On July 12th, at St Ethelburga’s Centre in the City of London Action for Race Equality (ARE) and Communities Empowerment Network (CEN) marked the end of a successful three-year partnership, under the National Lottery Community Fund, with an unforgettable celebration evening.
For the past three years, ARE and CEN have been working together specifically through ARE’s role model and mentor programme Routes2Success (R2S) for young people in schools and parents of the young participants through the Parents Empowering Parents programme (PEP).
The PEP partnership has ensured that R2S’s workshops and interventions with young Black, Asian and Mixed heritage people continue into their home lives, and raise the engagement of parents with schools.
Reflections and Celebrations
Derrick Tawiah, CEN Treasurer, and Jeremy Crook, ARE Chief Executive kicked off the evening with introductory speeches highlighting the importance of the collaboration between both organisations.
The celebration then involved an interview of some of the founding members of CEN, Hon. Alderman Obajimi Adefiranye, Deuan German and Anthony Robinson. They were interviewed by Local Project Development Officer Liam Campbell on how CEN came about, their intentions at the time, and how the organisation has developed over the years.
Both organisations also presented awards to individuals who have committed to each respective programme. For ARE, there was a Lifetime achievement award for role-models Hepburn Harrison-Graham, and Outstanding Contribution Awards for both Sanjiv Sangha and Lee Pinkerton. There were also certificates to thank the role models in attendance.
For CEN, Nick White, Linda Townsend, Dr Jack Sheard, Sofia Gagliardi, Natalie Campbell and Donta Szabo also received awards for their work as parent advocates, supporting parents in the school exclusion process.
Brianna Cyrus (R2S programme director) and Jenn Lewis (CEN CEO) then took to the stage to talk about the aims of both organisations and the partnership.
“Having met colleagues from CEN at education events that I attended and being completely blown away with the support and impact they were having with parents whose children were at risk of exclusion, it was a no brainer that partnering with them would strengthen the support we could offer young people. This was three-year partnership has been a real pleasure and we are pleased to share our successes with you this evening.”
This reflection gave audience members an insight into how the two different organisation worked together to achieve mutual aims. They then went on to talk about what the future of the partnership will look like and despite not necessarily working side by side, the future will see ARE and CEN working together at the West London Parent Hub, with Brentside High School.
We heard from R2S role model Lee Pinkerton about why he gives up his time to volunteer on the programme and what it means to him.
“You can’t just talk the talk, you have to walk the walk” and give back to your community, he told the audience.
Suki Nagra, Assistant Head at Brentside School, then opened up on why students should engage with the Routes2Success programme, seeing the benefits of mentoring on building confidence, and improved relations with parents. Her student, Jayia Soso-Wilson, an R2S participant at Brentside, who received 1-2-1 mentoring from role model Jacqueline Adusei, shared the impact that the workshop sessions and mentoring had on her. Similarly, CEN advocate Jack Sheard spoke up on the need to help parents understand the school exclusion system and we saw the impact of this support through testimonies from mother and son who had navigated a traumatizing exclusion.
We’d like to thank the young people who added their voice to the evening: Ayan Abdi for her “how to guide” for young people managing their emotions; Jayia Soso-Wilson, for her incredible performance of her original song “Fly”; and ‘Laurellia’, Music Tech student, for performing two original songs. These shows of creativity reflected what happens when you give young people a platform to express themselves: something which is a core aim of R2S.
Overall, the event marked a successful partnership, and we look forward to future collaborations that better help us support young Black, Asian and Mixed heritage people and their families.
Author: Liam Campbell, Local Project Development and Engagement Officer
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Routes2Success is our flagship role-model and mentoring programme. Working with young people aged 10 – 25 across London, through a team of volunteer role-models, mentors and expert role-models, we strive to provide a positive influence; career advice; and support to young people navigate their emotions and educational ambitions.
