Realise! aims to support and develop the entrepreneurial skills and inventions of young disabled people in the South East through a range of skills-based workshops, competitions and work-placements.
Over the next year, Realise! will nurture the entrepreneurial and enterprising skills of 40 young disabled people in the South East through a series of development opportunities. Each of these young people will work in collaboration with a young person in another country. Participants will be supported through a comprehensive menu of development opportunities including peer mentoring, events and workshops, peer support, accredited qualifications and work placements. The project will work with a range of businesses in the South East and help to create a culture shift within those organisations. This will include at least 2 international organisations with a presence in the region. All participants will be supported to identify an appropriate development pathway after the project, including entrants for competitive events such as Reaching for Gold and World Skills; continued relationships with host organisations; and further training or education.
East Berkshire Education Business Partnership (EBeBP) and Readipop are the project delivers for Realise. East Berkshire Education Business Partnership is an independent organisation set up to facilitate links between education and local business in the East Berkshire area. Readipop is a charitable arts organisation offering workshops that develop creative uses for new digital technology, exploring music, sound, image and beyond. Readipop specialises in work with young people. Both organisations participated in Disability Equality training in December and have been commissioned to support more organisations in engaging with disabled young people.
As we move deeper into 2012 Realise is gaining momentum with activity taking place with young people from 5 schools in Berkshire (Manor Green, Wexham, Arbourvale, Baylis Court, and Reading College) as well as with young people outside of formal education. Between the project deliverers a wide variety of weekly session with the young people have been taking place: business development sessions, work experience, developing Reaching for Gold entries, taster music making and music production sessions, event management and mentoring. The young people at Readipop will be making links with young people in Brazil from an organisation called Eletrocooperativa. The groups from the EBeBP will make their international links with large corporations like O2 and Fujitsu.
In January the highly anticipated list of finalists for the South East’s Reaching for Gold competition was announced. Reaching for Gold is a competition encouraging innovation in young people, by developing projects that will make a practical difference in the areas of Youth, Community and Innovative Access. Creative Junction was delighted that one of the Realise Groups, Manor Green School in Maidenhead, was selected to take part in the finals. The group’s name is Star Helpers and they meet every Wednesday to develop their ideas which put making people happy at the forefront of their business plan. They are eager to provide a service to local residential homes where they feel they will be able to brighten someone’s day. The group has been developing their idea with mentors for Groundwork and PwC and will be pitching their business plan at the Reaching for Gold Final on 15 March at Windsor Castle.
Realise! News Stories
Making the cut by making people happy
The 3 P’s: Plan, Promote and Practice
