Media: Growing Leaders

Creating a youth movement vs running youth programmes
On the 22nd September LifeLine delivered a series of workshops on knife crime to students in a Dagenham school. Although the school had registered 15 year-11 students for one of the workshops, it had to be cancelled, as only 12 were in attendance. One student was recovering in hospital having been stabbed the previous week and two others had been arrested by police investigating the killing of 15-year-old Jordan Douherty, the youngest person to be killed by knife crime in London this year.

Reimagining Alternative Provision
The new school year has started and across the UK teachers are starting to feed the minds of another year's cohort of the young people who are curious and eager to learn, with a vision for their future, but what about those young people who do not share the same enthusiasm for learning, those who already seem to be on a path to a future where things aren’t good? Where is the provision for the most vulnerable, those who lack positive influences or relationships, and are in danger of dropping out of education?

The life-changing SW!TCH from Dagenham to Sierra Leone
At our recent graduation event, one parent said “When he was at school, my son was never allowed to go on a trip, but SW!TCH Expeditions has taken him on an adventure of a lifetime”. On the 27th June, SW!TCH Expeditions returned from a ten-day trip to Sierra Leone which was the culmination of a two-year programme of full-time alternative provision. "This trip exceeded all our expectations" reflects Nathan Singleton, LifeLine Projects CEO. "For a start, I got to do some touristy things for the first time in ten years of visiting!". Sierra Leone was a huge opportunity for personal breakthrough in the students.

Students SW!TCH Dagenham for Sierra Leone
A group of excited 16 year olds are fundraising for an adventure of a lifetime as they switch Dagenham for Freetown. - "We're raising £12,000 to put ourselves to the test and take what we've learnt to Sierra Leone this summer. We're going to support the work of a children's home and a farm. But this isn't about volunteering. We're going to learn a lot from the young people there who have been starting and growing social enterprises in extremely difficult circumstances."

Mentors have to care!
Over the last twenty years, I have seen the ongoing professionalisation of youth workers leave a tight grip around emotional attachment in mentoring – and while stricter guidelines are undoubtedly necessary for child protection, I have always stood firm in my belief that caring is absolutely essential for effective youth work. Mentors have to care. I can train mentors in health & safety and I can educate them in our company values, but I can’t teach compassion.  When recruiting new mentors, a caring heart and a vision for young people is my number one priority – everything else comes later.…

Reaching isolated young people; growing leaders
I don’t know if it was a sense of loyalty, or ownership – but I remember being keen to stay in the youth group I was involved in as a teenager. While my friends were leaving the club, heading up to join an older group, I stayed behind, eager to help out in any way I could. As I became part of the furniture, I found more and more opportunities to come alongside younger members– much in the same way as others had supported me when I first joined. This growing responsibility brought with it a passion for developing these…