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Who You Help: The Urban Hope Youth Project

2014-01-31T11:05:29+00:00

As Poverty and ��tvlessness Awareness Week comes to a close, we look at Urban Hope, a vibrant youth project based at St Stephen's Church in North London. The project runs after school activities for girls aged 11-18 from low-income families who are socially excluded in Islington.

Many of these young women live in poverty and have little or no personal support or a reduced access to life opportunities. This project is also an extremely crucial service for some women who are experiencing extreme crisis and/or hardship, unplanned pregnancy, homelessness and domestic violence.

Urban Hope runs a girls club for 10-13 year olds, focusing on the development of identity and participation in the wider community. For those slightly older there are confidence and self-esteem courses. Workshops and courses cover a range of themes such as healthy living, beauty therapy, substance misuse, CV writing and cookery. Young women are also offered mentoring, advice, advocacy and crisis support on a one-to-one basis and in small group settings.

The Urban Hope Youth Project

��tv Children in Need directly funds female youth worker Joy Faulkner who describes the young people she supports:

“Some girls come because they’re bored; their parents work long hours and are not around. There’s not a lot of money and not many opportunities. There can be issues with boys trying to control young women in local gangs. We’ve had some fantastic success stories – one girl Abbie was pregnant at 16 but was picked to be an apprentice chef for one of Jamie Oliver’s restaurants. Another young person Jermaine is a now full time dancer- we see him on the X Factor!"

Chloe, 15 talks about the support she’s received from Urban Hope over the years and the inspiration behind her short story ‘Life Isn’t Me.’

Chloe

"I think I've been coming to Urban Hope about 5 years. I got a leaflet about it in my letterbox. Me and my friends invited my cousin too and we've all be coming since. At Urban Hope I mostly talk a lot!! Recently I recorded a song with one of the youth workers. When I come to Urban Hope I’m normally cooking or on the computer or like mucking about with friends on the pool table or ping pong or other activities.

I think I've changed I’m more mature and I think I’m a better person because when I was little whenever anyone upset me I would say ‘you’re not my friend’ even if they only did one thing wrong. Now I’m a much more forgiving person and I don’t hold grudges against anyone. I get to hang out with mature people that make good choices and obviously that's really helped.

Life Isn’t Me is about a girl running away from home because she doesn't like the life that she lives. At home it’s just her and her mum so when she runs away she’s got nowhere to go. While she’s on her 'adventure’ she meets a boy called Nathan. He ran away from home but he could never go back and he encourages her to go back home.
I wrote it because at one point in my life I wanted to get away from it all. There was loads of stress and everything was going on in my head. I just wanted to run away but couldn’t find it in myself to do it…so I wrote a character to do it for me! The story says don’t make choices you might regret, sometimes stuff’s hard but running away isn’t the answer.

I’ve never really thought about writing as a career, Life Isn't Me was something I started cos I was bored in a class and I enjoyed it so I carried it on till it was finished. I really want to do something creative, maybe in art, I love drawing."

Find out more about the Urban Hope Youth Project.

Who You Help: New Horizons Youth Centre

2014-01-29T13:04:10+00:00

We are halfway through Poverty and ��tvlessness Awareness Week and continuing to look at the work done by organisations to help vulnerable young people who are dealing with issues around homelessness. New Horizon Youth Centre is a youth crisis centre in Chalton Street, Camden, London. They see up to 3000 young people a year and are open 7 days a week. Kids turn up hungry, homeless and with serious life traumas.

The centre has been awarded several grants from ��tv Children in Need since 1999 with the latest one focusing on late afternoon activities for vulnerable teenagers facing issues around homelessness, leaving care and youth offending. The Positive Futures Youth Programme catches many of the teens that have rocked up to the centre during the day and is split into a Young Men’s and Young Women’s Group. Sessions are informal and include sport and trips, anger management, cooking on a budget, sexual exploitation awareness and the criminal justice system.

Teenagers might come through the crisis doors having lost their way but after a CV workshop, cooking class, a chat with the nurse and counselling plan they leave with a bit more hope and a realistic plan – not to mention a mean recipe for chocolate brownies.

Janet from New Horizons Youth Centre

Janet Matthews supports both the crisis centre drop-ins and the regulars to get them the right benefits, develop their CVs and let young people know about job fairs and opportunities. She asked one young person, Annalise* 18, to describe her first week at New Horizon Youth Centre.

