‘EMPOWERING young people and igniting a spark of social conscience’ was the slogan on a First Give banner taking centre stage at Victoria Hall in Saltaire this week.
And the students who took to that stage to talk about their work with local charities demonstrated a strong social conscience and so much more.The students, from Bradford College, Shipley College and Craven College have spent recent weeks researching and working with charities in the district. They visited charity premises, met people they support, and created TikTok videos and other promotional material.
This week nine groups of students, from the three colleges, delivered presentations on their charity projects. In front of an audience of college students and staff, parents and charity representatives, they told a panel of judges about their work - with the aim of winning £1,000 for their charity from First Give.
They answered questions from the judges - Steven Morton, chair of Craven College Board of Governors; John Egan, chair of Shipley College Board of Governors; Dean Hardman, Director of Sport and Student Experience, Association of Colleges; Sharon Jandu from Yorkshire Asian Business Association and Isaac Jones, Head of Programmes at First Give, which works with schools and colleges, empowering young people to make a positive change in society.
Introducing the event, Diana Bird, Vice Principal of Shipley College, said it was the first time Bradford, Shipley and Craven colleges had held a joint event for First Give. The presentations were:
* Jack Smith and Thomas Abbott, Games Design students at Shipley College: Change, Grow, Live, a health and social care charity. They spoke of learning about the charity’s substance misuse treatments and how they organised a ‘100,000 Steps’ challenge in college, which raised £55. They also showed a video they made raising awareness of alcoholism.
* Mughees Aslam, Rafeh Amin and Rehaan Asghar, Aviation Operations students at Craven College: Simon on the Streets, which helps homeless and vulnerable people. The students spoke of the charity’s core values and its work delivering mental health support, and they showed their video raising awareness of homelessness.
* Leon Garcia-Patchett and Tom Palmer, Horticulture students at Shipley College: Victim Support. Leon said crime can have a “life-changing” impact and it can be “hugely challenging to navigate the social justice system”. The presentation included a filmed interview with a victim of crime and a police officer.
* Hani Zighem and Karl Parkinson, Motor Vehicle students at Bradford College, on Refugee Action. The students revealed how, without the right support, refugees can “end up in the poverty chain”. They put up posters and raised funds in college, and said they’ll continue to collect donations of items such as clothes and nappies.
* Aamna Malik, Kulsuma Akthar, Sumaiya Begum, Saffa Rashid and Rahima Butt, Health and Social Care students at Shipley College: Project 6, Keighley-based drug and alcohol charity. The students researched how substance abuse can affect things such as relationship breakdown and mental health and looked at services Project 6 provides, including access to training and employment, and needle exchange schemes. Their video included a charity worker talking about his experience of alcoholism. The students said they had learned that “this can happen to anyone”.
* Lauren Reardon and Max DeVogele, Games Design students at Shipley College: Mencap. They showed how the charity helps people with learning difficulties get into education and employment. They raised £50 from a raffle and plan to hold more events.
* Charlotte Murie and Tilly Sharpe, Health and Social Care students at Craven College: Bradford Nightstop, which provides accommodation in volunteers’ homes for homeless young people. They talked about Nightstop’s “safety net” for young and vulnerable people, and the impact of Covid on volunteers. They plan to become volunteers and continue to try to break the stigma of homelessness.
* Saffron Farrhoey and Jack Crawshaw, Supported Internship students at Shipley College: Bridge Project, Bradford based drug treatment charity. They looked at the impact of the pandemic on young people and substance misuse, and showed an animation they made depicting a service-user’s recovery.
* Emily Macken and Holly Atkinson, Animal Management students at Craven College,: Aireworth Dogs in Need. They spoke of the work the charity does with other organisations, including pet behaviourists, and highlighted their fundraising dog walk which involved the wider community.
The judges praised all entries and gave Special Commendations to Leon Garcia-Patchett, Lauren Reardon and Max DeVogele.
The overall winners were Charlotte Murie and Tilly Sharpe for their powerful presentation on Bradford Nightstop. Tilly, 17, said: “We can’t believe it - it’s amazing! It’s so important to raise awareness of vulnerable young people who are homeless but you don’t necessarily see sleeping on the streets.” Charlotte, 18, added: “The money will fund clothing and toiletries packs given to young people staying with volunteers.”
Bradford Nightstop chair Darren Starkey praised the girls “passion and commitment, and organisational skills”. He added: “I’m really proud of them as advocates for Nightstop and have given them a say in how this £1,000 will be spent.”
Anita Lall, Vice Principal of Craven College, said: “This is an issue that is close to the girls’ hearts and right from the start they’ve been so passionate about working with Nightstop. We’re very proud of them.”
Isaac Jones of First Give said: “Today has been a real celebration of all the students’ incredible commitment and work ethic. They’ve gone out into their communities, picked the charities themselves, and along the way they have built confidence and project management and public speaking skills. The standard has been brilliant.”
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