Ryan is a 19 year old of African-Caribbean parentage, he lives with his mother on a social housing estate in South London, Ryan does not have contact with his Dad. Ryan was (not in employment education or training, last year but he is now attending college where he is completing a carpentry course. When asked to pinpoint the events that have had a bearing on his life thus far. Ryan immediately mentions his permanent exclusion from school in year nine. The events leading up to his exclusion began in year seven, when Ryan went to a school which unbeknown to his mother was failing. “Suddenly, you were no one, unless you had a rep” (reputation), “so I had to get one and act like a hard guy. Some teachers could see through it, but others couldn’t”, Ryan told me reflectively. “It takes a lot of effort to put on and keep-up an act, so my grades started slipping, partly because of my behaviour but mostly because I was more interested in my image than I was in my lessons.” Ryan shared how he was moved into a new tutor group where he shared lessons with boys interested in their ‘rep’ like he was, “only some of them were much worse”. Ryan believes that all the boys in his tutor group were eventually excluded in the lead up to the school being taken over by a highly successful academy. “Towards the end, I really tried to improve but the head teacher wanted me out, some of the teachers taunted me, and found fault until I was eventually excluded”. The first time Ryan was excluded an independent review held that the school had acted unfairly so they had to take him back. “It only took a few months before they found something else, and I was excluded permanently”.
I could not avoid being what I was because of where I live and where I go to school. There was one learning mentor that believed in me at school but by the time I started seeing him, it was too late. Ryan believes that the tipping point towards lifelong disadvantages happened when he was excluded from school, because being out of school meant that he was hanging around with the “wrong people” he started to get implicated in low level misdemeanours. Ryan knows someone who has been murdered, people who have been sent to prison, A 30 year old who bullies young vulnerable people, sells them drugs and gets them to sell drugs. “Once you know these people, they won’t let you get away”.
Ryan’s wake up call came when an Antisocial Behaviour Order (ASBO) was issued, because young people in the area would hang out, outside his house when his mother was at work and disturb the neighbours. The family narrowly avoided being evicted. “Around that time the ‘hard’ members of a local gang that I trying to avoid because they were reeling me in, were involved in a serious crime, which resulted in the death of a young person, they are in prison now. Now, I can walk anyway in my locality because hostilities between different groups have reduced. I am determined to keep to my self, I have gotten rid of my mobile phone and I don’t answer the house phone, or the door, although things have gotten better, still members of the old group find me. I am at college now but what I would really like is to move completely out of the area with my mother. I just want to get on with the rest of my life now."
This true story is the copyright © of Aston Campbell associates and Myles Ellis Consultancy. If you wish to use this story, please credit the source.
Ryan’s story is not unusual, there are several points on his journey where not for profit organisations working with young people get involved. Ryan’s first introduction to one of these was a learning mentor, but that intervention happened too late. You see the tipping point towards disaster began much earlier then Ryan realises. There are several ‘not for profit’ organisatons, working with young people, like Ryan. Like Prodigals which focus’s on self esteem and values. It operates on the premise that if a young person is provided with tools to inform his/her early choices and values to guide those choices then they are aware of the life paths that their choices can lead and aware of the choices that they can make and the help they can call on when they need it.
How can you help?
There is a point to all this, and that is that your patronage in the form of donations, sponsorship and support will help the community to fund the services to young people 'we' (the board informed by our debates) deem to be important.
What outcomes are we looking for?
We want young people, like Ryan to have equal or better life chances for ‘success’ in comparison to the middle class population of the UK. We want to leave a lasting legacy. At the current trajectory, we, members of the African-Caribbean community are in danger of leaving behind a generation with values and opportunities for growth that are weaker than the values and opportunities we inherited from our parents.
What happens to the money?
The money is managed on our behalf by Capital Community Foundation, click here http://www.rootstofruits.org.uk/rootsfoundation.htm for further information.
I could not avoid being what I was because of where I live and where I go to school. There was one learning mentor that believed in me at school but by the time I started seeing him, it was too late. Ryan believes that the tipping point towards lifelong disadvantages happened when he was excluded from school, because being out of school meant that he was hanging around with the “wrong people” he started to get implicated in low level misdemeanours. Ryan knows someone who has been murdered, people who have been sent to prison, A 30 year old who bullies young vulnerable people, sells them drugs and gets them to sell drugs. “Once you know these people, they won’t let you get away”.
Ryan’s wake up call came when an Antisocial Behaviour Order (ASBO) was issued, because young people in the area would hang out, outside his house when his mother was at work and disturb the neighbours. The family narrowly avoided being evicted. “Around that time the ‘hard’ members of a local gang that I trying to avoid because they were reeling me in, were involved in a serious crime, which resulted in the death of a young person, they are in prison now. Now, I can walk anyway in my locality because hostilities between different groups have reduced. I am determined to keep to my self, I have gotten rid of my mobile phone and I don’t answer the house phone, or the door, although things have gotten better, still members of the old group find me. I am at college now but what I would really like is to move completely out of the area with my mother. I just want to get on with the rest of my life now."
This true story is the copyright © of Aston Campbell associates and Myles Ellis Consultancy. If you wish to use this story, please credit the source.
Ryan’s story is not unusual, there are several points on his journey where not for profit organisations working with young people get involved. Ryan’s first introduction to one of these was a learning mentor, but that intervention happened too late. You see the tipping point towards disaster began much earlier then Ryan realises. There are several ‘not for profit’ organisatons, working with young people, like Ryan. Like Prodigals which focus’s on self esteem and values. It operates on the premise that if a young person is provided with tools to inform his/her early choices and values to guide those choices then they are aware of the life paths that their choices can lead and aware of the choices that they can make and the help they can call on when they need it.
How can you help?
There is a point to all this, and that is that your patronage in the form of donations, sponsorship and support will help the community to fund the services to young people 'we' (the board informed by our debates) deem to be important.
What outcomes are we looking for?
We want young people, like Ryan to have equal or better life chances for ‘success’ in comparison to the middle class population of the UK. We want to leave a lasting legacy. At the current trajectory, we, members of the African-Caribbean community are in danger of leaving behind a generation with values and opportunities for growth that are weaker than the values and opportunities we inherited from our parents.
What happens to the money?
The money is managed on our behalf by Capital Community Foundation, click here http://www.rootstofruits.org.uk/rootsfoundation.htm for further information.
How do we decide who gets funded?
The criteria is discussed by the roots to fruits debating group (currently in excess of 50 members) and then the roots to fruits board and given to Capital Community Foundation, who manage the process for us. Decisions for funding are made by the board in association with Capital Community Foundation. Capital community foundation are responsible for monitoring progress and outcomes.
Interested in finding out more?
We meet quarterly for debates, fund raising and networking if you are interested in finding out more, send an email to rootstofruits@gmail.com
Interested in finding out more?
We meet quarterly for debates, fund raising and networking if you are interested in finding out more, send an email to rootstofruits@gmail.com
Click events, for information related to our next debating or fund raising event
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