Monday:
It was a bitter cold September morning and I stood with about 10 others outside the centre. No eye contact, I just kept my head down. It didn’t open for another hour but sleeping rough means I’m up early. Last night it was the back of the local supermarket. I crawled behind the bins, out of sight where it was quiet and there was some heat coming from the ventilators. I’ve never been alone like this and I’m scared.
The doors opened and everyone went in. I got a tour of the centre from Janet and she gave me a coat and gloves plus a hot drink. There was so much going on I was confused but my fingers were thawing and I was ok to just sit and watch.
I was embarrassed to talk about what’s going on but I tried…family problems, they don’t want me staying on in college because my family say I need to get a job to help pay the bills, kicked me out the house…police found me sleeping rough and told me about the centre.
The Housing Team found me a place to stay for a few nights, with a host family from the local area. Janet told me to come back tomorrow morning and gave me some bus tickets so I’m not heading back to the supermarket.

Tuesday:
Today was hard. I had to talk to a counsellor, about how I don’t care about things and sometimes think about harming myself. About feeling alone and missing my family. I had a go at knitting with one of the ‘knitting grannies,’ I wasn’t very good.

Wednesday:
I didn’t feel like coming today. The self defence workshop was good. I hadn’t really thought about what might happen, sleeping rough. I met Evie who has been coming here for a month as she ran away from her home in Leeds. She was having family problems and misses her brothers and sisters too.
At the end of the day Housing came with news that they have got me a bed in a shelter for six weeks. I left the centre feeling like things weren’t so bad.

Thursday:
Today we had a session, that’s for people like me who aren’t in college and haven’t got a job. It was a surprise to write down all the things I HAVE done, focus on the positive. I’m going to come to the NEET (Not in Education, Employment or Training) classes next week and as I’m interested in events Janet’s going to look for some apprenticeships for me. There is so much out there that I didn’t know about.

Friday:
Cooking today which was chocolate brownies and I helped serve at the pop up crepe stall outside in the market which was funny. Then I did the women’s group session which was about conflict and how to deal with things.

A month later and Janet tells me that Annalise* is now housed in a long term hostel, she is attending weekly sessions with the counsellor, and just recently secured an apprenticeship with Camden for events management. Her mental stability has improved and she continues to come to the centre for support. On her experience at New Horizon Annalise* said:

‘I do not know where I would have been without New Horizons I really believe they saved my life, I am still lonely without my family but can come back here for company and I think I am going to be alright’.
*Not her real name

Janet reported that at least 200 young people come through the doors a week and it’s usually more. I asked her why she does this job and what keeps her motivated:

‘I work with the hardest to reach young people to source education and employment opportunities, doing this job is an honour and a privilege as I get to witness change on a daily basis and always get what I call "goose bump moments" watching young people turn their lives around with my support. I am passionate about young people being given every possible chance to succeed. A quote I once heard and sincerely believe in is do a job you truly love and you will never have to work a day in your life!’

Find out more about the New Horizon Youth Centre here.

Who You Help: Keys to the Future Shelter project in Knowsley

2014-01-27T11:01:48+00:00

This is the start of Poverty and ��tvlessness Awareness Week and a good opportunity to highlight the work being done around this subject by organisations funded by ��tv Children in Need. We have been funding the Keys to the Future project in Knowsley, Merseyside through Shelter since 2009. The aim of this project is to support children and young people who are affected by homelessness.

The Knowsley Project

The following case studies highlight how young people have been helped by this project.

Case Study 1 – Sophie and Marc

Sophie and Marc came to Shelter after meeting one of their Support Workers whilst visiting a friend. They had recently moved to Merseyside from Cardiff with their two children, Julia (aged 8) and Richard (aged 2). At the time, Sophie was pregnant with their third child and was suffering from depression.

The family were really struggling to settle into the new area. The stress of extensive debt as well as disrepair issues with their new house meant that both Sophie and Marc were finding it hard to support their children through a difficult period of transition. As a consequence, both children, and in particular Julia, had worrying behavioural issues. Julia had developed problems with anxiety; she refused to travel on public transport and was also having difficulties with other children in the neighbourhood who were taunting her because of her Welsh accent.

Shelter’s Support Worker assessed the family and set up a holistic action plan for improving their situation. Sophie started to attend a parenting course, which helped her to deal with her children’s behavioural issues and improved her confidence in her parenting ability. She also received advice in addressing the family’s financial problems from Citizens Advice and was able to negotiate an affordable repayment plan for the family’s debt. Shelter’s Support Worker worked with Sophie and Marc on contacting their landlord and getting him to finish the outstanding repair work to the property. She also successfully petitioned the local authority for a free place at nursery for Richard, and worked one-on-one with Julia to improve her confidence and deal with her worries.

