Aspire

Aspire uses informal education practices to engage Year 9 students who are marginalised / overlooked within the school system. The Aspire students are referred to the project because they fall into the category of ‘excluded within school rather than from school’.

The project runs for a full academic year and aims to make a real difference to the lives of young people by offering them opportunities to gain new experiences and face new challenges.

The programme of activities aims to improve the social wellbeing, self esteem and confidence of young people through creative and team based workshops including out of school excursions and residential trips outside of Tower Hamlets.

Our committed Aspire Volunteer Coaches make this project possible by supporting and motivating the young people through their coaching sessions and workshops, both inside and outside of school.

Each of Aspire's academic terms adopts a single theme as its inspiration:

1st Term (Oct - Dec 09) - Connect
Three workshops exploring communication, interaction and friendships.

2nd Term (Jan - March 11) - Express
Creative workshops spanning a range of arts activities.

3rd Term (April - June 11) - Explore
Adventurous outdoors activities, including sailing and much more!

Get Involved!

Aspire Film Swanlea

Aspire relies on the enthusiasm and commitment of over 20 volunteers to deliver the project.

These roles provide a great opportunity to gain new skills, have fun and make a real difference to young people in East London.

Aspire Volunteer Coach (NOW RECRUITING!!)
Aspire Volunteer Coach Role Description
Application Form
(Closing date: 20th June 2010)

The Aspire Coach works in teams of three to guide and support young people in all of Aspire's yearly activites as well as delivering in-school coaching sessions on a fortnightly basis (14 in total during one school year).

This is a dynamic role that requires a strong commitment from successful candidates. Aspire also offers volunteers a variety of training opportunities and experiences that would particularly benefit candidates who have an interest in community engagement, education, teaching and youth work.

ABOUT ASPIRE

Germaine, Aspire participant


Aspire is like a big space! A big space for the opportunity to come across new experiences.

"At school it really is about sitting, pens and bits of paper, listening to what the teachers says and taking on board the facts and writing a lot of this down. In Aspire it is different; it is much more active, you learn from doing and engaging with other people, possibly people you don’t know at all. It really is a different kind of space and you know you are learning from others your age as much as from the coaches.

Aspire has given me the opportunity to fulfill an ambition – that is to have the ability to teach and share wit people new ideas."

Lyn, Aspire Coach

Watching young people discover abilities they never knew they had has given me a massive buzz.

I’ve gained a great deal of experience in life so far and wanted to use that to facilitate change in individuals and that’s why I chose to be part of Aspire.

Our team of 3 Aspire coaches meets on a fortnightly basis so we can discuss, plan and deliver our session successfully. Our job over the academic year is to encourage the young people to work together, with everyone supporting each other as part of the team. We’ve used fun and serious exercises to raise aspirations, self esteem, commitment and personal development. If at first the young people seem reluctant, it won’t be too long until they start to take an active interest in what’s going on.

Toynbee Hall have a fantastic training programme so you feel fully supported and prepared for this new challenge and there is always someone on the end of the phone to have a chat with.

It’s exciting, innovative, fulfilling, fun, challenging, every day is different and not only does it help with my personal development it’s also an opportunity to captivate young peoples’ hearts and minds as they grow. Aspire Coaching needs all sorts of people, literally anyone who’s interested in making a difference should go for it!

Jon, Citizenship Coach

It was very rewarding to see the young people enjoying and learning from the activities we planned and see them growing in confidence.

"I’d always fancied doing some volunteering and the Citizenship Coach programme was on a subject – citizenship – that I was interested in. It meant a good opportunity to learn new skills and gain new experiences, to give something of myself and to gain an insight into what it’s like to be a kid growing up in London.

The Aspire programme left me with positive views about volunteering and I’d definitely volunteer again on that basis. You see so much in the media about bad kids so it was great to see that they haven’t really changed much since I was one!

My advice to future Citizenship Coaches is to enjoy yourself! It’s not school and the young people will find it much easier to get over their embarrassment at speaking in front of others/acting/running around playing games if you are being silly. Confidence and enthusiasm are also really important – if you’re into a subject and well informed the kids will engage so much more."