Most of the CRED Team trips that we send overseas are about 30 people in size, and spend the week at the one project delivering good quality, educational lessons and activity sessions. This style works well for young people who go to school, and are used to following a schedule, have reasonable academic abilities, respond positively to adult leadership, including leadership by those they don't know very well, and can cope with going to the same place for 5 days in a row and delivering new lessons etc each day.
For some young people, that model just doesn't work - maybe they are excluded from school, or are from such dysfunctional backgrounds that they need to be in a smaller team with a higher level of pastoral support; maybe life has been so tough that their self-belief is very low and they don't feel they have the ability to plan and deliver sufficient material for a week, or they have very low concentration levels and need new challenges and experiences each day in a way that can't be delivered if going to the same project for the whole week.
For those young people, we have the CRED 360 trip opportunity. It was dreamed up by myself and Suzanne Spooner, a social worker friend who has spent her career thus far working predominantly with looked-after children. The aim of 360 trips is to give disengaged and disadvantaged young people the chance to go on overseas volunteer trips, get involved in practical work with local projects, and take a 360 degree review of life, themselves, their journey thus far, their plans for going forward etc. We've taken 3 teams of young people on 360 trips so far and have some wonderful stories of lives transformed in the process.
Last week I was interviewing a group of young people from Portsmouth for the next team which will be going out to Uganda in a year's time. They are an interesting bunch, some more 'sorted' than others, but all wanting to make a difference to others in a practical way and combine it with experiencing life in a foreign country.
It will be a massive adventure for them, and they have a lot of fundraising to do to get there. But that is part of the journey of being on a 360 trip. It's not just about going on to another part of the world; its also about developing all sorts of skills through planning and carrying out fundraising activities, honing team-work skills, planning activities to deliver out there, and learning about the country so as to be sufficiently prepared.
Obviously we will support them all the way, but the life transformation starts from now. Indeed for one of the team the trip is providing an incentive to stay out of trouble, as he needs to be clear of his probation officer before he goes, and that will only happen if he lives a clean life from now on - definitely life-transforming for him!
So, thats one level of 360 trips, and if anyone wants to know more, please check out the CRED website.
One other thing that is happening on the 360 trips front, that it would be great if the praying people amongst you could pray about is this: we have approached a large national charity who works a lot with disengaged young people, excluded students, NEETs etc, and have started conversations with them about working with them to provide 360 trips for their young people. Its very early days, and hence why I am not mentioning who the organisation are, but if we can get the 'contract' it could lead to a lot more young people getting access to these opportunities, which would be fantastic.
So, please remember the 360 trips in your thoughts and prayers - those who have been on the trips have come back with some great stories of what they have done, and how they have discovered wonderful new and positive insights into themselves, their abilities and their focus and perspective on life. My prayer is that many more will be equally impacted in time to come.
For some young people, that model just doesn't work - maybe they are excluded from school, or are from such dysfunctional backgrounds that they need to be in a smaller team with a higher level of pastoral support; maybe life has been so tough that their self-belief is very low and they don't feel they have the ability to plan and deliver sufficient material for a week, or they have very low concentration levels and need new challenges and experiences each day in a way that can't be delivered if going to the same project for the whole week.
For those young people, we have the CRED 360 trip opportunity. It was dreamed up by myself and Suzanne Spooner, a social worker friend who has spent her career thus far working predominantly with looked-after children. The aim of 360 trips is to give disengaged and disadvantaged young people the chance to go on overseas volunteer trips, get involved in practical work with local projects, and take a 360 degree review of life, themselves, their journey thus far, their plans for going forward etc. We've taken 3 teams of young people on 360 trips so far and have some wonderful stories of lives transformed in the process.
Last week I was interviewing a group of young people from Portsmouth for the next team which will be going out to Uganda in a year's time. They are an interesting bunch, some more 'sorted' than others, but all wanting to make a difference to others in a practical way and combine it with experiencing life in a foreign country.
It will be a massive adventure for them, and they have a lot of fundraising to do to get there. But that is part of the journey of being on a 360 trip. It's not just about going on to another part of the world; its also about developing all sorts of skills through planning and carrying out fundraising activities, honing team-work skills, planning activities to deliver out there, and learning about the country so as to be sufficiently prepared.
Obviously we will support them all the way, but the life transformation starts from now. Indeed for one of the team the trip is providing an incentive to stay out of trouble, as he needs to be clear of his probation officer before he goes, and that will only happen if he lives a clean life from now on - definitely life-transforming for him!
So, thats one level of 360 trips, and if anyone wants to know more, please check out the CRED website.
One other thing that is happening on the 360 trips front, that it would be great if the praying people amongst you could pray about is this: we have approached a large national charity who works a lot with disengaged young people, excluded students, NEETs etc, and have started conversations with them about working with them to provide 360 trips for their young people. Its very early days, and hence why I am not mentioning who the organisation are, but if we can get the 'contract' it could lead to a lot more young people getting access to these opportunities, which would be fantastic.
So, please remember the 360 trips in your thoughts and prayers - those who have been on the trips have come back with some great stories of what they have done, and how they have discovered wonderful new and positive insights into themselves, their abilities and their focus and perspective on life. My prayer is that many more will be equally impacted in time to come.
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