Regenerate

Spring is here which means new beginnings, and that is no different for us here at Regenerate! Exciting things are happening as we continue to grow and adapt…

The start of the year so far has seen lots of new staff, new young people and new ideas brought to the table. With this, we felt we needed a fresh new look to represent our continuous growth and progression, both within the community we are a part of and in the organisation itself.

We did lots of research and brainstorming, finding out what our trustees, friends and the young people we work with thought, and came to the conclusion that our old logo was a bit outdated and ‘homemade’ or unprofessional feeling. However, what people loved was that it felt welcoming, authentic and true to Regenerate. We wanted to make sure we kept this feeling in any new branding, as well as create a sense of growth and uplift. As a result, we regenerated our old look to create a refreshed new logo, which you may have seen dotted around already on our social media and new flyers!

Alongside this all, we have been thinking a lot about what our outcomes are and how we are structured as an organisation, and have identified three core services that define what we do best. Providing these three areas is important to us and help us to have the best impact we possibly can on our community, creating opportunities for young people to thrive.

These are:

Youth and Community Work,

Mentoring and Coaching, and

Employment Opportunities.

Stay tuned and keep a look out for more information on our new service structure, a new Regenerate van whizzing around the Wandsworth area, and our brand new website coming soon!

Over the past year or so, more than ever before, the mental health of young people in our community has been challenged. Rates of anxiety shot up as we came out of lockdowns, and uncertainty and stress grew throughout 2021.

However, in all that has gone on, thanks to the generosity of our supporters we were able to continue creating opportunities for young people to thrive, focusing many of our activities around supporting their mental health. These activities involved building skills, hobbies and knowledge, learning to channel and explore different emotions, and getting out to experience new things and place, as well as providing basic support and a safe space to those who needed it.

As a result, we have had a successful year at Regenerate. The young people that regularly engage with our services have shown significant signs of growing in confidence, have been guided to keep their places in school and have accessed training opportunities and employment.

 

In 2021 we:

Ran 168 youth club sessions (cooking, boxing, music, football, arts etc)

Recorded 3175 youth sessions, trips and targeted interactions engaging regularly with nearly 300 different young people

Mentored and Employed 20 young people who had barriers to employment in our social enterprise ‘The Feel Good Bakery”

Delivered mentoring programs in 7 local schools

Provided over 120,000 meals for children through our giving scheme and ‘one for one’ donations on our coffee sales

Distributed over 13,000 community food boxes in and around Roehampton (since the first lock down in 2020)

Thank you to everyone who has supported us in making this happen.

 

 The Dream for 2022

In 2022, we want to build on the great work our team have done this year. We want to see hundreds more young people impacted and given life changing opportunities to thrive, leading to greater social mobility and transformation in our communities.

We will:

Run 250 youth club sessions

Engage regularly with 500 different young people through 5000 sessions, interactions and trips

Mentor and employ 75 young people in The Feel Good Bakery across six Feel Good Bakery coffee carts/shops

Mentor over 100 young people in local schools

Continue supporting the most vulnerable with basic support such as meals, youth led adventures and fundraising challenges

If you’d like to be a part of helping us to achieve our goals and make 2022 an even more successful year, you can donate through our JustGiving page. 

In the mean time, we’d like to wish everyone a huge Happy New Year from all of us at Regenerate.

We hope you had a chance to have a break over the festive period, and that this year is full of more certainty, good news, and time with loved ones. Let’s thrive together in 2022! 

Finally, if you’d like to know more about how we can support you this year, please do get in touch.

You can email info@regenerateuk.co.uk or call us on 020 3195 9607.

Last week the team did a stop and search training session delivered by Sayce Holmes Lewis, sports coach, activist, and the founder and CEO of mentoring organisation Mentivity. We had the privilege of Sayce’s expertise and knowledge, to take us through some history of stop and search and what rights people have.  

Almost half of all stop and searches take place in London, and these encounters are often negative. Sayce also has a long line of negative experiences with stop and searches, so has now made it his mission to revolutionise the way the police interact with young people and particularly black people. He believes in empowering people with the knowledge to navigate these often-intimidating situations, and in training police officers in how to interact with people in a positive way and release any biased judgements they may make.

 

What Is Stop and Search?

