RECLAIM
RECLAIM improves the confidence, aspirations and employability of young people from disadvantaged and pressurised communities.
About You
Background Information
First Name
Joseph
Last Name
Amos
Twitter URL
Facebook URL
The competition is only open to people between 18-34 years-old and resident in UK, Ireland, Sweden, Denmark or the Netherlands. Does this apply to you
Yes.
Country of residence of entrepreneur
UK
Tell us about your personal background. Why are you passionate about this issue? Making an idea a reality takes innovation, dedication and strong leadership. Do you have the necessary entrepreneurial skills to realize your vision?
My name is Joe Amos, I am 27 years old and I have lived all my life in Manchester, UK. I have never classed myself primarily as a social entrepreneur, preferring the title Youth and Community Worker. However, 5 years ago I began a programme called RECLAIM (alongside co-founder Ruth Ibegbuna) in Manchester for young people at risk of negative outcomes who faced significant barriers to success and this work has increased my belief that we have a model that is a low risk, highly effective model for achieving positive social change.
I grew up in a highly deprived area of the city with high crime levels; drug use and poverty were endemic. Like most of my peers, there were a distinct lack of positive male role models and the temptation for many to get involved in crime was high. Aged 14, a youth worker took time to support me and challenge some of my negative opinions and encouraged me to set targets and to raise my aspirations. I utilised these skills throughout my teens and 20s and I have stayed a positive, progressive person who works hard to benefit others.
RECLAIM’s central ethos is that every young person, especially in disadvantaged neighbourhoods, needs additional support at the pressure points in their lives. I received this support and now I provide it for others. The project has successfully supported over 370 teenagers across the city and has been evaluated as a success. I have mentored a teenage boy called Jordan for 5 years and work to support other teenagers in negative situations across the city.
I am a clear example that direct and positive intervention works.
About Your Organization
Organization Name
RECLAIM
Organization Website
Organization Country
United Kingdom, MAN
Country where this project is creating social impact
United Kingdom
Is your organization a
Non‐profit/NGO/citizen sector organization
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Innovation
The Need: What problem are you trying to solve?
In modern western society the pressure to work, to earn, to achieve, to provide and to prosper can often mean that families far less quality time to spend with their children than prior generations. There has been an increase in the social isolation of young people in the UK, especially as they enter their teenage years. The replacement of social interaction with solo computer gaming and social media often means that teenagers are lacking positive and active adult influences. Rising youth crime levels and youth unemployment means we risk losing a generation of talent through worklessness, alienation and media demonization of young people, labelling them as ‘feral’.
The Solution: What is your solution? Be specific!
Our solution is to create a supportive network whereby adults voluntarily contribute skills, services and time for the benefit of our most vulnerable young people. For some, they may have time to mentor a young person, whereas others may be able to provide a space for youth activities.
Time is the most valuable resource within RECLAIM. We are realists and a level of initial seed funding is essential, however beyond that, all involved volunteer their time, their skills, their resources, their buildings, their knowledge and their support for free. RECLAIM provides a larger network (or extended family) where there are shared values and high expectations of success. The ‘family’ only thrives when each member contributes to the accomplishment of a common goal. Our simple solution is for adults in the communities to create more time to support their young people, not just the young people in their own households.
The Model: Walk us through a specific example of how your solution makes a difference; include your primary activities
Moss Side, Manchester is an area of the city blighted by negative headlines and high levels of gun crime and gang association. In 2007, we started the search for a cohort of teenage boys who would benefit from additional support from positive adult males in their community. We then asked the community to nominate 13 year old boys who they felt would benefit from RECLAIM. We then advertised for local men who wished to help shake off the stigma of the area and overturn some of the negative stereotypes to join me as volunteers and mentors. Through this 3 month process, I received over 100 nominations for boys to partake and had 27 adult male mentors.
Local firms supported the project in providing free transport and food. I also asked prominent and successful men if they would give their time to speak with the 45 boys at a 4 day conference. Everyone approached agreed and the whole project began with very little financial outlay and a whole community in support.
At the end of the 4 day conference, the young boys wrote a ‘Moss Side Manifesto’, where they voted on their top 8 priorities for positive social change in their area. Their number one priority was ‘Don’t let killers get away with the crimes’. This manifesto was copied and the boys distributed it throughout their community, asking the adults to support them in their endeavours.
