Summer 2010

As we look towards a new academic year, the recommencing of the usual term time projects and the start of some exciting new ones, lets have a quick look back at ReachOut!’s busy summer.
Back in July ReachOut! got involved in the ASICS British 10k run. The eager group was made up of staff, volunteers and supporters, ranging from novice joggers to regular marathon fans. All the sweating paid off (the day was extremely hot!) and together they raised an unpredicted £3000! After the success of the 10k run, further fitness inspired fundraisers have taken place, the latest being the ReachOut! walk-a-long. As with the run, this was a great event both physically and socially as volunteers and staff had the opportunity to get to know each other. The six mile walk around central London proved so popular that it is set to be an annual event on the ReachOut! calendar. Thanks to the organisers of both of these events and to everyone who joined in!
August saw the opening of ReachOut!’s Summer Programme, a project eagerly anticipated by volunteers and pupils each year. With new additions to the teaching team, some 150 pupils, sports, activities and outings, everyone was sad to come to the end of the three week programme. It ended on a high as students showed off their talent in front of the whole programme with dancing and singing as well as collecting awards for effort in sport, English, maths and science.
Approaching the restart of the Midweek Mentoring Programme, the team has visited Queen Mary University Freshers’ Fair to recruit volunteers for the coming months. We look forward to seeing you there!

Steph Pickerill
Mentoring Project Co-ordinator

Poonam wins Volunteer Manager of the Year!

ReachOut!'s very own Poonam Halai won an award for Volunteer Manager of the Year at Hackney's Annual Volunteer Achievement Awards on Monday evening!

Poonam with her award

Several ReachOut! volunteers were also nominated for awards and received runner up certificates, they were:
Matthew Wiltshire – Young Volunteer of the Year
Stephanie Pickerill – Experienced Volunteer of the Year
Jennifer Paul-Christian – Volunteer of the Year
Springfield MMP Mentors – Volunteer Team of the Year

Well done to all!

Above: Gavin Reynolds - Springfield MMP Volunteer

Below: Jennifer Paul-Christian

31 ReachOut! Boys stranded in Spain rescued by the Navy

ReachOut! on HMS Albion!

A couple of weeks ago we took 31 ReachOut! boys on tour to Madrid, as a reward for their hard work throughout the year. The boys represented the three ReachOut FC under 14s teams, who have had an exceptional season, winning the Hackney Youth League and the East London & Essex Junior Football League, and are still vying for more cup glory. More impressive than their exploits on the pitch, the ReachOut! under 14s have shown a great attitude to their studies, all improving in recent tests and participating in group discussions. This group even subsidised their own trip to Spain by organising the ReachOut! Charity Cup where they raised over £4000!

We left for Spain in high spirits on Monday 12th April, expecting to spend four days basking in the sun and playing exhibition matches against our Spanish counterparts. In one hotly contested battle Kenneth Koranteng collided with the opposition and was rushed to hospital to find his season had come to an abrupt end because of a broken leg.

On Wednesday we returned to the hotel with two victories and a draw, to news of Manchester Airport’s closure and Heathrow’s apparent engulfment by the ash cloud! Luckily British Airways were kind enough to put us up in a hotel for the remainder of our stay.

With rescheduled flights being cancelled repeatedly, fast running out of money and the group missing home, we phoned Jeremy Corbyn, the local MP of some of the boys. Mr Corbyn negotiated with the Foreign Office for the whole ReachOut! group to board the HMS Albion on Tuesday 20th April!

Pete, Jack and Kenneth on board HMS Albion

The HMS Albion, which was carrying a 400 strong battalion of soldiers returning from Afghanistan, was the highlight of the trip for many of the boys. We were treated to breakfast, lunch and dinner. Entertainment was found through circuit training with a Drill Sergeant, playing cards with soldiers (not for money luckily for them) and Pro-Evolution Soccer tournaments. The soldiers gave up their beds and sleeping bags to ensure the boys had a good night’s sleep, and Kenneth had the run of the ship thanks to piggy-backs from Royal Marines!

The exhausted under 14s returned to Hackney on Wednesday night, delighted to be home. A true adventure was found in adversity.

Jack Bond, Soccer School Manager

Hackney Gazzette coverage of ReachOut FC adventure

Few articles in the Hackney Gazette, including quotes from Xavier, Jack and Kenneth!

Hackney kids stranded in spain by volcano ash cloud hitch ride on HMS Albion 21st April 2010

Stranded Hackney footballers sail home on the HMS Albion 21st April 2010

Young Hackney footballer steers stranded Britons home from Spain 22nd April 2010

And one from the Islington Tribune - lots of funny quotes from Jack!

‘OUR HEROES!’ TEENAGERS IN NAVY RESCUE 23rd April 2010

ReachOut FC is famous!

ReachOut FC U14s in the lime light while waiting to board HMS Albion - http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/8632398.stm

Jack Bond talking to the BBC from the ship!!
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/8633454.stm

And if you look closely, Pete and Mehmet heading towards the ship (watch the Tuesday 20th pt 1 episode and forward to 3 minutes 47 seconds!)
http://www.channel4.com/news/catch-up/

ReachOut! on Sky News

Do you remember the ReachOut! Charity Cup we held in February to send the U14s on football tour to Madrid? (see a few blogs down) Well, they made it! But who knew a volcano was going to erupt the morning they were due to return? They've been "stranded" (on an extended holiday if you ask me!) in Madrid for 5 days (don’t worry, I am assured that laundry has been taken care of), living a life of luxury in a hotel, courtesy of BA.