There are two different types of search. Stop and account is when police officers stop to ask you questions such as where you’re going and what you’re doing in the area. You don’t have a legal obligation to answer any questions and if you don’t, then this alone can’t be used as a reason to search or arrest you.  

If they detain you, this then becomes a stop and search. Stop and search is the right of police officers to stop anyone that they have reasonable grounds to believe is in possession of an illegal item, such as drugs and weapons or stolen property.

 

Why Is It An Issue?

The problem with this definition is that it’s very ambiguous; what ‘reasonable grounds’ are can be interpreted very loosely, and used by officers to exploit their power. This has led to a bias in stop and search cases, and police often give unjustified reasons for stopping a young person, for example “you look like a criminal”.  

Between April 2019 and March 2020 there were 6 stop and searches for every 1,000 white people, compared with 54 for every 1,000 Black people. We explored this huge gap with Sayce, and he took us through the history of why hostility has built between young people – young Black people in particular – and the police. There has been a history of injustices and unresolved issues, fuelled by racism and bias, leading to a cycle of mistrust and negative perceptions of the police.

 

What Can We Do?

The team discussed the importance of building relationships between people and the police, and how we can start to bridge the gap between the two groups to form some kind of understanding and respect on both sides. Sayce believes in finding common ground and using people power to make sure that officers are held accountable and carry out their searches respectfully.  

It’s also so important to know what your rights are, so that you can hold police officer’s to account and encourage them to carry out the search in the correct way, rather than the too often misleading way many do.  The team went through what our rights are, and did some role playing to practice navigating these situations.

A summary of these can be found on our Instagram.

 

If you’d like more information, Y-stop.org is a great resource, and they have an app where you can record stop and searches and access other useful information.

 

Thank you to Sayce for providing us with this information and for delivering us a really detailed and informative training session. We learnt so much and feel so much more empowered to advise and support our young people with this issue.

 

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We did it!!  

We jogged and performed down the length of the UK!! We jogged together from the top of Scotland to the very bottom of England, and Charles, also known as musician King Charles, performed along the way at various pubs, village greens, hostels, camp sites, countrysides and wherever we ended up. Massive respect to him doing that after running marathons every day!!  

Charles beat his goal of 40 marathons in 40 days by jogging a massive 80km on the day last day of ‘The Feel Good Jog’ finishing a day ahead of schedule, completing 40 marathons in 39 days! Thats 1680 km in total! 

I also beat my goal by doing 41 half marathons in 39 days (861km in total).

It was a massive challenge, something I would never have contemplated a few months ago, but I have to say I think we smashed it!! Thank you so much for all the messages of support, encouragement and sponsorship

Thanks to sponsorship from so many friends and supporters together we have raised a massive £72,500 which is amazing.

We are really excited about the impact that the money raised is going to have in our community. Funding from ‘The Feel Good Jog’ is going to create opportunities for young people on SW London estates to thrive! 

Half of the money raised is going towards growing The Feel Good Bakery programme; creating jobs for 75 young people coming out of gangs, prison or long term unemployment over the next two years. The other half will be going towards our ‘Get Active’ youth work, covering a lead youth workers salary and activity costs so that we can continue to open our youth clubs 4 nights a week on the Ashburton and Alton estates, engaging with over 300 young people regularly through positive activities and mentoring programs.

All of this helps create safe, healthy relationships leading to the young people growing in confidence, improving their mental health and making a difference in the world for good!

Thanks so much for all the encouragement, sponsorships and support.  You can check out our video summarising our incredible journey below!

Thanks, Andy 

In our latest crazy fundraiser, musician King Charles is running from John O’Groats to Lands End; a whopping total of 1700km! To do this, he will complete 40 marathons, and at the end of each of the 40 days, Charles will be singing and performing music, with all the energy he has left over! These moments will be on mountain tops, lake sides, pubs and music venues all along the way. We don’t believe this has ever been done before. 

Alongside Charles, our own Andy will be taking on 40 half marathons and then will complete another half marathon by bike. 

By taking on this challenge, we’re hoping to raise awareness about mental health and wellbeing. The positive effects of music and getting active are huge and we want to inspire others to challenge themselves and overcome barriers. We want to highlight how Regenerate helps young people create the tools and opportunities that help them to do this and feel good! 

