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Young People of Erith

Through the outreach work we do on a weekly basis, we have the opportunity to meet a variety of different people that live and commute into the community. Through these engagements we have successfully established some firm relationships with people of all ages.

We have also built a reasonably good relationship with many of the youth that live in this catchment.

Many of these young people have gone onto partake in a number of additional projects that have been initiated within the Erith area.

Through this engagement we have supported three young men in particular. These young men, were invited to be part of our project “Project Point of View” a project sponsored by the property developers Dominvs.

We are confident that the summer of 2022 will hold many treasured memories for the young men that took part.

The young men from Bexley are always enthusiastic and a pleasure to work with. They often visit us on our regular outreach provision.

During the summer they able visited spaces such as the US Embassy, high end apartments, constructions sites and even had the opportunity to interview the CEO of the Dominvs group in a scheduled podcast.

For the group the highlight was a five day residential in Cornwall where they all took part in water rafting, paddle boarding, canoeing and they even jumped from twenty foot cliffs to overcome their fear of water and other limiting beliefs they had.

Two of the young men could not swim before the residential, and had a fear of water in general.

Successfully all of the group overcame their fears of water and took part in some of the most challenging activities involving water.

The transformation for these three young men and the wider group was amazing to witness and share with them. They also established life long relationships created by the intense team work and support they offered each other over the days away from their homes and their natural environments.

The overall project will have a long lasting impact on their lives and will promote a better understanding of how they can overcome challenges now and in their futures.

Projects such as the outreach in Erith is proof that being on the streets and meeting the people in the community at a grassroots level really does have an impact.

“touching people’s hearts through your work is the only job that you could do and nobody has to hire you for it.”

Youth Unity works to provide opportunities to young people. This is all made possible meeting local people and opening frank and honest conversations.

More information can be found on this link ...

The Boys representing Erith

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Point of View – DP9

Part 1 . The London Landscape​

The project will start with the young creatives travelling across London, gaining a glimpse of what it’s like to live and work in London. From visiting iconic buildings to visiting consultants that work across Dominvs’s developments, the young people will start to understand what real estate is from the bottom to the top level boardroom through working with some experienced corporations in London. 

Visit 1: DP9

What an amazing day with DP9 who delivered an inspirational talk to our young participants. They gave valuable insight on how Development and Planning takes place for some of the most iconic buildings in London. 

After the talk we traveled together by London Underground to visit number 22 Bishopsgate.

The young people were given the opportunity to visit a viewing gallery that is not yet open to the public. The development host one of the most iconic views of London.

The young people were given the opportunity to be among the first members of the public to visit the viewing gallery that overlooks much of Londons landscape.

For many of these young people an opportunity to visit something as iconic has never been part of their vision.

It was fantastic to see their reactions as they became part of the new developments history.

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Point of View – Turner & Townsend

The second day of the project was a visit to Turner and Townsend.

The group spent time in the offices meeting the staff and listening to a presentation about the services and developments that Turner and Townsend offer. The young people also looked at last projects and had the privilege to look at projects that the company have planned for the future.

The group also had the opportunity to meet and talk to younger members of staff that have joined the organisation and have established good career routes etc. The focus was to enlighten the group about possible apprenticeships or positions within the company that may occur in the future.

The staff of Turner and Townsend organised an opportunity for the boys to visit two of the live sites that are in development. The young people were allowed access to some of the most prestigious properties in the borough.

Some of the properties were valued at up to ten million pounds. The group naturally placed their orders.

The group were the taken to the main offices of Turner & Townsend for lunch followed by an invite to visit the viewing deck by St. Paul’s Cathedral.

As well as a great opportunity for the group to take selfies in such a great spot, they also took on board new values about how they too can move forward positively and live a much more sustainable life in the future.

All of the group mentioned that fact that without projects like these, they may never get the much needed insight in how they can use education to live a life that contributes positively to the greater development of communities and other surrounding areas.

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Point of View – Dominvs Group

The project will start with the young creatives travelling across London, gaining a glimpse of what it’s like to live and work in London. From visiting iconic buildings to visiting consultants that work across Dominvs’s developments, the young people will start to understand what real estate is from the bottom to the top level boardroom through working with some experienced corporations in London. 

Full project overview

Day 3. Dominvs group kindly extended their offices to our young people to host a podcast session with some of the most senior members of staff.

The young people were given the opportunity to produce a broadcast quality podcast full of questions and advice on how they can choose a career in their futures.

Some of the questions the young people asked were thought provoking and challenging at the same time.

The Principal Jay, delivered a ten minute talk highlighting the challenges that he and his family faced when they came to the UK and started a small business.

This story provided a real life perspective of how to overcome the challenges to success.

Wes also delivered his perspective on how the young people can pursue a career in property development.

Overall a very inspirational day for the young people and the staff, which was followed by a trip to Nandos.

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Point of View – US Embassy

Day 4: Our final visit before Cornwall was spent with the US Embassy

We were given the opportunity to visit the embassy with the young people.

This is a huge chance for them all to experience the diverse and interesting operational functions of an establishment like this.

The young people were given a special tour of the Embassy with the team.

They also enjoyed eating lunch with some of the staff.

The boys were able to ask key questions about the running of the Embassy and the importance in todays society. They also learned a lot about the relationship between the US and the UK.

The boys also had the chance to meet young US marines that have chosen a career in the forces.

The day ended with a tour of the marines quarters, and a group selfie in front of the US embassy’s iconic signage.

All of the boys thoroughly enjoyed the experience and feel inspired to move towards a positive career that may even involve politics.

Well done guys and thank you for hosting us on a truly enjoyable day at the Embassy.

 

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Elemental UK – Project Point of View / THE BIG SKY

The second part of the project will revolve around mentoring and for that the young creatives will be visiting Elemental UK, who are based in Cornwall. The mentoring will involve a five day residential stay where the young creatives will plan a sound map of the life in London compared to rural life by the sea. The five days in Cornwall will be split between Newquay and Falmouth.

The five days in Cornwall will be split between Newquay and Falmouth.

What an adventure!

Over the five days we worked with these young people we saw them flourish in confidence and developed skills that enabled them to work better as a team. 
The majority of the activities were water based and the young people, many of them had never embarked in water sports before embraced the challenges and all of the task set. Many of them overcame the fears they had of water.

The biggest success was witnessing two of the non-swimmers, pushing themselves to learn how to swim in such a short space of time.

The activities included surfing, kayaking, paddle boarding and coasteering, all of which require learning and adapting new skill sets in a short period of time.

Project overall