Our latest Prince’s Trust, 12 week, self-development course for young people aged 16-25 has finish on 10th December and the students who have been on the course have all gained valuable skills along the way and some have even secured jobs as a result of them attending work placements as part of the course.
As a way to integrate the young people on the course with different groups of people in the community Team 51 took on a variety of challenges and projects to make improvements for others.
They firstly chose to work with very young children and made 2 beautiful mud kitchens which they donated to Northborough Primary school. This was very much appreciated and as a result we were invited to take part in an assembly where, the school children thanked us and gave us some treats.
Following on from this the group decided to try and work with the homeless and vulnerable and came up with the idea of fundraising to get money to create Christmas treat boxes and cold weather survival blankets which they made by recycling crisp packets and plastic. The group who had never done presentations before put together funding pitches which they delivered to BGL group and Peterborough Round Table and as a result were given £700 to use for their project. They set about collecting old shoe boxes which they cover in Christmas wrapping paper and filled with essential items of toiletries, warm hats, sanitary products and a few treats which they shopped for using their budgeting skills.
They then shopped for ingredients and baked and decorated over 100 homemade cookies. On a very cold 1st December evening they went along with 30 boxes which also contained beautiful handmade Christmas cards with a personal message to the Wellington Street carpark where, alongside the Peterborough Soup Kitchen team they handed out all the boxes, cookies and blankets. It was a very humbling experience and really made everyone feel very thankful that we were returning to our homes when we had finished but also made us all want to do more in the future.
Finally, as there was a small amount of money left the group decided that they would also like to do something nice for the older generation and so once again they ventured off to the shops and created a fantastic hamper which they have donated to a local group of elderly residents to enjoy over Christmas along with some more of the group’s lovely handmade Christmas cards.
Team 51 Proving that young people are caring and giving, and willing to get involved in the community.
