- Developed their own ideas for social change
- Planned their projects; including research, marketing and budgeting
- Delivered real social action projects
The school serves an inner city community in Bradford, with the majority of pupils being from minoritised communities and many of them experiencing multiple issues of disadvantage. Young people involved were specially selected to engage in the programme. In addition to support from our Venturists team they have had inspirational talks, workshops and visits from Inn Churches, SHINE, BCB radio, Soroptimists, Jet2 and Amber Partnership. Their final projects included:
- Wellbeing packs and blankets for homeless people
- Setting up the local church for homeless guests to spend the night
- Creating craft bags for children in hospital
- A food bank for animals
- Tree planting
- A ‘Casserole Club’ for families cooking on a budget
Impact on the children has been noticeable. Both inside and outside of school we saw them increase in confidence and resilience, develop teamworking and communications skills, and build new relationships.
Success of the project has been tangible and Newby School are now looking to develop the project further. We can’t wait to see what they do next!