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28 September 2015

Monday 28 September 2015

What can young Londoners do for their local communities? As we saw last Thursday at City Pitch, an awful lot. Five groups of young people from our member clubs pitched their ideas to have a positive impact on their communities. Each group delivered a pitch to a panel for funding of up to £1,000. This event was held at City Hall on Thursday the 24th of September with London Youth in partnership with The Mayor’s Fund and Santander.

The young people also met Levi Roots of Dragons' Den fame who boosted the confidence of the young pitchers with some words of wisdom. He also kicked off the night with a warm up speech addressed to all the young people to inspire and encourage them which culminated in the simple message ‘Be You’.

All five groups delivered their project proposals confidently and afterwards answered some probing questions from the panel who were suitably impressed. One judge commented on the simple yet effective tag line created by Rathbone Youth club which neatly summarised the efforts of all the clubs present on the evening:

Work hard, have fun, make a difference.

After a short pause for the judges to deliberate and some refreshments (while enjoying the beautiful views offered by City Hall), it was back to business. In an overwhelming show of support for all the clubs, the panel awarded each club with the full £1,000 requested.

There was a great support network, from youth workers who accompanied the groups on the night to members of staff from London Youth, who offered encouragement from the sidelines.


Phil Kerry, summarised the evening with these words:

"You couldn't have asked for a better advert for the power of youth work, youth clubs and, of course, young people and what they can achieve. Despite their differences, they are all united by one thing – wanting to do something good to change London."

Below is a short description of the social action project pitched by each club on the night:

RathboneUp-skilling workshops for 50 males and 50 females which will conclude in a joint media project 

Knights Youth CentreSelf-defense and first aid courses for young people and local community members teaching enterprise and improving confidence and assertiveness

Ignite TrustAims to bring two gangs together to foster positive relationships and eradicate youth on youth crime in the Harrow area 

The Movement FactoryCommunity dance workshops culminating in a performance at the Southbank Centre bringing together professional and amateur dancers 

Shpresa ProgrameLearning new skills around social enterprise with a focus on cooking running 'Come Dine With Me' style sessions

Leaders in Communities – Mentors from different career paths will join young people to cook together in a session developing key skills and culminating in a recipe book.

We congratulate all teams for their brilliant project ideas and impressive pitches and are looking forward to seeing the projects come to life over the next six months.

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