Country of Residence

Nigeria

Age

18

Project title

The Open Circle

Project Summary: Describe your project in one sentence

The Open Circle creates a welcoming community where young people can talk about mental health, read and discuss books, build meaningful friendships, make informed decisions and work together on practical community service projects that support young people facing poverty, illiteracy and substance abuse.

Website URL(s) or social media handles.

Project Category

My project is an existing project that I started

Project Stage

Growth (We’ve moved past the very first activities and are beginning to have consistent weekly or monthly impact)

Founding Story: What was the spark that led you to start your project? What was the "Aha!" moment that led you to get started and see the potential for this to succeed?

Growing up as the last child in my family, I often felt what it was like to grow up without a strong community of people my age. My siblings were not around me and the people around me were often either much older or much younger, so it was difficult to find people I could truly relate to. There were things I struggled with that I could not always talk to my parents about. It was not because they did not care, they were working hard and doing their best for our family. But I sometimes wished I had a safe place where I could talk to people my age, ask questions, learn from others and simply know that I was not alone. That experience stayed with me. I started thinking about other young people who might be experiencing the same thing, especially those growing up in communities where poverty, illiteracy and drug abuse create even more challenges. My “aha” moment was realizing that I did not have to wait until I was older or had everything figured out to do something about it. I could start by creating the kind of community I wished I had growing up. I met my mentor at a capacity-building workshop where I participated as a young person. Our conversations after the workshop encouraged me to take my ideas more seriously. With his guidance, I started taking small steps toward building this project.

The Problem: What problem are you helping to solve? Why does it matter to you and your community?

Many young people need more than information. They need safe communities where they can talk openly, ask questions, develop healthy relationships, discover new ideas and feel that they belong. This is especially important for young people growing up in communities affected by poverty, limited educational opportunities, illiteracy and substance abuse. When young people lack positive peer networks and trusted spaces, they can become isolated and may make important decisions without enough information or support. I understand this problem personally because I experienced what it feels like not to have a community of peers I could easily relate to. There were challenges I wished I could discuss with someone my age but I did not have that space. This matters to me because I believe young people should not have to struggle alone before they find support. A safe space can help someone realize that their experiences are valid, that other people understand them and that they have choices. I want to help create communities where young people can support one another, develop their confidence, access useful mental-health information, discover the power of reading and learning and turn their concerns about their communities into positive action.

Your Solution: How are you solving this problem? Share your specific solution.

My solution is to build a youth-led safe-space community that combines mental wellbeing, learning, reading, peer connection and community service. The project will bring young people together through regular activities such as: - Safe conversations: structured discussions where young people can talk about issues affecting their wellbeing, relationships, education, identity and everyday lives without being judged. - Mental-health sessions: practical, age-appropriate discussions that help young people understand their emotions, recognise when they need support, learn healthy coping strategies and make informed decisions. - Book reading and reviews: group reading sessions where participants explore books, discuss ideas and learn from different perspectives. Young people will also be encouraged to recommend and review books for one another. - Peer connection: creating opportunities for young people who may feel isolated to meet others with similar experiences and interests. - Community impact activities: participants will identify needs in their communities and work together on practical service activities, particularly supporting young people experiencing poverty, educational disadvantage or other forms of exclusion. - Youth leadership: participants will not only attend activities; they will help choose topics, organize activities and lead parts of the project. The goal is not simply to create a programme that young people attend. It is to create a community that young people help build and eventually lead themselves.

Impact: How has your project created impact / made a difference so far? Or, if at an early stage, what will impact look like?