As the action plan was completed the family’s functioning began to improve. Richard started nursery, giving Sophie precious time to prepare for the new baby. Julia is doing far better at school and is now taking dance classes, which have substantially enhanced her confidence. Moreover, she has learnt to cope with some of her worries, and is much better at dealing with challenging situations. All the repairs to the house have been completed and the family now enjoy spending time at home together. Both parents have improved self-esteem and are now confident, engaged parents.

Case Study 2 – Michael and Tracy

Michael and Tracy were referred to the Knowsley Project as the family were getting targeted in the community, their living condition was very poor, the family had experienced homelessness in the past and had several moves. The referrer said the housing situation had an impact on the children; Michael and Tracy have four children, John 18, Anna 15, Sophie 14 & Ellie 10.

The family was assessed during the initial visit with complex needs around housing, family dynamic, mental health and the children’s education. The issues with housing were around overcrowding, the condition of the property, disrepairs/safety and rent arrears. With five adults and the three children living in the 3-bedroom property, the house was overcrowded. The three daughters had to share one bedroom which had an impact on their relationship, education and personal development.

The family were in rent arrears with their current and previous landlord, so they could not apply for social housing. As their landlord had sent armed men to collect some rent arrears previously, they were too scared to be referred to an enforcement officer to chase the landlord to complete the repairs. The family had to move, as soon as possible, to a decent area, bigger house and into private housing.

The housing situation had an impact on the parents too, who were both suffering from depression, especially Michael. As both Michael and Tracy were not mentally well, this had an impact on their confidence and parenting. They did not communicate with their daughters’ school and did not deal with Anna’s attendance and behaviour issues. The three daughters were referred to a child support worker for one-to-one support.

After six months of support and multi-agency work with the council’s housing team, the family was re-housed into private housing. The deposit was guaranteed by the council, as the landlord is accredited by the council. Michael and Tracy have managed since not only to sustain the tenancy but also to maintain the condition of the property up to a decent standard. The family receives full housing benefits and have maintained a good relationship with their landlord. Their parenting skills have improved and all family members take responsibility to keep the home tidy and clean. Both parents take an active part in their daughters’ education too. All family members have stated they are all happier since they moved.

The work that is done by this project wouldn’t be possible without the money that you raise and donate to ��tv Children in Need. Your generosity helps young lives right here where you live in the UK. Find out more about the Shelter – Knowsley Child Support project here.

Fundraising Heroes guest post: Megan and Megan's story

2013-11-07T11:05:57+00:00

Last week we introduced you to two bright young fundraisers, Megan and Megan, who were about to undertake an ambitious fundraising challenge, attempting to live in poverty for a week. Let's see how they got on!

"It’s Megan and Megan here with our second blog post and what a week it was! From dog flaps to sub-zero temperatures, all the way to hurricane weather, we experienced it all last week!

We slept in the caravan last Sunday night so we could get straight into the challenge first thing Monday morning. Little did we know that sleep wasn’t an option. Mother Nature decided to pay a visit and give us a cheeky little shower - just kidding, it was torrential rain. Which kept us up most of the night with its constant hammering on the roof of the caravan. By the time we eventually got to sleep, it was time to get up for the first day back at school.

Monday

School was alright; however we missed out on breakfast as we’d been a bit silly the night before and put the bananas in the fridge, meaning they were a bit too chilly to eat. As we only had one lesson that day (hurrah!) we decided to take a stroll down to our local supermarket to pick up our groceries for the week. On our way to the supermarket, we had a little dilemma. Megan forgot to pick up her £10, meaning that we only had £10 to spend for a week’s worth of food! But we soon came to find out that this didn’t matter as we managed to purchase the goods for £9.71 And when we say goods, we mean low-price, value range food. Mmm mmm!

Megan, Megan, Pudsey and Blush go shopping on a budget.

When we eventually made it back to the caravan after one treacherous walk from the other side of town, we hadn’t realised just how cold it actually was inside. So there we were, eating our jam sandwiches in our coat and scarves! As the day drew to an end, the temperature in the caravan dropped significantly, making us feel colder than ever. Nothing made us warmer, so we slept with seven layers of blankets but it still didn’t work. Once again, we didn’t sleep much that night.