Charles is so excited about this challenge because he also believes in running and music. He said: 

“I love the rhythm of your feet hitting the road or path and the effect that that has on the mind. The last 18 months of lock-down and isolation have been a feeding ground for anxiety, loneliness and depression; but running and music has always helped me in times when I’ve felt trapped and isolated – they both have an immediate and positive effect on your mental state and don’t require anything more than a voice, a pair of trainers and a running buddy to get you moving. I can’t wait to see how Regenerate propels people into action as they always do and see the journey we can all get on together.”

We completely agree and are so excited to see where this adventure takes us. A huge thank you to a Regenerate donor and Richstone properties for sponsoring the support costs for our trip so that we could make it happen.

During The Feel Good Jog, Charles will be joined by friends as well as young adults and staff from Regenerate, who will take part in various challenges, running together with Charles from wherever they’re located (connected via video on phones). The challenge will be documented throughout the route, via live videos on @kingcharlesuk and @regenerateuk social media channels. If you’d like to take part too, you can sign up at here.

We’re aiming to raise £100,000  by the end if the fundraiser, with half of this going towards our get working programme; creating jobs for 75 young people coming out of gangs, prison or long term unemployment, and half going towards our get active youth work and mentoring programmes; creating healthy environments and opportunities for young people to thrive.The challenge started on the 25th July and you can follow the journey on @kingcharlesuk and @regenerateuk instagram accounts. You can also donate here to The Feel Good Jog.

IN THE LOOP provides access for young people to connect with professionals in the music industry

MISSION

In The Loop is a new social music project dedicated to providing access for young people aged 18-25 who want to work in the music industry. We create virtual sessions where successful applicants can communicate and network with different professionals in the music industry. With this, we hope that the participants can extend their network, gain more confidence, and use their new music contacts professionally.

We believe representation matters and access is key to diversifying and normalising young people from different walks of life working in the music industry. In The Loop aims to accelerate this change. We are here to represent young people who want to work in the music industry but may not have the easy access. We place opportunity at the forefront of our project by reaching out to young people who may feel like they are exempt from any opportunity because of their social identity.

ABOUT: A word from Maia ..

Picture this. Fresh out of university, scared at the prospect of where I will end up working mid-pandemic but eagerly passionate about making my way into the music industry. With me not knowing where to begin my journey or who I should contact led me to Andy Smith, co-founder of Regenerate – a youth charity that creates opportunities for young people to thrive and achieve their aspirations. Andy saw my passion for music and introduced me to a notable person in the industry. From this, I was able to engage in a series of zoom calls with him. I could ask him questions about his journey into the music industry and receive advice on where to begin mine. He then introduced me to other people that perform different roles in the music business which gave me a greater insight into what certain jobs involve and what is expected of me when applying for roles. For example, I met Zeon Richards, owner of the talent management company Renowned (associated with the likes of Wretch 32, George The Poet, Jacob Banks, Hamzaa, Knox Brown, Tia Carys, Funny Tummy (Contemporary Artist)  as well as Steel Banglez, Stefflon Don on an A&R front.

Zeon helped me to grow in knowledge and confidence, and I transitioned from not knowing what I wanted to work as to now having greater confidence and clarity about who I am, what I want to do in the music industry and how I can get there.

This experience led me to create In The Loop! I wanted other young people young people who have a passion for music and the industry or may feel not know how to make connections, to have the opportunity for the same introduction to influential people!

You can discover the music industry for yourself, build your network and confidence to enhance your career so that you too can be In the Loop.

THE PROGRAMME

Who’s it for?

Young People aged 18 -25 with a passion for music and a desire to work in the music industry.

What will happen?

On the second Wednesday of every month, for five months, 10 successful applicants will be meeting a different professional from the music industry via Zoom. At the beginning of the week the confirmed speaker will be revealed to give you all enough time to compile a few questions to ask them!

What will I gain from this?

You will hear the experiences of successful music professionals who work in roles such as A&R, Producing and live events and hear their journey into how they got their job and any advice they could give!The aim of these sessions will be for you to get as much out of it as you can by strengthening your confidence to engage in conversations with the professionals, so be as confident as you can be in asking your questions! You will expand your networking skills and collaboration opportunities and gain a better understanding of industry roles which will help when applying for jobs.”