Throughout the following 8 months, the boys engaged in a variety of activities designed to raise their levels of self-confidence and also engineer social change in their area. They then graduated in a high profile public ceremony in-front of their community. Evaluations have demonstrated that the project was crucial in:
- Turning around negative perceptions nationally of Moss Side
- Raising levels of attainment and attendance at schools for the boys
- Providing accredited training for male youth workers and mentors in the area
The Marketplace: Who are your peers and competitors? Identify others also working to address the needs you are and what differentiates you from them. What challenges could these players pose to your success or growth?
There has been a recent proliferation of large ‘Youth Zones’ across the the country, large industrial units that house teenagers and provide activities every day for up to 500 young people for only 50pence per day.
As a small but successful charity we face real challenges from larger organisations. We have excellent outcomes for our young people but the nature of the extremely intensive intervention work we do with young people, often over a period of years, means that we cannot demonstrate high number of young people that have passed through our programme. However, with a successful impact rate of over 85% and one of the highest retention rates for a youth programme dealing with some of the most vulnerable young people in the region, we have evaluative evidence that what we do works.
Select the stage that best applies to your business
Operating for more than 5 years
This Entry is about (Issues)
Social Impact
What is the social impact you have had to date and how you measure it?
RECLAIM young people have gone onto to win a raft of awards, including Manchester Young Person for the Year. Adult mentors have benefitted from the support of the programme and the skills training they receive. We have had many successful outcomes for our young people since the initial project. The key milestones have been:
Supporting our young people in writing a successful funding bid to central government for £475,000 to increase the level of youth provision and educational attainment within their area.
The recruitment of 10 new members of staff within RECLAIM, many of whom were previously unemployed or had criminal records.
7 spin-off social enterprises, led by previous RECLAIM mentors, all with the aim of providing positive activities and support for Manchester’s young people.
Sustainability
How does your model address financial, social, and environmental sustainability?
Social and financial sustainability are key outcomes of the project - ensuring the project can continue to work after funding ends is a real concern for us .
Key to sustainability is low costs - much of the work done during the project is done by volunteers. All our mentors are volunteers, support work is provided by volunteers wherever available, and close links to local business have been made in order to reduce costs as much as possible. The same model applies whether we work with large multi-national corporates or small businesses. They provide a service for the young people that befits the nature of their business and therefore is not a significant financial outlay. In past projects, IT support, venue hire, travel, food, and drink, have all been provided at significant discounts, or, often, for free. This focus on costs allows for best possible results from each penny put into the programme.
Social and environmental sustainability are also at our core. Our programmes are designed to find future leaders from the local area, who will in turn mentor and teach later generations.
Localism and taking care of one’s area form vital parts of each RECLAIM Community ‘Manifesto’, with participants keen to stress the importance of keeping their area clean and safe. Finding and building leaders from areas without traditional environmental investment allows them to push for reform outside the normal channels.
Awareness & learning
How do you see social entrepreneurship contributing to the improvement of developing countries?
RECLAIM has a methodology with a global appeal. We have already had inquiries from Soweto in South Africa and envoys (including a Government Minister) from Brazil visit us to see our work in practice with an eye to seeing if the work could be replicated in new communities under pressure.
Social entrepreneurship programmes like ours will be vital in accelerating growth in less-developed countries. Where economic, social and political backgrounds are preventative of traditional forms of financial investment and social welfare, social entrepreneurs and charities must step in to provide both services and access to employment, training and well-being. We are currently working with our teenagers to develop two new social enterprize models that they will lead
Equally, not all of the focus in developing countries ought to be on pure financial benefit – the 2008 financial crisis shows the dangers of putting all of one’s hopes in pure profit.
What aspects of your stay in Uganda as part of the competition do you think you will find most challenging and rewarding?
A key challenge would be to identify the shared experiences of disadvantaged children there with those backhome and quickly assess which aspects of RECLAIM adapt to the changed environment. A key element of RECLAIM is the fact that it needs the dynamism of enthusiastic leadership to get stakeholders on-board. Within Manchester we have built a relationship with the business community; RECLAIM is synonymous with effective youth participation. It would be a real challenge to take the project to another country and to have to start again at square one in convincing new stakeholders of the need for this project.
My father is West African and I have always felt concept underpinning RECLAIM is reflective of the famous African proverb: ‘It takes a village to raise a child’. I feel that there may be less of a challenge to persuade the Ugandans of the need for RECLAIM, as culturally they may be more strongly aligned to this work than in the UK.
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