Hi, My name is Chris Marais, Im Regional Youth Co-ordinator for Mencap’s Young Ambassador Programme - an exciting and empowering scheme for 14-25 year olds with a learning disability. Its completely FREE as its funded by the money Mencap was awarded when the Co-operative Group chose Mencap as their Charity of the Year partner in 2011. My job is to recruit and train young people with a learning disability to fulfil roles as Young Ambassadors. We will devise person-centred action plans on their strengths and weaknesses and then work towards embracing and improving their respective skills over a 6 month period. During that time we will present them with opportunities to challenge themselves in a safe, supported and structured way, such as: Public speaking at local and national events. Becoming part of an interview panel for prospective Mencap employees. Supporting Mencap by raising awareness of what we do. Representing Mencap at fundraising presentations. Helping a Regional Youth Coordinator deliver workshops in schools and colleges. As a team develop their own Community Impact Project. Become a Peer Mentor for new Young Ambassadors. Campaign for change with Mencap to help others with a Learning Disability. Our aim is to provide young people with a learning disability the chance to speak out about their experiences, both positive and negative. In turn we would like to try and raise awareness about learning disabilities and eliminate the negative attitudes that unfortunately still exist in society. One of the many ways in which we do this is by running inclusive workshops with our Young Ambassadors in schools and colleges. The programme culminates with a Community Impact Project, which the participants will devise, plan and execute together - aiming to have a positive impact on a local community as well as raise awareness on learning disability. Its a brilliant opportunity for them to have their voices heard and experience a sense of ownership and accomplishment. And for the general public it provides an opportunity, where perhaps people who have previously shied away from learning disabilities for whatever reasons, to hopefully change or at least challenge any negative perceptions. Once again, the programme is completely free and any travel to and from Mencap or further afield for events will be paid for by Mencap. We only require a few hours contact every week and the programme lasts for 6 months, by the end of which we will try to provide possible exit routes within Mencap or other external organisations. Im looking to recruit a new cohort by the end of the month. Id be more than happy to talk to anyone who may be interested and even bring a current Young Ambassador along to talk about their positive experiences too. Please let me know what you think and if you have any questions at all. Many thanks, Chris Marais [email protected]
Posted on: Mon, 11 Nov 2013 19:45:45 +0000
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