Lambeth young people are ready for the challenge

Our Community Regeneration team has been working with The Challenge Network, a delivery agent for the Government’s National Citizen Service. The Challenge is aimed at year 11 school children who have completed their GCSEs and aims to tackle youth issues by improving confidence, creating opportunities and involving young people in the wider community.

Participants take on physical, social and civic challenges that prepare them to design and deliver a project that will make a difference in their community. Key skills including teamwork, leadership and communication are taught and they are encouraged to develop trust in others and responsibility for themselves.

We worked with The Challenge Network to recruit young people from the Lambeth area onto the project. After attending a residential camp they were then linked to a community project at Moorlands in Brixton which soon provided them with an opportunity to put their new skills and ideas into practice.

Thirty young people worked with residents of the Moorlands allotment and nature garden projects to improve and redevelop the children’s dragon playground, the nature garden and allotment areas. They worked in teams and carried out tasks which included tidying and weeding, painting benches, planting bulbs and building scarecrows and bird tables.

The group really enjoyed the day and we are hoping that they will want to volunteer for future programmes and continue to make a contribution in the community by developing their own projects.

MHT’s Community Regeneration Team is looking to partner with the Challenge again this year. If you would like to be involved please contact Tony Rodriguez, Community Initiatives Officer, on 020 3535 3535 or Tony.Rodriguez@metropolitan.org.uk

For more information about the Challenge go to www.the-challenge.org