They are now aboard the HMS Albion making their way across the ocean back to bonny Britain, due to arrive tomorrow evening and have been on both Sky News and Radio 5! What an adventure for the kids!

More on the actual tour to follow…

Shoes and Human Rights

Carmen Gonzalez by Nadia Bettega

I went to a really thought provoking photography exhibition the other night (Changing the face of human rights by Nadia Bettega) – this was my favourite, and not just because there are shoes in it!
Have a quick browse of the website, there are some really fantastic photos and you can find out what shoes have to do with human rights!

Fran Blackwell

The Dispossessed

Last week the Evening Standard ran a special report on London’s dispossessed in a campaign to reduce poverty in the capital. Many readers were shocked at the extent of the poverty that exists on their doorstep and I was really moved and encouraged by the number of people donating money, stationary, cots, baby clothes, theatre tickets, restaurant vouchers etc.

One of the facts in the report that really stuck out was that Hackney has the highest proportion of NEET 16-18 year olds (currently 10%!) of any London Borough. I think Sir Trevor Chinn, Chair of the Mayor’s Fund for London, hit the nail on the head when he said “the best way out of poverty is a decent job. But to get them to that position they need training, confidence building and support.”

ReachOut! is constantly trying to address these issues through our mentoring projects. The generosity of our volunteers, not with money or material donations but with their time, is imperative to raising our young people’s aspirations, building self esteem and giving them the much needed one-to-one academic support which so often they aren't able to access. We are so grateful to have such motivated volunteers who give up their time to make a difference; their efforts are hugely appreciated.

Fran Blackwell

ReachOut! Charity Cup 2010

ReachOut! Charity Cup 2010 Champions

For the second year in a row, PokerStars.com walked away victorious from The Petchey Academy, unbeaten and undisputed ReachOut! Charity Cup 2010 Champions.

The event, organised and hosted by young people from the ReachOut FC u14s teams, runs every year to raise money for ReachOut!, inviting prestigious businesses to enter teams at a premium rate of £500 each to compete in London’s premiere football competition. With seven 13/14 year old boys from ReachOut FC putting together the night’s action, including refreshments & hospitality (Kenneth Koranteng and Perry Walsh), tournament organisation (Nathanael Kwateng, Tosin Oguntohun and Yosief Mehari) and photography & presentations (Ibrahim Bangura and Wasim Nawaz), it was a great opportunity for people to find out a bit more about the young people we work with whilst giving those same kids a chance to do something valuable and develop new skills.

Lurid - BCG and Award Winning Goalie Pierre “Higuita“ Pourquery

This year’s participants were the aforementioned PokerStars.com team, Bloomberg LP (2 teams), Macquarie Bank, Barclays Capital, Boston Consulting Group (who would surely have won any award for Most Lurid Kit), PwC Legal and defeated finalists, Oliver Wyman. The event was highly competitive, and organised impeccably by the kids (with the slight exception of team photography… apologies to those teams whose photos were accidentally deleted!). Barclays Capital star man Joshua Mathew walked away with the Golden Boot and Player of the Tournament awards after a series of blistering performances, whilst Pierre “Higuita“ Pourquery’s flamboyant goalkeeping display and a blockbusting left foot, from-his-own-half goal for BCG earned him the Goalkeeper of the Tournament trophy.

Cllr Muttalip Unluer (Speaker of Hackney Council) presided over the final presentation of trophies, including Rupert Graham's (Pokerstars) Best Defender prize and the brilliantly ironic Fair Play Trophy awarded to Barclays Capital (the only team to earn themselves a red card in the event). Special mention should go to Wasim Nawaz who awarded the individual prizes at short notice after the boys who were supposed to run the presentation “had to go to a party instead”. Wasim did a great job, as did all the boys on the night and we hope to match this year’s success in 2011.

Pete Blackwell

Councillor Unluer visits ReachOut!

The Speaker of Hackney Council, Councillor Unluer, visited the ReachOut! Midweek Mentoring Project at St Matthias Primary School earlier this week. As one of the Councillor's nominated Charities of the Year, we were keen to show him some of the amazing work he is supporting. He was impressed by the academic work and other activies being done by the children with their mentors, but declined an offer to join in with the latest dance routine!

Equality and Diversity in Public Appointments – ReachOut! Supports the Call for Action

Bonnie Greer, Reanna Fagon and Frances Blackwell at Lancaster House

Privileged to be in the company of world-renowned playwright Bonnie Greer, Reanna Fagan (Year 9 star of ReachOut!’s Soccer School in Hackney) and I attended the Ambassadors for Public Appointments Network launch, this month. A truly inspirational event.

Greer’s eye-opening address gave a glimpse of her early life as a child in the US, at the time of racial segregation. She spoke of being unable to attend the 'white only' local school, and later being persuaded to quit her university Law course - by a professor who stated that “women did not belong there”! Fortunately for charities like ReachOut!, she overcame these barriers to lead the way for black women in public appointments the world over.

Greer’s shocking stories clearly showed how far we have come in recent years, towards improving equality in our everyday lives. However, we are still not quite there. At

ReachOut! we are striving promote a culture of respect for others, no matter what our differences, as well as to encourage the young people we work with to go for their goals and achieve their ambitions. Reanna and I both enjoyed ReachOut!’s first experience at Lancaster House - definite food for thought, entertainment and huge inspiration (topped off with some delicious canapés!).

Young Leaders Video

Check it out - ReachOut! kids promoting ReachOut!

Definitely some budding directors there!