ISP supports Street Child United to deliver their inaugural Change 10 programme

As part of the SCU Young Leaders programme, ISP funded one of their latest initiatives: the Change 10 programme.

At ISP, our students are at the heart of everything we do, and we are proud to provide them with access to some of the best education in the world.

Our passion for supporting and caring for our children is shared by our official charity partner – Street Child United. SCU works tirelessly to campaign for the rights and protection of street-connected young people.

Since the beginning of our partnership two and a half years ago, we have worked closely with our community to raise awareness and organise fundraising activities to support some of the most vulnerable children in the world.

Last year, to mark their ten-year anniversary, SCU launched a new initiative – Change 10 – inviting twelve inspirational former participants from their sporting events to take part in a year-long training and development programme.

The programme, which ran from May 2020 to May 2021, forms one strand of the SCU Young Leaders Programme, and we were delighted to provide funding and support to promote the personal and professional development of these Young Leaders.

THE CHANGE 10 PROGRAMME

With the support of ISP, the twelve Young Leaders completed a year-long training and development programme, to boost their personal development goals, empower them to speak out on behalf of street-connected young people like them, and inspire people across the world to take action.

The programme, which was delivered via a series of online workshops, covered three key phases: Developing Soft Skills, Skill Building, and English Language. Modules focused on personal growth, advocacy learning, communication skills, and other soft skills such as leadership development.

Developing Soft Skills

The first stage of the programme focused on allowing the Young Leaders to gain a deeper understanding of themselves and their peers in the programme, whilst also developing leadership skills and teamwork strategies. It also taught the Young Leaders the importance of the impact they can make in their communities, and gave them the opportunity to develop their public speaking and communication skills.

The stage was split into four parts;

• Getting to know you and your colleagues
• Developing soft skills
• Getting to know your community and the impact
• Amplifying your voice

In each part, sessions were delivered weekly, online, and by a number of expert mentors, including SCU’s Laura Scott, Gleicon Analha (a Conflict Mediator at Herts Young Homeless), and Barney Karker (Programme Manager at Street Invest).

Skill Building

One of the key aims of the programme was to foster the Young Leaders’ aspirations for their futures, with support and guidance provided by a personalised mentorship scheme. Mentors were chosen from the SCU network and matched with Young Leaders based on their expertise, the young people’s backgrounds, and their hopes for the future.

During the second stage of the programme, the Young Leaders designed a project or business plan with the support of their mentors, all of whom were experts in their fields, including:

• Tegid Cartwright, a professional filmmaker, producer, director and editor, whose work has been broadcast on TV, social media, and in the cinema.
• Hussam-Zakharia (Sam) Doghem, a football coach and English teacher. Sam has coached football in America, taught English in Spain and worked for the British Council in Saudi Arabia.
• Beatrice Garcia, a heritage artist, architectural illustrator and Art Project Manager for SCU, who has exhibited her work internationally in Gibraltar, Madrid, and London.
• Terry Macalister, a journalist and writer with over 40 years’ experience in journalism; he has also published a book, Crude Britannia, about the impact of oil on British life, including politics and music.

The Young Leaders were then supported to design their own project or business plan, which were delivered in the form of creative writing, reports, art or visual media. Examples include:

• Abdallah, 21 (Egypt), is creating a portfolio of art, and hopes to have an exhibition where he can display his work and the advocacy messages behind them. He hopes to deliver art activities to street-connected children to help them explore their potential.
• Jhoselin, 18 (Bolivia), is writing a book that explores the feelings and suffering of each child that has gone through abuse and street-connected experiences, and portraits the people trying to make a difference and help street-connected children.
• Husnain, 24 (Pakistan), is working on a charity project plan with his mentor, as well as completing a personal development plan. He is also developing his skills as an educator and facilitator, and is delivering sessions inspired by the first phase of the Change 10 programme to people in his community.
• Jasmin, 20 (UK), has been focusing on building skills around the development of media content and social media strategies to support her local community work here in the UK and as well the refugee camp back in Bangladesh where she grew up.

English Language

During the third and final phase of the programme, SCU partnered with Cambridge Studio to deliver 10 English Language lessons, at different levels of difficulty tailored to the Young Leaders’ ability.

The students who studied at a higher level also delivered a presentation on a topic of their choice at the end of the project. Examples included:

• Husnain gave a fantastic presentation about his social work.
• Sadock spoke about his business.
• Drika delivered a presentation about Complexo da Pena.

MEET THE YOUNG LEADERS

THE IMPACT OF CHANGE 10

It is fantastic to see some of the wonderful work underway, and the impact our young leaders are clearly having in their communities following their participation in the programme. In fact, 100% of the Young Leaders told SCU that they are now viewed as role models in their community, and 84% believe they have already had an impact in this role.

During the programme, the SCU team also provided an opportunity for Young Leaders who had participated in programmes, such as Change 10 or ISP visits, to apply for a bursary of up to £500 to support their personal and professional development.

By applying for and accessing the funds, the students were able to continue to make positive and meaningful change, not only in their own lives, but also for others through their advocacy. For example, Jhoselin was able to purchase a laptop to aid her in her studies, and with her project; Sadock was able to acquire the equipment necessary to help the growth of his business; whilst Jasmin funded a laptop and part of her travel expenses to Bangladesh to finalise her project supporting her community.

Here are some of the Change 10 participants expressing their gratitude during a recent Young Leader Virtual visit to the ISP Schools:

You can find out more here about the Change 10 programme and some of the inspiring Young Leaders who took part.