The Whetley Academy Venturists – Leading the way through youth social action.
15 young people from Whetley Academy have been changing their local community through the Venturist programme, funded by The Manjit Wolstenholme Fund.
Over 10 weeks, working alongside Participate Projects, businesses, community partners and their peers the young people have identified the issues that are important to them in their community, developed their own ideas for social change and planned their own unique projects in their community.
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.
In addition to support from our team, the Venturists have attended inspirational talks, workshops and visits to enrich their learning and gain a deeper understanding of the issues and solutions for social change in their areas. The young people have:
- Made their own lunch at their local McDonalds: looking at careers, enterprise and the environmental and community responsibility of running a business.
- Attended a practical workshop with Inn Churches looking at their role in supporting the homeless community. The Venturists helped to make bread from surplus food that would otherwise go to landfill.
- Participated in a practical rugby sessions with their parents with the Community Lions Foundation to explore the benefits of sports on physical and mental health.
- Visited PRISM Urban Farm to understand the work the charity do to support their local community.
All of these inspiring events helped the young people consider what they could do to make an impact in their community. The young people planned, budgeted and fundraised to deliver their own ideas. The Whetley Venturists came up with 5 ideas and delivered them all, including the Whetley Pantry.
The young people identified that food poverty and food waste were huge issues locally and decided to set up a community shop that offers free and affordable food to the school community.
One year on and the pantry is a well-loved resource in school. The Venturists have developed sustainable links with suppliers and parents from the school are voluntarily helping to run the enterprise.
The project has been a real success, not only helping the community, but in developing key skills in the young people which will support their learning in the future. The impact on the children has been noticeable, both inside and outside of school, they have increased in confidence and resilience, developed team working and communications skills and built new relationships.
Engagement within the community and with businesses has been inspiring for the young people, widening their circle of opportunities and experiences and exposing them to new career opportunities.
The young people have found their voice through this project and really made a real impact.