Our team here at Active Digital have always felt that charitable collaborations can be extremely valuable for charities. We are not alone in thinking this; monitoring reports have often referred to the need for more partnerships working in the charity and public sectors. The benefits are also reported on, The Foundation for Social Improvement (FSI) has highlighted that collaboration can help to solve social problems and facilitate efficiency, growth and sustainability. Over the years, we have worked with several charities, and we are always keen to look for ways that organisations can come together.
Across the UK, young people need opportunities outside education and the home to have fun with their friends, to be healthy and creative, to make positive change in their communities, and to shape the kind of city they want for the future.
We have collaborated with London Youth to support young people in Kent, Sussex, and Surrey. London Youth is a charity dedicated to empowering youth organisations in London, providing young people with essential opportunities and skills through a network of 600 member organisations and two outdoor residential centres, Hindleap Warren and Woodrow High House.
Throughout their 137-year history, community youth organisations have provided a constant lifeline and a vital safe space outside the family and formal education, where young people can develop confidence, resilience and skills. Young people need opportunities outside school to have fun with their friends, to make a positive change in their communities and to shape the city they live in. London Youth work with young people, focusing particularly on those who wouldn’t otherwise have access to the kind of opportunities we offer.
One in four young people in the 2023 Prince’s Trust NatWest Youth Index feel like they are going to fail in life. This has been accentuated by loss of social interaction and education during a prolonged period of the pandemic and deepened now with the anxiety of a cost-of-living crisis. London Youth understand first-hand that race is a significant factor, with young Londoners of colour twice as likely to be unemployed as their white peers.
The recent Youth Employment UK 2022 Census of over 4000 young people between the ages of 11-30 further revealed that young Black, Black African, Black British or Caribbean respondents were over 3 times more likely to say they did not feel welcome in their secondary school. This suggests that many of them would be less receptive to exploring their future hopes and aspirations in a school environment than they would be in non-formal educational settings such as a youth club (i.e., where they choose to go).
In 2022-2023, London Youth worked with 571-member youth organisations that supported more than 650k+ young Londoners. 24,680 young people participated in our programme events and activities, with 15,000 enjoying activities at our two outdoor learning centres, Woodrow and Hindleap. Furthermore, they supported 1,442 youth professionals at over 164 of our training and network sessions. These are incredible numbers delivered by the team at London Youth, and here at Active Digital, we have been blown away by the work they do.
On behalf of London Youth, they said, “Recently, we partnered with Active Digital who work to reduce the digital divide. They’ve donated 100 portable hotspot devices to be used by the young people supported by the Digital Talent programme. As part of their #PoweredbyTech programme and charitable collaboration, they strive to end technology poverty and ensure children and young people without the relevant technology in an ever-increasing virtual world have access to the needed equipment.
Nika and Yosias, young people participating in the Digital Talent programme, arrived at our office to collect the devices for their organisations COVENT GARDEN DRAGON HALL TRUST, PPCP and Highbury Vale Blackstock Trust (Elizabeth House Community Centre). A big thank you to Active Digital for supporting London Youth and our members!”
Alex Patterson, Associate Director at Active Digital commented, “we are delighted to partner with London Youth, a wonderful organisation whose amazing work aligns with our mission here at Active Digital to support young people. We hope, through this charitable collaboration, we hope to make a real impact for young people together.”
You can read more about our charitable collaborations here:
