Rochdale’s young people RECLAIMing their town

RECLAIM leadership programme with young women

A leadership programme for young women (aged 12-13) being run in Rochdale helps young people develop their confidence and skills, and work to create social change in their communities.

In October 2017, the group of 30 young women produced a manifesto for change in Rochdale, including points such as ‘Rochdale girls demand dignity and power – hear our voice,’ and ‘break the barriers, not our community’. They have since been working to creating these changes.

The group has consulted with the council, delivered public speeches on female empowerment, pitched for funding for a free youth club in Rochdale’s town centre, and written a piece of spoken word about changing the education system.

As part of their education campaign, they recently designed billboards requesting that schools recognise all skills and do not dampen creativity.

RECLAIM, the charity behind the course, is launching a boys’ project to run alongside the current girls’ project, starting in February. It has been consulting with Year 8 boys from across Rochdale, hearing their experiences of growing up in Rochdale and the things they would like to take action on.

The boys will be supported by a group of male mentors from Rochdale.

If you are interested in finding out more about the project or becoming one of these mentors, get in touch with via:

www.reclaim.org.uk