Our partnership with Energise Me and The Agency started when we began supporting Christine Ngo Souhe, the creator of Cultural Kidz Afrobeats. Cultural Kidz is an afrobeat dance workshop for primary school children that celebrates African culture and gives children the chance to share their African heritage with their peers.
The Agency is an exciting youth social entrepreneurship programme run by Energise Me in the Northam, Newtown and Golden Grove area of Southampton. It exists to empower the young people of our country and to create the change that they want to see in their communities.
Through the delivery of a 12-week creative programme, The Agency supports young people to explore their ideas for social change and then gain the tools they need to put them into action.
Christine saw there was a need in schools for further support and celebration of African culture, which is why she applied for The Agency. Christine loves to dance and thought an afrobeat dance workshop would be the perfect project to put her funding towards.
After developing the programme for Cultural Kidz, Christine was awarded the £2,000 to make it happen. Christine set up her sessions in St Mary’s Primary School using the networking skills she developed on The Agency. She delivered a four week pilot as part of her funded activity and it was then that we stepped in to support Christine’s legacy work after The Agency 2021 was finished and have provided Christine with the support she needs to continue to deliver the Afrobeatz workshops.
Needless to say, the children loved it…and we did too! So much so that, once the programme completed, we offered Christine a place as a paid member of the team to ensure she was able to continue delivering these sessions. We’re also working on having Cultural Kidz as a regular session at our HAF holiday camps!
Recruitment for The Agency 2022 programme is now open with sessions starting on the 23rd April. Energise Me are looking for young people who want to become creative leaders and change-makers in their community. These young people will join a friendly, casual team meeting twice a week to develop ideas to make change in the local area.
At the end of 12 weeks, young people present their project ideas to a panel of community experts. Three projects are then chosen to receive awards of £2,000 and a further 16 weeks of support to make them happen.
If you’re aged between 15 and 25 and live in Northam or St Mary’s, you could win £2000 to make real change in your area – apply now to make it happen.
Apply for the Agency 2022 here.
Energise Me and The Agency.
Energise Me began running The Agency in Southampton in 2021. They choose to deliver The Agency in areas that will benefit the most. EnergiseMe’s vision is to make a real difference to the lives of local young people. The Agency encourages young people to create solutions that energise their communities, create a positive impact and leave a lasting legacy.