Young Disabled Leaders

Hi all,

I know that this has taken a while to get up on the blog, we had some technical issues. But now they are here!

Below you will find images of the logos you all drew when we first met together, all that time ago. Now I would like you to vote to choose the logo that you feel should be used to represent the YDL project. This will be used on all of our promotional material and on the final report to be given to the organisations.

If you hover over the image, you will see a number. Please comment below to vote for which number you would like to be used.

Let me know if you have any problems doing this.Voting will end next week Wednesday, the 9th of March!

Hello all!

Yesterday we had the final training event at our favourite Birmingham location – Birmingham FC. Once again, a fun day was had and some great things were learned and shared.

Up to now, we have been looking at what makes a good leader, and working on skills that will help each of us improve as we work with others.
This time round, we are focusing on how to show other people our leadership skills.

Gearing up for the final event, where we will be inviting around 70 representative from local organisations, we have been looking at how to present to an audience. At the final event, we will be sharing the journey of the last six months or so with them, explaining what we have been up to, what we have learned and how it has helped us. In addition, we will be giving them some advice on how to better engage with young people, especially those with disabilities.

I won’t spoil the day’s activities for those who have not attended yet, but rest assured, the day is practical, fun and well worth attending.

I look forward to hearing from you all on how you enjoyed the day, the programme and any other thoughts and ideas you might have.

Welcome back – I hope you all had a lovely time during the festive season and your New Year parties were amazing!
Looking to make 2011 a productive year, I thought I would update you with dates for next YDL trainings:

London – 24th January 2011
Birmingham – 19th January 2011
Leeds – 31 January 2011

Hopefully you can all make it and make this event one to remember. If anyone has any issues or concerns about these next events or anything in general, please get in touch.

More detailed info to follow on venues and timings. Til then, keep leading!

“I have a dream”. This statement could be true for all of us and none more so than all of the young people involved in RADAR’s current youth project – Young Disabled Leaders. Their dream is to have their skills and talents recognised and showcased to achieve a brighter future for all.

Young Disabled Leaders is a joint project between CSV and RADAR: combining CSV’s expertise in youth leadership training with RADAR’s expertise in the disability sector and leadership and empowerment training. It has been funded through the Youth Leadership Fund, managed by The Young Foundation. The project is aimed towards working with inspiring young people with a disability, to encourage them and give them the support they want to get motivated and on the road to achieving their true potential.

Working towards achieving that aim, this exciting new project is unearthing hidden and valuable talents in the young participants all aged between thirteen and nineteen years old. One training exercise, based on the popular series ‘Dragon’s Den’, saw these quiet, unassuming characters turn into business moguls who could have given Alan Sugar a run for his money. Seeing their grit and determination to secure hypothetical funding made all in attendance marvel at their confidence and eloquence. One has to wonder why we have never seen someone with a disability on a show like ‘The Junior Apprentice’ or its grown-up version ‘The Apprentice’. It would be great to show the country what untapped talents lie dormant in these young people.

That said, the training events are not all board-rooms and pitches. We recently held our second event for the north of England in the beautiful surroundings of St John’s School for the deaf, Boston Spa. It truly was a fantastic venue for a fantastic day. Everyone braved the snow and rain and all agreed it was definitely worth it. Flower pots, mission impossible tasks, Dragon’s Den, logo designing for the campaign materials and spelling gymnastics – it was fun packed to say the least.

The northern event closely followed the successful second event for London. A very impressive venue in London saw young people from across London come together for a day of activity. One of the trainers, Tony, a very experienced and well-known director, showed us how to be good leaders through his own unique and dramatic approach.

In all of the events we have really seen some amazing skills coming through from all in attendance. We have learnt that leading doesn’t always mean being in the limelight, at the front, or being the loudest. Many things are involved in being a leader and it seems that the young leaders have these attributes in the sack-full.

Abdi Gas the events coordinator for RADAR said,

“For me, this programme has been an inspiration. As someone who grew up wanting to be the Prime Minister but having no-one to guide me on the right path, I feel privileged to be able to play a part in developing the leadership skills of the younger generation. Seeing these young leaders on their own personal journey is remarkable – seeing them coming out of their shells and becoming the people that we know that they can be stands as testament to the value of a project like this and to the dedication of all of those involved. I am sure that the faces we see in this project will go on to realise not only their but many others’ dreams.”

For pictures and/or further information please contact Marije Davidson, RADAR Public Affairs Manager on marije.davidson@radar.org.uk or 07880 921 743.

Notes to Editors:

1. RADAR gratefully acknowledges the support of: CSV who are our partners in this project. CSV is the UK’s largest volunteering and training charity. We create opportunities for people to play an active part in the life of their communities. they were the overall winner in The Charity Awards 2010.

www.csv.org.uk

2. For more information on the Young Disabled Leaders, go to www.youngdisabledleaders.com

3. RADAR, founded in 1977, is the UK’s largest disability campaigning network with over 900 individual and organisational members. More information can be found at: http://www.radar.org.uk

4. RADAR is a charity run by and for disabled people that depends on the financial and voluntary support of others including public donations. To find out more please visit our web site www.radar.org.uk or call 020 7250 3222 / minicom 020 7250 4119 or email radar@radar.org.uk

Hamza who is part of your YDL project in Birmingham visited London recently with others from his School to protest about the cuts to Sport Partnerships.

He tells us he had an absolutely fantastic day despite the awful traffic problems (they were stuck in traffic on the way there which made them two hours late!)

In the afternoon, Hamza met with Liam Byrne MP which was very interesting as he explained in detail the whole story behind cuts to the group. There were photographs and a film taken of Hamza with the MP. Hamza was a little disappointed that he could not meet Mr Cameron – he was not allowed into Number 10 (some students were you know!). After meeting him, Hamza and his friends went to visit Baker Street, home of the famous fictional detective Sherlock Holms.

During the day the group got to ride on the underground (tube) to Westminster which Hamza really enjoyed. Following the protests they headed to the train and then to a minibus which took them to lunch – at McDonalds!

Everyone got home later than expected, once again due to traffic – but what a great day!

Hamza says that since starting the YDL project his confidence has grown and he knows that he is well on the way to making a big difference to the world in the future!

Well done Hamza!

I thought I would let you all know about an awards ceremony that was held last night, that saw one of our project members being nominated for an award! It was RADAR’s annual Person of the Year awards (POTY) and a member of the London group, Lavinia Scott, was nominated for the Nuance Young Person of the Year Award.
Sadly, she did not win, but it was a fantastic advert for the calibre of individuals who are part of this project. Well done Lavinia for all of your hard work. I am sure that many of you will qualify for nominations for next year’s awards, so keep busy.

So, yesterday was the long return trip from snowy up-north – we saw the second event taking place at the St John’s School, Boston Spa. A fantastic venue for a fantastic day. Everyone braved the weather and, wow, it was definitely worth it. Flower pots, mission impossible tasks, Dragon’s Den and spelling gymnastics – it was fun packed to say the least.

This event followed the second event in London held two weeks ago. A very posh venue saw young ones from across London come together. We enjoyed the very dramatic training of Tony, a very experienced and well-known director, who showed us how to be good leaders.

In both events we have really seen some amazing skills coming through from all in attendance. We have learnt that leading doesn’t always mean being in the limelight, at the front, or being the loudest. Many things are involved in being a leader and it seems that the young ones have these attributes in the sack-full.

Next week we have the second event in Birmingham, which will see the culmination of a lot of hard work to complete the second round of events. I’ll let you know how it goes… [Photos of all of these events to follow!]