When does the course begin?

The course will begin on June 10th 2021.

The deadline for applications is on 10^th May and informal interviews with the successful 10 applicants will take place on 17th May.

APPLY

Please answer the following questions in a word format document and send this to Intheloop @renowedgroup.com :

1)What initiative have you shown to gain experience in the music industry? 2)What is your creative background? Why do you do it? 3)What skills do you have that would be relevant to working in the music industry?

Also please upload a video onto Youtube (no longer than 2 minutes) considering the following questions as include this link in your email to us:

1)What do you hope to learn from these sessions? 2)What can you contribute to the programme? 3) Talk about the artist/musician that has inspired you.

If you have any questions feel free to get in touch, and I look forward to hearing from you.

Thanks,

Maia

In the Loop is a project run by Regenerate in partnership with Renowned Music Management.

At the beginning of March, Tarah Welsh from BBC London News filmed a series of videos to tell the story of ‘Life in Lockdown on the Alton Estate’. Each video showcased the positive difference Regenerate and the local community have made in coming together during this difficult time.

The first video featured The Roehampton Community Box and the harvesting process at ‘Growhampton’, two initiatives that have helped to feed over 500 families. The second video featured The Feel Good Bakery and our employment drive through the pandemic. The third highlighted the impact of isolation during lockdown, and told the story of what Regenerate Rise has done to support the community. The fourth and final video beautifully summarised how Roehampton has truly come together.

It was an absolute honour to work with Tarah and feature on this 4-piece series, showcasing the positive stories in Roehampton. To watch ‘Life in Lockdown on the Alton Estate’, click the link below. 

OPERATIONS ADMINISTRATOR INTERNSHIP

Regenerate is looking to recruit an Operations Administrator Intern to work full-time at its SW London base for 12 months commencing in early April .

Thanks to funding from the Jack Petchey Foundation, Regenerate has created this internship to provide a unique opportunity to gain invaluable and varied experience working for a leading youth charity.

This internship will suit anyone at an early stage in their career who is keen to gain valuable experience working in a small organisation and interested in learning about a youth charity. Whilst this is an opportunity to see a wide range of aspects of its work, the role will focus on the operations and systems required to support the charity.

The Job pack can found below, if you would like to apply please send us your application form and equal opportunity form plus your CV to intern@regenerateuk.co.uk or if you have any questions please email us at intern@regenerateuk.co.uk.

The deadline for applications is 5pm on Wednesday 17th.

Interviews will be held on Wednesday 24th March.

We look forward to hearing from you!

Regenerate’s Board of Trustee’s is looking to recruit two Trustees to support the organisation in an exciting new period of growth and development.

Regenerate inspires and supports young people by building strong, lasting relationships and creating life changing opportunities; helping them grow in confidence, make the best of their lives and impact the world for good.

Regenerate is a youth charity established to work with young people who live on housing estates in Roehampton and Putney and surrounding areas.

About our trustees

The Board of Trustees is the governing body of Regenerate responsible for the overall management of the charity. All our trustees are volunteers and we rely on them to help run the charity effectively.

The trustees provide us with the great skills, knowledge and experience we need to manage the charity well. Any single trustee does not need to know how to do everything, but our board is made up of people who can bring something different to compliment each other in order to serve the young people Regenerate works with to the best of their ability.

We want our board to fully represent the communities that we serve. We recognise that we are currently missing vital voices from our board and so we are now searching for talented individuals to join our team of directors.

If you think you have the skills to help us, and if you consider yourself to be one or more of the following we’d love to hear from you!:

1. From the local area and have knowledge about young people
2. A professional with a background in youth service provision

Regenerate is an equal opportunities employer, recognising the positive value of diversity, promoting equality and challenging discrimination. We would welcome and encourage job applications from people of all ethnicities, backgrounds, ages and from underrepresented and minority groups.

Next steps:

Please take a look at the role descriptions and if you think you have what we are looking for and want to get involved please get it touch with the Chair of Trustees, Lisa Jones on lisajones1@me.com or give her call on 07930 361 001 to chat further. We will be shortlisting on the 22^nd March 2021.

We look forward to hearing from you.