Charlotte Schofield tells us all about Power2, the support that they give and how people can connect and get support from them.
Your name?
Charlotte Schofield
What’s your job role?
Income and Engagement Officer
What does your organisation do?
Power2 is a charity that believes every young person should get to fulfil their potential, regardless of where they come from.
We work with young people who are at a critical point in their lives and struggling with school – for whatever reason. Together, we help them improve their wellbeing, re-engage with education, and set foundations for healthier, happier futures.
Our programmes are designed to develop crucial life skills, improve confidence, and boost self-esteem through mentoring and positive psychology. They include:
Teens and Toddlers: Teens and Toddlers is an early intervention programme that sees teens mentor toddlers in a local nursery once per week for sixteen weeks. Alongside the life-changing experience of becoming a role-model to a younger child, young people receive intensive support to reflect on their experiences and use what they have learned about themselves to make positive change in their own lives. At the end of Teens and Toddlers, young people achieve the NCFE Level 1 Award in Interpersonal Skills.
Power2 Rediscover: Power2 Rediscover is our crisis-support programme, developed in response to the pandemic. Young people identified by their teachers as struggling with their wellbeing after successive lockdowns get support from a Power2 facilitator once per week for ten weeks. In that time the young person creates a personalised plan to set goals and re-engage with post-lockdown life, both in and out of school.
Young Leaders: all programme graduates are invited to join Young Leaders, our follow-on programme where young people further develop the skills they need to succeed at school, at work, and in life. Young people take part in workshops delivered in collaboration with Power2 partners – recent examples include the British Exploring Society, the Prince’s Trust, and Power2 corporate partners AMD and Sir Robert McAlpine – which give them the opportunity to improve their soft skills and learn about careers, while also having fun and making new friends!
How does your organisation support & benefit the Southwark community?
We deliver all three of our programmes in Southwark, working with young people all across the borough. We have worked in Southwark since 2001, partnering with other Southwark organisations like Terra Firma and United St Saviour’s Charity to help nearly 700 young people make positive change in their lives and look forward to a healthier, happier future.
That number is growing all the time – at one Southwark School, Oasis Academy, we are about to start delivering Power2 Rediscover to 90 of their students. While we’re pleased that Oasis Academy has such confidence in us and our programme, it goes to show just how many young people are in need of wellbeing support, especially due to the pandemic.
What are you working on, is there anything you would like to highlight?
We are excited to be delivering our award-winning Teens and Toddlers programme in schools again, which had to be paused due to Covid restrictions.
We also recently received a glowing report of Power2 Rediscover by external evaluators, Renaisi. We’re thrilled that Renaisi found that 87% of students whose wellbeing had been affected by the lockdown improved as a result of completing Power2 Rediscover. Read more about the findings here.
A beneficiary of Power2 wrote
‘Lockdown caused my depression to go down the hill and through dark tunnels…
Power2 gave me the chance to see my worth in a new light,
To give myself a chance to make most of the outside world,
It’s safe to say Power2 has helped me massively with my anxiety,
It’s safe to say Power2 is a lifesaving charity’
Poem written by Laiba, age 16
How did you hear about Community Southwark?
We were told about Community Southwark by one of our longest-standing funders, United St Saviour’s Charity.
How has Community Southwark helped you?
Community Southwark has most recently supported Power2 with securing and reporting on a grant from Southwark Council’s COVID19 Community Fund. This enabled us to provide Power2 Rediscover to young people across Southwark who needed additional support with their wellbeing and school engagement as a result of the pandemic. Community Southwark’s website and funding alerts newsletter have also been invaluable tools in helping us find other sources of funding for our programmes in Southwark.
Would you recommend Community Southwark to other charities for support?
Definitely!
How can people get support from your organisation?
Schools can speak to our Head of Operations, Samantha Marcus, about getting a Power2 programme for their students, email: sam.m@power2.org
Young people can join Young Leaders by signing up at the link below. Sessions are free and take place in person in central London and also online. Young people can join our online sessions from anywhere in the country.
https://bit.ly/join-young-leaders
How can people find out more about what you do?
To find out more about Power2, visit our website www.power2.org , where you can also find our donate button if you wish to support us!
We’re on Twitter, LinkedIn, Facebook, and Instagram as @power2org . We also have a monthly newsletter that you can sign up to here, https://bit.ly/power2-newsletter
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