City Leaders Community Stage Launches at the National Maritime Museum
07 March 2017
London Youth City Leaders show how they’ll make a positive contribution to their community.
On Monday 20th February we launched the Community Stage of the City Leaders programme with pitches at the impressive National Maritime Museum in Greenwich. Three City Leaders teams came along to pitch their ideas in front of our panel, each aiming to help their community with £600 investment from London Youth.
The museum opened its doors after hours in order to host the special event, giving the City Leaders participants an exclusive opportunity to experience the space as they pitched. Taking part in the launch event were three fantastic clubs: Caius House, Creative Opportunities, and Streatham Youth and Community Trust (SYCT). Each pitch offered an insight into the clubs and their local communities, with the £600 investment offering a great way for them to build lasting relationships within their communities.
First up was the Caius House team, who are going to utilise their amazing centre in Battersea, opening the doors to the local community. By bringing a number of people and organisations together, the aim is to break down barriers between different groups, encouraging everyone to work together and not in isolation. With a dance showcase, cooking competition, as well as a range of sports there is going to be lots for people from different groups within the community to get involved in.
Next up was SYCT, who are going to use their money to reignite the community spirit in their local area. Over five days they are going to being taking part in a range of different outreach activities in their community, including a visit to a local care home using their budget to take flowers, and a football competition on an estate that the club does not usually work with. Using the money in this way will enable the club to become a hub within the local community, attracting people from the local area to get involved and feel more connected.
The final group to pitch was Creative Opportunities, whose project focuses on homelessness in Islington, with two Action Days. On the first they are going to distribute ‘necessity’ bags to homeless people which contain essential items. They will also host an event at the City and Islington College for the homeless community where they will present a short film on homelessness that they have created. This is a great way to target a prevalent issue in their local community and encourage people to stay involved in the longer term by signposting them to organisations for volunteering and other opportunities.
We are delighted to say that all three clubs were successful and received the full funding of £600.
This is a great way for clubs to come together to foster a sense of community. We are really looking forward to the next pitch events, with four more happening over March and April, to see what innovative ideas the other City Leaders clubs have come up with for their community.
