BHF is a community based charity for the development and promotion of talent, together with cultural and artistic initiatives in the community focusing on youth, education, training, social up-lifting and personal development programmes.

 

BHF secured funding of £2000 from the Bayo Small Grants Programme in January 2023, to run workshops for Black youth, exploring the contributions of Black heroes (eg. John Archer, 1st Black Mayor in London; Claudia Jones, activist, 1st West Indian Carnival in London, Sam King, founder of Windrush Foundation; and others) to the community.

 

The output from the workshops was included in an exhibition, using pictures, videos and other artefacts to share the learning from the workshops, and the ways in which the participants were inspired. 

 

Engagement was made with Wandsworth Youth Services to run workshops at their Youth Centres. After various meetings with Wandsworth Youth Services, it was agreed to run one workshop and invite youth from across the borough to one centre,during the school holidays.  

 

 WHAT THEY DID

 

1. Posters & Social Media:  

 

Posters advertising the event were displayed at 3 youth centres and posted on their respective social media Facebook, Instagram and Tik-Tok, by the Youth Centre Managers.

 

1. Pre-Work & Engagement: 

 

Meetings took place with Youth Workers regarding youth requirements, timings, locations and resources. They visited the venue to set-up pre-workshop materials - an Exhibition of Black Heroes, to generate interest and enquiry.  

 

    3. Workshop exploring the contributions of Black heroes: 

 

A presentation about BHF and a short film were shown.  Then open discussion from the youth about their black heroes and why they see them as heroes. The youths then had the opportunity to break out into groups or individually, and create a piece to present to the group. They discussed and decided which hero they wanted to explore further and the format in which they wanted to present - i.e. writing a poem, producing artwork, rapping, spoken word etc.  

 

BHF have a long-standing relationship with the Borough of Wandsworth and developed a new relationship with Wandsworth Youth Services.  The Head of Youth Services connected BHF with 3 youth centre managers in the borough.  A presentation was made to the managers.  A date location and format for the workshop was agreed, along with resources available.  The project co-ordinator engaged with the selected venue, centre manager, and designed a poster which was distributed to all 3 locations digitally for them to print and put up at their locations with a call to action to sign up for the workshop. The project co-ordinator has been working directly with the Base manager to ensure the necessary safeguarding and risk assessments requirements are in place.   

 

Benefits for the Youth and BHF 

 

Reducing the disenfranchisement among youth and gang culture. The youths had a positive experience that further develops self knowledge, self esteem, confidence, wellbeing, pride and empowerment through positive engagement with Black culture, art and identity.   

 

The new BHF project co-ordinator has been able to expand on their community work and apply their skill set and experience into this role.  Continuing to work in more collaborative ways and develop project management skills, bringing positive outcomes in the local community is a welcome challenge. 

 

Watch ‘About Black Heroes Foundation’ here.

 

You can see the results of the BHF efforts in Wandsworth here.