Blog post by Sherae Callum

Over the last 8 months, I have had the privilege of working alongside other like-minded young people on Young Brent Foundation’s Creative Coordinator Programme. Currently, I am working towards delivering a mental health programme for young people as my chosen project, this is because mental health awareness is something I am extremely passionate about. At the beginning of the programme we were given in depth training on how to become project managers and what is needed for a project to be successful. This training was extremely beneficial and gave me a clear indication of what I needed to do in order to create a successful event, which I believe I am on the path to achieve. I learnt about budgeting and advertising as well as many other skills.

Not only did I receive an immense amount of knowledge, I made friends with the people I worked with. We had the opportunity to meet in person to work on our projects, and went on group outings that weren’t specific for our work, but to build our teamwork skills. These really highlighted to me that not only do Young Brent Foundation care about the work ethic of their employees, but also the social benefits that they receive from their jobs.

The idea of the Creative Coordinators programme is to not only to provide young people with work, but also to provide young people in Brent with events made by young people for young people. These events aim to tackle areas where Brent is struggling and fall under the 3 E’s: Education, Employment and Environment. My event is set to take place in the summer and is open to young people aged 13-18, as I believe these are the ages where it is crucial for mental health to be educated on.

I have learnt that a lot of planning and networking goes into creating a project and that there will be things that go perfectly and things that don’t go to plan. I have also learnt that networking is a very important and valuable skill needed for everyday life, not just project management. Finally, I have learnt that the aspirations and ideas I have can be made a reality. I have learnt that I have the potential to make a difference to my community and do not need to hide away from challenges, but face them head on.

Overall, I think that this experience has been a generally positive one and I am sad to see the end of the journey not too far ahead. I hope that I can continue to work with Young Brent Foundation on future projects and continue to make a change in my community. The programme has really inspired me to start planning my own personal projects and I hope that in the near future I will have accomplished many of my goals. This experience is one I will never forget and I hope that other young people, when given the chance, take up opportunities and jobs like this, as I am sure they will enjoy it as much as I did.

Blog by Sherae Callum, Aged 17