Continuing our Donr Spotlight series, we chat with Jamila Daley-Jeffers, Operations Manager at young people’s charity Futureversity which is now in its 23rd year of operation.
Originally set up by the late Lord Young as a crime prevention scheme in 1995, Futureversity continues to strive to provide free, engaging and aspirational activities to young people during the summer holidays. The charity’s courses are delivered by experts and its model has gained widespread recognition, as well as several awards, as it continues to work towards meeting local and national needs.
‘Since the charity was founded, we have worked with over 165,000 young people and we have no plans to slow down,’ Jamila says with pride. In 2018, this work is revolving around two core programmes: Stride into Summer and Vacation Education.
Both of these programmes are supported by groups of Youth Leaders (aged 17–25) whom the charity trains to help run activities, lead groups and ensure the young people who attend make the most of the opportunities available to them. The charity also has close links to corporate volunteers to act as role models for the young people.
‘Most recently, our work has focussed on combating youth isolation, continuing to create safe spaces and giving young people access to experiences they would not normally have,’ Jamila continues. ‘[We’re] increasing young people’s sense of belonging in order to break down barriers and tensions based on race, gender and income to reduce the likelihood of involvement in antisocial behaviour and crime.’
When asked to pinpoint a particular area of success the charity has enjoyed recently, Jamila’s answer turns out to be far more wide-ranging: ‘Our success is hearing what our young people are going on to achieve,’ she explains. ‘From being the first in their family to attend university, to working in the city in too many different sectors to list or going on to start their own foundation.’
Unfortunately, despite these major successes and the admirable ambitions of its work, Futureversity is still facing difficulties in its work. ‘The challenge is raising awareness of what we do: that all our courses are free for young people and that whole communities benefit when young people benefit,’ Jamila points out.
Despite this, the charity has no intention of scaling back its operations. On the contrary, it is currently making plans for the delivery of activity programmes for the school holidays in 2019: February half-term, June half-term, summer 2019 and October half-term are all set to include Futureversity activities. The charity hopes that its supporters will help them offer this comprehensive programme by making donations via their Donr Text Giving service — these donations will see around 2,000 more young people benefit from the amazing activities on offer.
To donate to Futureversity and help them offer their fantastic programme of holiday-time activities, text ‘FUTURE’ plus the amount you wish to contribute to 70085. For instance, to donate £10, text ‘FUTURE 10’ to 70085. Amounts available to donate are: £3, £5, £10, £15 and £20. Texts will cost supporters the amount of their donation plus one standard rate message.
Those interested in finding out more about Futureversity can visit their website or find the charity on Twitter, Facebook or Instagram.
