SOFA Project collaboration with Tomorrow’s People’s Working It Out programme

As we are going to work together with Tomorrow’s People in their Working It Out programme, we have asked them to describe the programme to our followers:

“Working It Out is an intensive 10 week personal development programme that enables 12-14 disadvantaged young people to overcome their personal and social barriers to work and education. This is achieved through an individually tailored programme of desk based activities, community challenges and additional one-to-one support. Working It Out is a rolling programme serving four groups per year, a total of 48 participants per annum.

We work with participants on a one-to-one basis to help them to identify personal goals, which include career aspirations, whilst helping to identify all of the issues that they face – unstable home life, risk of homelessness, lack of qualifications, experience of domestic violence, risk of alcohol and drug misuse among others. Our advisers help participants to build a personal action plan to overcome their problems and then help them to realise their goals.

An underpinning feature of Working It Out is Community Challenges. These are community activities that address a local issue that participants identify and work together to solve. These activities compliment our indoor activities by helping to engage with participants, raising their aspirations, and helping them to become comfortable in an unfamiliar environment.

As an example, our Bristol groups have been working with the Avon Wildlife Trust group to gain the John Muir conservation award which consists of discovering and exploring local green spaces before undertaking work to help conserve and improve them for local people. In addition to benefiting the wider community, these challenges improve participants’ ability to work in a team, delegate tasks, communicate effectively and problem solve. Challenges have an impact on the wider community through an improved local environment but also by breaking down perceived and real barriers between young people and the rest of society.

Tomorrow’s People’s Working It Out programme is really looking forward to working alongside SOFA Project on a Community Challenge.”