Tuesday

When we woke up, we were greeted with another little surprise. It was that cold during the night that the butter had frozen on the counter, resulting in us not having toast for breakfast. Typical. School on Tuesday proved to be a bit more difficult than Monday, due to the lack of sleep, food and warmth, meaning that concentrating in lessons became much harder. Our focus was more on how hungry and tired we were, rather than the work that was presented to us.

Eventually lunch time came around, meaning we got to scoff down a baguette and a mini tub of crisps between us. When we joined our group, we were greeted by comments which made us feel worse than ever. ‘You two are looking a bit pale today’ and ‘You look absolutely dreadful’ were just a few remarks mentioned. Because we aren’t wearing any makeup, this made us feel even more self-conscious, and we felt ugly and uncomfortable, all things that did not go down well with our self-esteem.

Back at the caravan, things were hotting up! Just joking, it was freezing. To warm ourselves up, we decided tonight was the night that we were going to eat… soup! Shopping on a budget meant we had to make some tough choices, and we not eating the type of food we were accustomed to, which was a bit of a shock.

It's soup time!

Once everything was tidied, we decided to take some cheeky selfies, only to find out that our hair looked a right state. But what’s a gal gonna do when she ain’t got no shower? EUREKA! We washed our hair in the sink. However, this proved to be a little more difficult than we anticipated.

It's not easy washing your hair in the sink.

As the day drew to a close, we decided we couldn’t go on any more without heating, so Megan’s Uncle Pete presented us with an idea. What idea you may be thinking, well hold on to your seats because we’re about to tell you. He suggested we could perhaps have heating for 24 hours, if we deducted a small sum of money from our budget. We decided to take off £2 as we felt this was a reasonable amount. When we woke up on Wednesday, we were still nice and toasty from the night before. A rare treat last week, I can tell you.

Wednesday

Being without a computer was proving very difficult for the both of us that night. We both had deadlines we had to meet for the end of the week, meaning that our free time after school was spent at school, what little free time we have anyway. But being at school all afternoon had its bonuses, I mean it kept us from going back to our cold caravan.

Night had fallen by the time we eventually returned back to the caravan, meaning that what little electricity we had left, we used wisely! And by wisely I mean we used the oven. I mean, a pizza isn’t going to cook itself now is it. After what felt like 10 minutes, we had to turn off the electricity and our only means of light was the candles we had lit and the light from the stars and the moon. Ok, that was a bit of an over exaggeration but seriously, we only had candles to provide light. And I tell you now, be careful around candles! While revising, I accidentally placed my paper over the candle and it started to burn! I think I’ve learnt my lesson of never working near lit flames.

Thursday

By Thursday, we were both absolutely exhausted. School seemed to be getting on top of us due to our lack of resources and to top it all off, we wouldn’t be eating until at least 8pm tonight. We have to walk around our town tonight with Megan’s three year old brother as its Halloween! However, due to our lack of money, unfortunately we won’t be able to celebrate this year as our money is needed for food and basic necessities, rather than costumes and treats. Luckily, teachers have shown support and have been donating throughout the day, passing it around as many people as possible. We even got a free lollipop from one of our Psychology teachers, Mrs. Welland. I know, she’s a cutie, bless her.

Friday

After we dragged ourselves out of the caravan that cold and blustery Friday morning, the end was in sight, but we were exhausted. English dragged, Art dragged, even lunch dragged! We just wanted to get back to the caravan. Although, there was a positive to this day. During Sociology, Mrs. Fletcher gave us a nice little shout-out to the rest of the class, informing them of what we are doing. Talk about embarrassing!

Eventually, the day finished and it was like a High School Musical moment. The kids were singing, the birds were tweeting, even the cleaners were dancing around their mops! Okay, that’s a bit of an exaggeration but everyone was happy that it was the end of the school week. Just when we thought everything was going swiftly, we were reminded that one of our friend’s birthday parties was the same night and we were unable to go, due to the limited budget we had set ourselves, it meant that we didn’t have sufficient funds to buy a new outfit. We could have gone in one of the outfits we had been wearing; however this didn’t make us feel very good about ourselves and it wasn’t dress appropriate. So instead, we stayed in the caravan, completed a jigsaw paper and read the Psychology/Sociology review. Talk about a party.

