We love hearing stories about how young people have been positively impacted by our grants! In the theme of Mental Health Awareness Week, we want to highlight one outstanding case of our Leader Award Grant used on Mental Health Workshops for students by New City College Redbridge. Throughout the workshop sessions, students learnt how to build and improve their well-being and personal growth, and at the end of the workshop, the students had a celebratory meal at Nandos!

Dayna Henderson, from New City College Redbridge, used her £1,000 Leader Award Grant on Mental Health and well-being activities and a tasty Nandos meal for students. 

Dayna won the Leader Award in 2021 for the immense support and motivation she has given to students at New City College Redbridge. Since Dayna won the Leader Award, she could apply for a Leader Award Grant of up to £1,000 that benefits the students in the college. Dayna applied for a grant that provided sessions for students on learning how to build and improve their well-being, grow as individuals, and be the best version of themselves through mental health workshops.

Throughout the workshops, students learnt how to manage their well-being, improve their self-esteem and relationships, and also had a chance to partake in relaxing yoga sessions and explore the gym, where they learnt the importance of personal fitness and how to handle gym equipment. In the last session, the students went on a trip to Go Ape, where they had the chance to improve their skills, such as resilience, teamwork, and listening. In the session, students worked in teams to complete all the obstacle courses, which were raised in difficulty on each level. All the teams in the session worked well together, providing encouragement and strategic conversations with team members to push through challenging obstacle courses. This was heart-warming, considering many of the group’s students did not know each other.

The trip to Go Ape was a positive and insightful experience for young people to take on new challenge’s and connect with peers. One young person on the trip commented, “I was very scared when I realised how high these obstacles were but with directions from the instructors and support from my peers, I was able to get through it. I even made some new friends which was cool.”

At the end of the workshops, a celebratory Nando’s meal was given as a well done for those students who had consistently attended the workshops.

You can use the Jack Petchey Leader Award Grant in many ways to benefit the young people you work with. To have your school or club benefit from our funds, if you are part of the Achievement Award scheme, nominate someone for a Leader Award, so they can apply for a grant within 12 months of receiving the award. For more information on how to use it, head to our Community Area.

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