Case Study

Rally Round

JJ and friends

JJ, and three of his friends, aged between 15-18, had all come together through the youth offending service after having negative experiences at school and finding themselves taking a direction they weren’t happy with. After speaking to Mark, their Keyfund facilitator, they realised that they all had a keen interest in biking. These young men, who had previously, in Mark’s words, ‘fought first and asked questions later,’ needed a project that was hands on, but also that helped them make amends in their community. So they formed the group Rally Round, and got involved in a project which takes old bikes, strips them down, repairs and rebuilds them and then sends them out to remote parts of Africa.

Developing the skills was a challenge for the group but also extremely rewarding. None of these young men had attended school for years and found literacy and numeracy a real challenge, but with the help of their facilitator Mark, using colours, images and with a focus on structured discussion, the group were able to consider their skills development and made significant improvements in their communication. Mark said, ‘I now feel the group communicate better in both their peer group and with people in authority.’

However, Mark also revealed, ‘they found it really really hard to do the presentation and for a while it was touch and go as to whether they would go through with it.’ The nature of a BLAST is that all the groups go to panel on the same day creating an exciting and vibrant atmosphere. But for these young men, it was more terrifying than exciting. ‘The lads were really concerned about being there with other young people and the stereotyping around them. They were worried about what other people might say to them.’ However, all the worrying was unnecessary as the group sailed through their panel and were awarded the full amount of £250.

The young men were delighted and Mark said, ‘putting an idea together and seeing it all come together at the end was such an achievement for them.’ One of the young men, JJ also went on panel training so that he was able to sit on panels of other young people and continue to give back to his community. Since Rally Round, all 4 have gone on to positive futures – one continues his rehabilitation with the youth offending service, one is working full time in warehousing, one is in full time training in construction and one is volunteering in animal care. JJ even sat as a representative on a young person’s interview board with the justice minister in London. And all continue to love going out on their bikes.