Saturday

The next morning we decided to venture into town to pick up tonight’s dinner. As we had £10 left, we decided to treat ourselves to microwaveable jacket potatoes topped with cheese, as opposed to the toast we’d been eating for the past two days. It was a God-send! By the time we had devoured our ‘scrumptious’ potatoes, we were still hungry. But what we were craving the most was fresh fruit and veg. We hadn’t even touched a piece of fruit throughout the entire week! Our budget didn’t allow us to buy fruit and veg due to the price, so we just had to carry on eating processed food all week. To celebrate our last night in the caravan, we cranked up Smooth and drank endless cups of teas while talking the night away. When we eventually made those two steps to get to the bedroom, our heads hit the pillow and we were out like a light. Too much partying, I think.

Sunday

When we woke up, we only had 3 hours to get packed and leave the caravan for good. We were both very sentimental when leaving the caravan, we had called it home for the past week! But, we were finally glad to be going back home to our family and taking a nice long shower and enjoying a lovely Sunday roast. That sounds wonderful doesn’t it? To know that you have somewhere that can provide all these things. Things we take for granted.

So far we’ve raised just over £500 for ��tv Children in Need but people are still donating as much as they can. We are hoping that once people understand what we have done and why we have done it, that they’ll either sponsor us or even pick up the phone on the appeal night and give as much as possible.

So that’s what happened during our week, we hope that we can raise as much money as possible for such a great cause. With the support of family, friends, teachers and members of the public, we hope to make this event a truly memorable one and hopefully we inspire other young people to go out and make a difference. From this experience we have learned that many people, including ourselves, take things for granted, but we are now realising that we should be happy with what we have got.

Poverty is a very serious problem in the UK that is overlooked by many people, and by doing this we are happy that we have raised a lot of awareness, and have shown what effect this experience has had on us. We have realised that people do spend so much on food as we have only spent £9.71 to last us for the week. However the food we have been eating has not necessarily been healthy or filling, but that’s beside the point. Just think, the £10 you spend on foundation, clothes, whatever, could essentially feed a child for a whole week. Or what about that games console that you barely use that cost say £120? Just think what a difference you could make to someone’s life by selling that and donating the proceeds. These types of things, we take for granted, but for some kids, these things could change lives."

That was Megan and Megan's week! Storms, frozen butter, chilly bananas, hunger, cold and exhaustion - the girls went experienced it all, but it seems like it was a very rewarding experience for all involved. All of us here at ��tv Children in Need just want to say a massive thank you to Megan and Megan for their efforts, and for raising such a large amount in such an eye-opening way!

Fundraising Heroes guest post: Megan and Megan

2013-10-24T12:47:16+00:00

We were recently contacted by two keen fundraisers, Megan and Megan, who have decided to live in poverty for a whole week to raise money for ��tv Children in Need and raise awareness of child poverty, starting on Monday 28 October. We were so interested, we asked both girls to write us a blog post telling us all about it. Here’s what Megan and Megan had to say:

Hello there fellow fundraisers, Megan and Megan here with our first post for ��tv Children in Need 2013! To kick things off we thought we’d introduce ourselves. We are: Megan, a 17-year-old student, who loves reading, watching Pretty Little Liars and enjoys listening to Demi Lovato. And Megan, also 17 who loves dancing, watching America’s Next Top Model and enjoys listening to One Direction. A little bit more information than you probably asked for but it’s good to get to know each other, right?

You may be wondering what this post is all about. Well, fear no longer for we are about to reveal all! Over the summer, we were casually talking about whether this year’s donations would beat ��tv Children in Need’s record, as you do, and to help out, we decided to jump on the fundraising wagon. What are we doing? Basically, we shall be living like a child in poverty for a whole week in order to raise awareness of this sensitive topic. We have always been fortunate in terms of the material goods in our lives and have never had to go without due to our parents. Because of this, we decided that it would be a good idea to get more of an understanding into how people living in poverty deal with everyday situations.

Megan and Megan are busy preparing for their fundraising challenge!

To raise as much awareness and insight as possible, we’ve come up with certain rules that we must live by during the week:

1. We have a budget of £20 for both of us for groceries, any school equipment and toiletries.
2. We will be staying in a family member’s caravan, so we can control the heating, and make it as realistic as possible.
3. We are giving up all our electrical devices i.e. computers, phones, hair appliances etc., with the exception of school/library computers.
4. We will have no access to a shower, so we will have to wash our hair in the sink.
5. We will have no transport.
6. The only electrical item we are allowed is a camera so we can document our days to prove that we are dedicated and willing to do this.

