Monday’s Year 7 assembly at St Gabriel’s College in Camberwell, London saw groups of pupils present their chosen charities to a panel of judges who picked an overall winner to receive a £1,000 donation.
This was part of a programme funded by the First Give organisation which works to ‘inspire and equip young people in secondary schools across England and Wales to tackle social issues’.
Representatives from Humankind, Sonia Bunger, Assistant Director for London and Gareth Samuel, Marketing Communications Officer for London, were invited to attend the assembly and listen to presentations that were given by Year 7 classes.
Pupils had worked throughout the autumn term to research and understand the remit of their chosen charity as well as design and execute a social action of their own to support the charity.
To compete for the donation, the students had to select and research a charity which works to have a transformative effect in local communities. We run an Individual Placement and Support (IPS) programme in Southwark which is integrated into substance use services and aims to support people to find and retain employment. Our Being Human strategy is centred on people: the people who use our services, their families, and the communities they are part of.
Judges scored each presentation on the depth of research, quality of presentation and the social action of the pupils. In the end, the donation was awarded to Lives not Knives, a charity which works to tackle knife crime in various communities across London. The pupils which represented Humankind were highly commended for their presentation and research and we are very grateful to them for selecting us.
Programme Leader and Deputy Head Teacher, David Toyloco, said: “For the First Give project, the whole of year 7 needs to look into social responsibility charities. Some of the pupils might have personal experiences with the charity.
“We run the programme in an extra-curricular capacity. I think this project broadens the horizons of our pupils. It opens their eyes and gets them to think of what they can do an individual. We find it a great programme and helps pupils to develop presenting skills, taking them out of their comfort zones.”
Sonia Bunger, Assistant Director for London at Humankind said: “It was such a great event to be part of. The idea that children as young as 11 are learning about the importance of social responsibility and being part of a community very much aligns with our values. We didn’t win the donation, but that wasn’t the point. We would like to thank St Gabriel’s College and Mr Toyloco for involving us in such an inspiring programme.”