The project is still at an early stage, but I have already taken initial steps to turn the idea into action and have conducted 4 activities, reaching approximately 50 young people directly. The most important impact so far has been seeing that young people are willing to engage when they are given a space where they feel welcomed and heard. As the project grows, I want to measure both participation and meaningful change. We will track the number of young people reached, participation in reading and mental-health activities, community-service activities completed and young people who take on leadership roles. Over the next year, my goal is to reach much more young people directly and many more indirectly through community activities and peer-to-peer sharing. I also want participants to leave with practical outcomes: stronger peer connections, greater awareness of mental health, improved access to books and learning opportunities, greater confidence to seek help when needed and experience working together to solve problems in their communities. For me, success will not simply mean having a large number of participants. It will mean that a young person who once felt alone can say, “I found people I can talk to here,” and that young people begin seeing themselves as people who can create positive change.

Your Innovation: What is different about your project compared to other programs or solutions already out there? How is your project new or innovative?

What makes this project different is that it does not treat young people only as recipients of services. It treats them as members, contributors and future leaders of the community. Mental-health programmes, reading programmes and community-service initiatives often exist separately. My idea brings these elements together in one youth-led space because I believe they reinforce one another. A young person might come to a session because they want to talk about something they are going through, discover a book through the reading community, build a friendship with someone who understands them and eventually join a community-service activity. The same space can therefore support emotional wellbeing, learning, relationships and civic engagement. Another important part of the project is that it comes from lived experience. I am not trying to create the perfect programme for young people from the outside. I am building the kind of community I personally wished existed when I was younger. I also want the project to be youth-led. Participants will help identify the issues that matter to them, suggest activities, facilitate discussions, recommend books and participate in community projects. This gives them ownership rather than making them passive beneficiaries. As the project grows, I want to use simple digital tools to connect participants, share mental-health and reading resources, coordinate activities and allow young people who cannot attend physically to remain involved.

How many people are on your team?

4

Your team: What role(s) do your team members play? How do you share leadership with them?

I currently have a small team of four: myself as the youth project founder, two volunteers, and my mentor who supports me with guidance, feedback and capacity building. I remain responsible for the project’s vision, ideas and youth engagement, while my mentor helps me think through challenges and strengthen implementation. As the project grows, I plan to involve more young people and give them real leadership responsibilities.

What’s Next: What are the next steps you plan to take to grow or strengthen your project over the next year? If your project is still in the idea stage, describe the steps you will take over the next three months to launch or begin developing it.

Over the next year, I want to move the project from a small initiative into a stronger youth-led community. My first priority is to build a core team of young people who share the vision and can take responsibility for different areas such as mental-health activities, reading, communications, community service and volunteer coordination. I then plan to establish regular safe-space meetings, with a combination of mental-health conversations, book discussions, peer activities and youth-led community projects. I also want to build relationships with schools, community organisations, libraries, youth groups and mental-health professionals who can contribute knowledge, resources or mentorship. Another priority is developing a simple system for measuring our impact. We will track participation, activities, feedback and stories of change so that we understand what is working and improve the project over time. Finally, I want participants themselves to become leaders. Rather than having everything depend on me, I want young people who join the project to eventually facilitate discussions, organise reading sessions, lead service activities and mentor newer members. My long-term vision is for The Open Circle to become a community that young people can shape themselves and that can be replicated in other communities facing similar challenges.

How do you encourage other people to join your project or learn about the problem you’re working on? If you have a new idea, tell us how you will do this in the future.

I believe people are more likely to join something when they feel that their voice matters. So, rather than simply advertising the project, I talk to young people about the issues they experience and invite them to help shape what we do. So far, I have engaged young people through the activities I have organised and through personal conversations about the idea. As the project grows, I will use schools, youth groups, community networks and word-of-mouth to reach more young people. I will also encourage existing participants to invite friends and take leadership roles. Our activities themselves will also be a way of bringing people in. A young person may first join because of a book discussion, a mental-health conversation or a community-service activity and then become part of the wider community. I also want participants to become ambassadors for the idea. They can share what they have learned, recommend books, talk about mental-health awareness and invite others to community activities. Most importantly, I want young people to understand that they are not joining a project simply to receive help. They are joining a community where they can contribute, learn from others and help create solutions to problems they see around them.