Power2

We’re looking for a new Chair of Trustees! In 2023, we launched our new five-year strategy, which entails growing our work so we can meet the needs of more children and young people. Now is an important time for our charity, and we hope that you’ll want to help us achieve our vision.  As the Chair of our Board, you’ll be an ambassador for the organisation and its work. You’ll share our vision of a world where all children and young people – no matter their background or challenges – can thrive and reach their full potential.  To find out more and to apply: https://lnkd.in/e-nie5fZ

In case you missed it, earlier this year we hosted our new Industry Showcase series for Power2 Aspire participants! The series gave young people the opportunity to meet professionals working across nine industries who shared their experience and expertise. Jessie, one of our Power2 Aspire participants, said, “I had to hold in my screams of excitement as [I was] inspired by individuals who are already doing what they love! It also allowed me to hear about their experiences and what I can work on while I’m on my way to finishing university.” Power2 Aspire is our structured support programme for over 18s who are currently in further or higher education and aspire to have a professional career. The programme provides 1:1 support and group workshops focusing on wellbeing, independence and employability skills. If you’d like to provide opportunities to the young people we support, get in touch by emailing [email protected]. Read the full blog: https://lnkd.in/ed9cY8HK

Join our Board! In 2023, we launched our new five-year strategy, which entails growing our work so we can continue to meet the needs of more children and young people. Now is an important time for our charity. We have several trustee vacancies and we’re looking for passionate and enthusiastic people who want to be part of conversations about developing and leading our future. We’re particularly excited to be recruiting a new Chair at Power2 at a time when our impact and influence continue to grow and the need for our services is greater than ever. We'd like to thank our outgoing Chair, Nicci Russell, for her commitment and service to the charity. If you feel you have the experience and passion we need to take Power2 forward, we look forward to hearing from you! To find out more:

Congratulations to the new Prime Minister! As supporters of the #ChildrenAtTheTable campaign, we want the next government to put babies, children & young people at the heart of its policies. Read the Coalition's message to the new Gov: https://buff.ly/4buP3hO

The Co-op Foundation published their evaluation of their #iwill partnership today, and it makes for very interesting reading (thanks Deanne for the heads-up!). Power2's Power2 Progress programme was funded through the partnership over the past three years, delivering peer mentoring that supports young people through the transition to secondary school. The funding allowed us to pilot and kick-start this new programme, which we now offer to schools across the North West and London - a great legacy! (Teachers - if this is something that could benefit your students, drop me a message.) It was really interesting to note that the evaluation highlights the importance of training for young people on emotional resilience and emotional intelligence, as well as techniques for them to best support other young people through peer mentoring - something Power2 incorporates in all our group programmes. Also notable was how intertwined all the outcomes were, with improved communication skills, confidence, positive relationships and ability to cope with challenging situations all interlinked - again, something we've seen again and again on both Power2 Progress and all our programmes. There's lots of great insight in this report, as well as a lot of learnings that will be beneficial for both these projects and others going forward. It's well worth a read - https://lnkd.in/e_9cC8tr

“I could see the young people were living in the moment and simply having fun. The stresses that had burdened their shoulders before the session had been lifted.” — Lisa Marucci, our Development Officer Our 16-week Teens and Toddlers programme flips mentoring on its head and instead of just giving young people a mentor, we support young people to take on positions of responsibility, to be trusted and to experience accountability in a safe and supportive environment.   In this blog, Lisa reflects on her recent visit to a Teens and Toddlers session and looks at the importance of play for young people and what a difference a couple of hours makes.  Read the full blog: https://lnkd.in/ezqjkYjr

Today our Director of Services, Samantha Marcus and one of our Senior Programme Leads, Colette Tipple are at the Tameside Locality Human Factor event! It’s already been a morning of insightful discussions about how we can work collaboratively across sectors to enhance mental health support for Tameside residents. You can find us at Ashton Curzon Community Centre on Richmond Street. Come along and have a chat with us! For more information: https://lnkd.in/epDSc_cT

WE DID IT! We hit our Big Give fundraising target and raised over £30,000! 🎉 A huge thank you to our partners and supporters for donating. We’d also like to thank The Childhood Trust for being our champion funder. The money we’ve raised together will help us to reach more young people like Daniel, who’s story we shared last week.  “I thought I would never make any friends and that I was destined to be alone for my whole life — but I was wrong. Thanks to Power2, I don’t feel alone anymore.” - Daniel, 14. 

All children and young people should be able to access support for their mental health when they need it, and before things have reached a crisis point. Demand for our services has increased over the past few years and alongside our early-intervention support we're now working with young people who have reached crisis point too to adapt to changing needs. We support NPC (New Philanthropy Capital)'s 6 recommendations for creating long-term change for children and young people. Read the report 👇

A huge well done to the young people on our Power2 Progress cohort who designed these wonderful programme workbook covers! ✨ On Power2 Progress, we prepare Year 8 participants to mentor Year 6 pupils through the often-challenging transition to secondary school. We work with them on their confidence and interpersonal skills helping them to build strong relationships with their mentees. The Year 8 mentors created personalised covers for their mentees with quotes that mean something to them to inspire them. Our favourite is ‘Believe in yourself, you are the best you!’. These vibrant drawings were then presented to the Year 6 mentees in their first interaction with their new Year 8 mentors, helping to bring down barriers and to start building mutually beneficial relationships between each pair. Find out more about Power2 Progress: https://lnkd.in/eUVS3hmX