We are delighted to announce that Shrewsbury Colleges Group will be a Youth Social Action (YSA) ambassador college as part of a unique social action programme, in partnership with the Pears Foundation and Association of Colleges.
Youth Social Action sees students participate in activities which impact their college and the local community whilst also developing their skills for the future. This is the second phase of this initiative: the first phase saw apprentices across the project complete their Level 3 Youth Social Worker qualification in 2022. They collectively engaged 10,870 students in youth social action and built relationships with 424 local organisations and 118 national partners. This meant that around 18,496 members of the community benefited from their work.
Shrewsbury Colleges Group have recruited 15 youth social action ambassadors from the Level 2 Business and T Level Business courses to lead on planning, delivering, and evaluating a social action project for the year. They will encourage their peers to participate in their chosen project, and develop their employability skills, all whilst giving back and supporting the local community.
Shrewsbury Colleges Group are one of eleven colleges that were accepted onto the Programme this year. Roan Gummery studying Level 2 Business is an ambassador on the programme and is also part of the Colleges Equality, Diversity, and Inclusion student group. Roan has helped plan several events this year to help students celebrate their cultural Identity which will include a cross college Diversity week in February. Roan would also like to raise awareness of food allergies and will be doing this through awareness campaigns. Roan said ‘’This year we have launched a campaign called #Proudtobe where students are encouraged and given the opportunity to celebrate and raise awareness of all of our protected characteristics. It’s exciting to help plan these events and create a buzz on campus as well as educate our students on things such as Inclusive language and cultural differences. The college really is a place where students feel part of a community’’.
The ambassadors will also be supporting local charities such as Shrewsbury Food Hub and the Ark as well as raising awareness of sustainability in the college and the local community.
The ambassadors will be attending Dudley College in January to complete a full day of training where they will have the opportunity to share their ideas and examples of youth social action.
Student Engagement Coach at Shrewsbury Colleges Group Dan Blasczyk said ‘’I’m delighted that the Shrewsbury Colleges Group has been accepted onto the programme and I’ve really enjoyed listening to the students’ proposed ideas. The students are really excited to be part of the programme and they can’t wait to get started on projects which will have a positive impact on both the college community and our local community’’.
Shrewsbury Colleges Group Principal James Staniforth said “The college has a culture of student engagement, and I am delighted that the students have seized the opportunity offered by the YSA programme to make a further contribution to our community, as well as enhancing their skills and knowledge. We are very proud of our youth social action ambassadors and very grateful to the teachers and student engagement coaches who are working with them on the programme”.