Exceeding Expectations

Hi there,

If you want to lift yourself up, lift up someone else.

I have always been driven to support others to succeed. I have always tried to be the voice for the person who could not shout loudly enough and I have tried always to listen and not talk all the time.

I never could have imagined that I would be writing blogs, a new skill that I have learnt from the training, like this one.

Did we ever realise within ACK that ACK Young Champions would, with a lot of hard work and comittment, be as successful as it is. We utterly believed in the journey, we believed in our young mentors and we certainly wanted to support, inspire and empower our new group of young workplace recipients.

At the start of this journey all the young people were nervous, anxious, lacking in confidence, hostile, angry at times and were uncertain where this journey was going to take them. They were also excited to be involved and had no perception of where they were going to end up.

Could I have ever imagined that ACK Young Champions initiative or pilot would ever have achieved what it has. A group of young people were given a place and a purpose, trust and respect. They began to feel included, loved learning basic new skills and the tougher skills that pushed them to places that they felt they could not or would not go. We became a team who communicated, listened, learnt, planned, achieved outcomes, organised events and most importantly became confident and proud of ourselves and each other.

 

Imagine with all your mind,

Believe with all your heart,

Achieve with all your might.

 

All the ACK Young Champions mean everything to me but I have real deep routed love and respect for Bobbi. I have worked with Bobbi and her whole family for over eight years through thick and thin. Its been quite a journey and I knew that I would never lose touch. It filled me with such happiness when Bobbi was delighted to be part our workplace training.

Our journey began together again and we talked about some of the issues and then we tackled them together in OUR trusting and respectful way. There were two issues that stood out for me, one was a real lack of confidence and the other was speaking in public or on the phone. These are issues that all the young people had so it was challenging but not impossible to support and change.

Bobbi not only tackled her fears she smashed them. She became so empowered, self confident and able to, I believe, tackle anything that she wanted. At our celebratory musical event that ACK Young Champions organised, she sang a solo which was always a dream in her mind, but never imagined it would become a reality. There was such pride in that room for her but no one was more proud than Bobbi herself.

The success of ACK Young Champions is being recognised in Dundee I believe, and we are as a team, incredibly proud of the last year. It has been hard, unsettling, worrying but our team spirit has never failed. This is the start of our journey and not many small social enterprises can claim this amazing achievement. Our pilot has led to Bobbi gaining part time employment, guess where,  in a Call Centre. It is truly an achievement indeed.

Bobbi, I love and respect you and you are my inspiration.

Team Spirit

Hi there,

We are not a team because we work together. We are a team because we respect, trust and care for each other.

Today I have been working with ACK for a year. What a year it has been and I never imagined how fulfilled I would be. Moving on is never easy and it certainly has been a journey and really challenging at times however, here we are at the end of our workplace training programme.

The ACK team are incredibly strong women with a skillset and a focus to work hard, make changes and support each other. ACK had a vision to work with young people and increase their awareness of the potential to volunteer or work in the third sector, to encourage social responsibility and realise that there is potential to give back to the community that they live in.

I was the medium with the experience of working with children, young people and their families to work alongside all the team and drive this forward. Kirsty, Clare, Fiona, Fiona and Jenny how we have discussed and planned and the vision has become a reality.

ACK Young Champions is about providing a supportive and encouraging workplace environment to allow young people to develop life skills and to realise their potential no matter what their background is.

If you ever find yourself doubting you can make it through a challenge, simply think back to everything you have overcome in the past

So what does the next 7 months bring for the team, the mentors and the young people. Today is the start of our journey to further develop our programme  together.

Support

“Do what is right, not what is easy.”

Today is a new day and I feel utterly overwhelmed with the Facebook messages and private messages that I received last night after my news of leaving ACK.  I was feeling very disheartened at the financial sustainability of ACK Young Champions and the reality that the hard work done by all was not able to sustain our programme.  The reality now is that our work place training will end at the end of August.

I am immensely proud of our mentors who have committed to designing, driving and supporting our workplace training programme forward. They make me so proud and it pleases me greatly at what they are also achieving.

 I could never have imagined that our 7 ACK Young Champions would feel as fulfilled as they do. They have such self respect and self belief in themselves. They are empowered young people who are on a mission to succeed and plan their celebratory event at Clarks on the 17th July.They are amazing communicators and love team working.

“When life kicks you, let it kick you forward”

ACK Young Champions journey will continue and it is exciting to imagine where it will go. There is such a need in Dundee to support, nurture and drive to increase many young peoples chances to reach their potential. Becoming a charity is the only way forward, I believe in it wholeheartedly  and I believe that our young people are desperate to carry on with their journey.

