Provide Urgent Covid-19 Relief for 3,000 UK Youth

We are so excited to announce that with the support of our GlobalGiving donors, between the 16th and the 20th of February, PeaceJam UK visited The Peterborough School, Ackworth School, The Mount School York and the CATCH Youth Centre in Leeds. Running multiple workshops and facilitating small group discussions, as well as hosting a Youth Team Training Day at The University of Bradford. Empowering youth to challenge the negative narrative surrounding the so-called 'Generation Covid' to become 'Generation Change', a positive force for good!

“In a world of seemingly continuous suffering and conflict, it is easy to forget about what actions of Peace have been made and what can be made. This is why I have taken an interest in PeaceJam as I hope to be able to transition from wanting/thinking about making a difference and actually trying to. In talking to Luke and Fay it was really inspiring to see two people talk so passionately about Peace and about encouraging young people to take action for social justice. We were provided with valuable and clear insight as to what to do with our interests and how to funnel our ideas into actual action.” Adam, Student. 

In the upcoming months, PeaceJam will be kickstarting and advancing the Generation Change programme in schools and youth groups during similar outreach weeks in different locations across the UK! The next step, and an important aspect of our transformative programme, is connecting young people to university-aged PeaceJam-trained mentors for regular workshop sessions. We are thrilled to share that training is already underway for our next wave of mentors. 

On Saturday the 24th of February, 36 students from the University of Bradford underwent Level One training in Peace Education and Conflict Resolution. Led by Rotary Peace Fellow Ufra Mir and staff from the Department of Peace Studies and International Development, Dr Sudhir Selvaraj and Professor Fiona Macaulay, participants learned about emotional intelligence, active listening, facilitation skills, and how to use games. This will equip them to learn more at Level Two and take PeaceJam and Generation Change into schools and youth settings as ‘near-peer’ mentors to help young people become change makers and peacebuilders.

“Moving forward, I feel much more confident about my potential to complete a social action project after speaking about PeaceJam with representatives, face to face.” Izzy, Student.

None of this would be possible without the support of our GlobalGiving donors, thank you for making Generation Change possible. 

Links:

• Youth article about our visit to The Mount School York
• 'Young Reporter' article from a member of our UK Youth Team