Create 4,000 UK Young Leaders from Deprived Areas

With the summer holidays fast approaching, we are so excited to celebrate the successful implementation of our first year of a PeaceJam-RotaKids Club at St Michael's Church of England Primary School in Bournemouth. With the support of our GlobalGiving donors, PeaceJam UK has partnered with the Rotary Club of Westbourne to empower Key Stage 3 (KS3) students aged 7-11 to take positive action in their school and in their wider communities through the delivery of PeaceJam curricula and resources and the engagement in local and global Rotary projects.

For example, students this year have been gardening and renovating a large green space in the school playground that had become overgrown and fallen into disrepair. For the majority of pupils, as most do not have a garden at home, learning about planting and then being able to use gardening tools and organic material was a new experience. Students now have a greater appreciation and relationship with their local environment, this can be seen in their plans to grow food at the school to be used in the cafeteria or by students in need. Over the last three years the Rotary Club of Westbourne has supplied 150 food parcels to help families at Christmas and now students are already engaged in how they can support their community from September.

Students also worked in small teams to take action, working outside of their normal year group peers and learning life skills such as teamwork, leadership, communication as well as project skills such as budgeting and fundraising. However, one of the most important foundations of the PeaceJam-RotaKids Club has been providing positive role models, through our volunteers, but most specifically through our resources and stories of PeaceJam’s Nobel Peace Prize Laureates.

This year, because of your support, we have been developing a Reading Passport project for KS3 students to engage in our Laureates life stories and learn how any person can have a big impact. With colourful illustrations created by artists based in Salisbury, flags from the Laureates home countries and a short glossary for students and teachers to explore together, students can read across the globe. Our aim has been to show how reading can be both a passport to new places and experiences and for students to reflect on how they can take action like their role models.

Our pilot trials with the PeaceJam-RotaKids Club have been a huge success. St Michael's currently has over fifty three registered languages spoken by families across the school, and students were excited to engage with Laureates connected to their heritage, discuss Maps and geography while also reflecting on how these inspirational changemakers have overcome the obstacles they have faced. Building students self-esteem, resilience and emotional literacy. The impact can be seen at the end of every session where students are encouraged to nominate and give out our ‘Proud of you’ stickers to themselves or their peers for what they have done that day. Over each term, students have gained confidence and displayed increased thoughtfulness in their nominations and support of each other.

Overall, forty pupils took part in the PeaceJam-RotaKids Club over the academic year and on the 3rd of July, they all received a certificate and an official Club hat at their very own celebration assembly. We are so excited to continue the Club next year and to keep supporting St Michael's to develop their inspiring young peacemakers.

We also cannot fail to mention not one, but two, successful PeaceJam Slams that have taken place in 2026. Our second PeaceJam Manchester Slam in March and our first PeaceJam Romsey Slam in June. With our first York Slam provisionally scheduled for November, we are thrilled to be reaching youth across the country, connecting young leaders from deprived areas to the resources and opportunities to create change. Thank you for making all of this possible!

We are so excited to announce that, with the support of our GlobalGiving donors, our next Manchester Slam will take place on Saturday 21 March 2026. Built off the momentum of our first Manchester event and our Online Conference in 2025, PeaceJam UK has been able to develop ongoing conversations with returning PeaceJammers, and facilitate youth-led planning and reflective action, creating young leaders as a result. 

Students at Sharples School and Manchester Communication Academy identified that while local issues such as knife crime and gang violence saw an uptake in community action after an incident, preventative action was lacking. 

As of 2024, Manchester had the fourth highest knife crime rate in UK cities, with around 400 incidents a month relating to knife crimes. These statistics are interconnected with other prevalent community issues. A report from Manchester Council in 2021 investigated youth violence and found that 80 per cent of perpetrators had either lost a parent to separation or bereavement, while more than 60 per cent had experienced either neglect, substance abuse or domestic violence. 

This is why the students at Sharples School and Manchester Communication Academy chose the theme of the Manchester Slam 2026 as ‘Stronger Together’! To reflect the need and desire to strengthen communities and empower local residents to take positive action. With input from multiple school groups, PeaceJammer Alumni and our Youth Leadership Team, participants on 21st March can get ready for an action-packed day with Q & A panels, hands-on workshops and near-peer mentoring groups. Students will also have the opportunity to present social action projects they have been developing and exchange ideas for positive change.

For example, Brian, who first became involved in PeaceJam as a Year 10 participant at our first Manchester Slam in 2025 and is now a member of our Youth Leadership Team, is leading a group of Year 11’s at his school to run a school wide art competition using the event theme, ‘Stronger Together’. Encouraging other students to come together and express themselves through poetry, writing, painting, drawing or any other art form. Additionally, the Year 11 group are developing a social action project to address homelessness in the community and will be sharing their project at the Manchester Slam. 

There is still time to register for our event! 

We are building momentum for long term change, creating young leaders from deprived areas that are supporting the journey of the next generation of changemakers and this would not have been possible without your continued support. Thank you. 

Links:

• PeaceJam Manchester Slam Registration Link

• PeaceJam Manchester Slam Flyer (PDF)
  
• PeaceJam Manchester Slam Programme (PDF)