Although my heart is heavy, never underestimate the passion and commitment that flows through me regarding ACK Young Champions and what it means. I was told by my friend, Karran Bonner, always do what drives and motivates you and go with your gut feeling. I believe this is the start of my journey, albeit very unnerving, but I will go on that journey with dignity and respect.

The Journey

On Thursday I was really happy to see Anthea and I was also excited to see what we were going to learn. Every week we learn something new and everyone is getting so confident with speaking to each other and giving their own opinions.

Written by Rheanna Robertson

Sometimes we face many challenges and this has been a very difficult week for me and I have been very aware of my varying emotions. My dad said, his words on my wedding day, that I was a woman filled with determination and “gur”. This is seemingly a North East word for sheer stubborness or never giving up on what you believe in. I have carried this trait with me all my life and have that “gur” now, more than I ever have.

 

I am taking part in the ACK workplace training. I am really enjoying learning and trying new things. I love working with Anthea and the mentors and that I have so much responsibility because I feel it makes me more mature than I really am. I love the team and everyone is so kind and will listen to our ideas.

I think that we have become so much closer since we first started and I cant wait to see the end result.

Written by Kayden Kelly

These inspiring blogs written by two of our Young People sum up for me, the success of our workplace training initiative.We are evolving into a team with so much respect for each others abilities and strengths. We are a team who support, listen and communicate with each other and we feel strong in our abilities to tell the story of our journey ACK Young Champions.

Whatever my feelings are, I will, along with many other people in Dundee, strive and work hard to continue with this amazing journey and take pride in what we at ACK are achieving.

Anthea

 

 

 

 

An Initiative

Inspirational

A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step.

I never imagined that I would be so overwhelmed by the commitment of our young people who are attending our ACK Young Champions Workplace Training. They have an interest and enthusiasm around their new learning and their eagerness to progress certainly inspires me to support and develop their skills further.

Our mentors have trully overwhelmed me with their passion to format our initiative into something more creative and interactive. Their varies differing skills is like a breath of fresh air to me and not only are our young people learning, I am too.

So this journey that inspires me is certainly beginning, and it is moving in a direction that we maybe would have envisaged in years to come and certainly not now. Our vision is now a reality.
If you would like to keep up with our journey elsewhere you can follow us on Instagram!
Similarly, if you would like to donate to our program you can do so on JustGiving.

Great Career or Missed Opportunity?

Fears

Everyone has fears. Big fears and small fears. One of my fears is making a phone call. Not just an average phone call to your friends but one where you feel anxious and nervous. At ACK Young Champions, Anthea and I were practicing how to communicate on the phone to companies who would help us with support our Event. I wrote down what to say and practiced and practiced and then I got better. I learned a lot from that and I felt like I could do anything and that filled me with confidence.  Blog written by Bobbi

This blog written by one of our inspiring young people is a credit to her. Bobbi’s honesty moves me and the fact that she is achieving already in our workplace training is immense. Our young people are driven and focused and in their two hour placement they work hard and are achieving many new skills such as team working, planning events, increasing  communication skill, emailing, blogging, vlogging and responsible social media in the workplace.

This is the start of the journey for ACK to support and link in with many young people in Dundee who are desperate to gain experience, learn about the opportunities within the third sector and to be given a chance. How very lucky I am  to be part of their journey.

Anthea

 

 

 

Imagine

 

Imagine that I would be blogging. Who would ever have thought it.

As I sit on the train coming back from a meeting in Aberdeen and looking out at the dreary weather I have time to reflect on ACK Young Champions.

Our second workplace training day yesterday enabled me to observe what was happening in our office and the interaction between mentors and the young people was professional, focused, motivational and  most importantly it was respectful, happy and warming to see.

I was hearing words such as timelines, corporate sponsorship, blogs, shorts, emails, support for charities and social enterprises, organising fundraising events and working towards becoming ACK Young Champions. Music to my ears.

Our dream and vision within ACK is now real, effective and changing the attitudes of our young people and our committed mentors.

I overheard a comment from one of our young people saying

“ACK Young Champions is here to help young people get more education on new things so we can get a better job when we are older”.

For me, this epitomises what we at ACK want to achieve. It inspires me so much when I see the eagerness of the young people and their mentors gaining new skills, working as a team, communicating as a team and listening to each other with such respect.

All these young people are looking for challenges and support to do this. I am honoured and humbled to work with ACK Young Champions. It’s utterly empowering

Anthea