Year 11 London Academy attend last session as mentees

Tuesday was the last time the Hackney ReachOut Academy Year 11s would attend our sessions as mentees, as their ReachOut Academy project finished after 5 years.  It’s been a lot of fun over the years, and I’m delighted that so many of the boys I met back in June 2009 stayed involved to the end.   They’re in full GCSE revision mode now, attending boosters every day after school and even on weekends, and fingers crossed they’ll go on to give a good account of themselves in their exams over the next three months.

As Chloe Holness, our ReachOut Academy Project Officer in London, said to the boys in their farewell – Don’t forget, your GCSEs stay with you for life – and that permanency is important to remember as these boys go into what will be in some ways a life defining period.  It will affect where they go on to study further.  Hopefully it’ll open doors for them to explore new opportunities.

One thing I always try to tell our new volunteers in training is that we want our young people to be able to fulfill their full potential – and to be able to choose their future.  Choice is a fundamental part of personal happiness, and getting those 5 A* - C grade GCSE's including Maths and English is key to preserving our young people’s range of options – or rather their ability to choose what they do, rather than being forced into something they don’t really want through lack of better alternatives.

ReachOut’s work is vital in helping young people achieve those 5 A* - C grades including Maths and English, not just through the direct academic input in our sessions, but also through that time spent with our mentors developing character that enables them to really make the best of themselves  – Good Judgement, Self Control, Staying Power and Fairness – and this character will stand our young people in good stead, both now in their GCSEs, and in the future as young adults in a bright and challenging world.

Pete
London

Thank you to our volunteers!

Last Friday 14th March, we raised a glass to our brilliant mentors in London at our annual Volunteer Thank You event.

Hosted at the impressive Bridge Academy in Haggerston, the event was our chance to say a huge thank you to the men and women who give their time and energy every week to make ReachOut the organisation that it is.

Volunteers enjoyed drinks and nibbles as well as some speeches from our staff. ReachOut Club Project Leader, Imogen Fletcher-Blackburn, gave us a lovely insight into her experiences of volunteering with and working for ReachOut, while our Fundraising Officer, Luke Ounsworth, spoke about the impact which they’d had on funding over the last year and upcoming opportunities to get involved with fundraising events. (You can findout more about these opportunities here.)

To wrap up, our London Director, Peter Blackwell, spoke about his time with ReachOut and what our organisation means to him. Filled with lovely anecdotes and stories, Peter likened ReachOut to an asthmatic’s inhaler; “As any serious asthma sufferer knows, you take your preventative inhaler every day, and you’ll not notice anything, and just be normal – but if it’s not available to you then you deteriorate quickly and life gets harder straight away.  You may not often notice the effects, but it’s most definitely there, working for you – and you are all the same for your mentees, and they may not notice, or be grateful even, for what you have done, but like the inhaler, it’s a positive influence, helping you along, working for you to keep you doing the other good things in life” – a lovely analogy which really encapsulates how ReachOut changes young people’s lives for the better!

We thanked some of our most dedicated volunteers with Bronze, Silver and Gold Awards for those who have volunteered with us for 30, 60 or 100 hours respectively.

We also recognised two Outstanding Voluntary Contribution winners – Joe Kinchin-Smith and Ryan Pluck.

Joe has been a ReachOut mentor for four years now but his contribution to our organisation reaches far wider than his weekly volunteering at the ReachOut Academy. A Project Manager at financial services firm, UBS, Joe has been instrumental in securing wide support for ReachOut across his organisation. He also ran the Newham 10K for ReachOut in 2012 helping to raise over £3000 and has organised several workshops for ReachOut young people at UBS.

Ryan grew up and went to school in Hackney, and knows many of our young people’s families through his own personal connections.  He started volunteering in 2011, and has demonstrated enormous commitment to our young people ever since, volunteering at the ReachOut Club, ReachOut Academy and with ReachOut FC non-stop for three years.  He’s an outstanding role model within his community, and has made an outstanding contribution to ReachOut – thanks Ryan!

The event really was a night to remember. Thank you to all of those who have made 2013-14 such a brilliant year for ReachOut – here’s to 2014-15! 

Outward Bound 2014

Soon after we arrived at the Outward Bound centre we were jogging out to the seafront for a quick dip. This was the first indication of what the weekend held: challenge. The cold was starting to creep into our warm layers. It most definitely was not the weather to wear shorts. However, the Junior Mentors rose to the occasion.  They jogged to the water front and charged in to the freezing depths, plunging under the water until fully drenched. The water was numbing. We sampled some edible Seaweed before trudging back to the center.

The level of challenge only increased throughout the weekend. After returning from our trip to the seafront, the Junior Mentors prepared for a hike followed by a night in a cabin. Wrapped up warm, we made our way to a cabin settled in deep and dark woodland.

On arrival at the cabin, the JM's quickly laid out their sleeping bags and stepped back out into the dark to create shelters from fallen branches. With quality leadership from team captains and a strong team working together with them, both teams created sturdy shelters of which Bear Grylls would be jealous. Then it was back to the cabin for hot chocolate, a game of cards and a good night’s rest. 

The Junior Mentors traversed 6km of freezing water in two-manned canoes on Saturday morning and then had a  game of football on the beach. A relaxed atmosphere of trust and companionship encircled the group throughout the day and it was brilliant to see them pushing each other to achieve their best.

Sunday morning was time for vertical challenges: rock climbing and the leap of faith. Despite being exhausted from the previous day, every single Junior Mentor pushed themselves to attempt all the obstacles several times and can be proud of their achievements. They fully supported each other as a team and pushed one another to commit themselves, despite hints of acrophobia. The final morning really emphasised the value of instilling young people with leadership and team working skills as well as illustrating why Outward Bound is a fantastic way to do this. Without a doubt, I can say this weekend showed our young people what they were capable of and highlighted the necessity of character in a young persons’ development.

Jonjo 

Manchester