By Jason Bowles | Community Development Manager
A world record in rock climbing and some powerful reflection
Thanks again for supporting Encompass Trust and our vital, life-changing peace and reconciliation work.
For this update I thought I’d tell you about our latest UK programme, which took place in July 2013 in South London.
The UK programme is a still fairly new concept at Encompass and takes place over a weekend rather than nine days like the international programme. Don’t let the ‘UK’ part of the title mislead you though. It’s very multi-cultural, reflecting the diverse community of London and of many other UK cities. We are continuing to roll out the UK programme across the UK.
It was a fantastic weekend of fun, laughter, team work, challenge and some very intense and inspirational discussions.
15 young people joined us from organisations including Refugee Youth, Praxis, Active Change Foundation, Salmon Youth Centre and Aik Saath, as well as young people who had simply heard about the programme through word-of-mouth.This meant that a myriad of different opinions and faiths and communities were represented. However, the group really bonded and the participants stayed awake throughout the night, discussing things like food and rituals in their different religions and learning about each other’s experiences and values.
One of our favourite moments was sitting on the rooftop terrace in the dark and talking about what everyone wanted to achieve in life. It was fascinating to hear how our ambitions varied wildly: from running a nursery to getting a world record in rock climbing, yet we still found common ground.
The programme was almost entirely facilitated by our group of volunteers, all of whom are ex-participants on different Encompass programmes. It was really fantastic to see them put into practice the skills they gained through
their experience with Encompass. Every single one of them shone and it is no exaggeration to say the programme would not have been possible without them and of course supporters like you!
Now we are busy making sure that as many people as possible from the programme use what they have learnt, in order to develop their own projects back in their communities.
Thanks again for your continued support for Encompass. Please look out for our next report on the November International programme.
By Jason Bowles | Fundraising Manager
By Jason Bowles | Fundraising Manager
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