Sounds exciting, right? By doing this, we hope we can get people to donate as much as they can from seeing just exactly how much our lives have changed in just that week.
As it’s just a few days away (that’s pretty scary!), we’ve got to thinking about how we are going to prepare for it. We decided to take a trip up to our local supermarkets to have a look at some of their prices and compare deals. We have also been thinking about different foods we will be eating, like pasta, rice, porridge, bread and potatoes. We know these types of foods are ‘filling’ which will be beneficial to us with our budget.

We are remaining positive about how this challenge will go, even though we know it’ll be tough! We are super-duper nervous to start this challenge but it’s all for a good cause. If you’d like to sponsor us for this challenge, click on our just giving page here or simply donate directly to ��tv Children in Need. After all, every little helps!

Intrigued? Check back soon for updates on Megan and Megan’s fundraising challenge! If you’re embarking on a fundraising challenge, let us know!

Simply email your local address on this page, and tag us @��tvCiN on Twitter and Instagram or @Pudsey Bear on Facebook. Don't forget to use our official hashtags to help us spread the excitement - #bakeit, #pyjamas, #songanddance and, of course, #BeAHero.

If you still haven't decided what you'll be doing to fundraise this year, it's not too late to get involved! A great place to start is by downloading one of our free 2013 fundraising packs. Or if you prefer, you can order one in the post. You’ll be a fundraising hero in no time at all.

Celebrating St David's Day

2013-02-28T18:09:32+00:00

To mark St David’s Day on 1 March, we want to celebrate some of the amazing work going on at the 140 projects throughout Wales that are being funded thanks to your donations.

��tv Children in Need has awarded grants worth more than £7 million to charities throughout the nation, from Pembrokeshire to Plas Madoc, covering a range of issues from bereavement support to help coping with a disability, impairment, educational need, behavioural difficulty, experiencing domestic abuse, homelessness or bullying.

Click here to find out more about read about how a group of children in Wrexham are using recycled junk to create their own outdoor play space.

And once you've watched the cute-as-a-button video below, click to discover exactly how the Welsh National Opera is bringing a smile to young hospital patients.

Helping to bring happiness and fun to very poorly children through the power of music.

Darllenwch yn Gymraeg

A Big Deal for Teenagers

2013-02-01T16:46:11+00:00

The first Friday of each month is ‘Freestyle Friday’ at Studio 3 Arts dance studios in Barking, Essex. That’s when street dancers from the area battle it out with each other in a friendly frenzy of carefully coordinated choreography!

They’ve developed their skills – and other young people will be able to develop theirs - thanks to a new three-year grant of £108,360 that pays for the expertise of two freelance choreographers as well as some of the other costs involved.

Jade Hackett, of Unity UK, is one of those dance experts and she leads the dance company Big Deal. You can see some of them – Rochelle, Jennifer, Zoe, Rhianna and Oleata - in this picture during a rehearsal.

Studio 3 Arts is supported by a grant from ��tv Children in Need.

Big Deal have formed a tight-knit bond after last year winning the Borough and England Hip-Hop Championships and then travelling to Germany to compete in the World Championships, where they finished seventh. Each dance member reels off anecdotes about the highs and the lows of what that entailed, from getting their costumes sorted to crying with frustration when a routine didn’t go well.

Jade says: “I drove them really hard and will settle for nothing less than a top three place next time! I have very high standards because they have the talent and just need to be pushed. I’m equally adamant that they do their school work and learn about the history of hip hop, absorbing information about human rights issues along the way because that’s important. They’re great girls.”

The success of Big Deal is also down to Artistic Director Liza Vallance’s ethos. She commands great respect in running the art, music and acting taster sessions at the studios each summer, as well as the dance sessions.

Liza establishes where each teenager’s particular interest or skill lies before encouraging them to explore that skill further. Those teenagers may come from low income families, have experienced gang culture or been involved in anti-social behaviour or they may be at risk of school exclusion. But any attitude or self-esteem issues are soon reshaped by both Liza and those who have already benefitted from the project.

Rochelle says: “Some of the kids are really rude when they first arrive and have tons of attitude but they soon learn from the rest of us how they are expected to behave and the other kids really stick up for and protect Liza.”

But it wasn’t long ago that Liza was working for free and this project’s existence was under threat because of a lack of funds. So thank you for donating to ��tv Children in Need and enabling girls like Rochelle, Jennifer, Zoe, Rhianna and Oleata to reach their full potential.

����tv Children in Need Feed