Nathaniel Peat Bags Two Awards

Good to see a good friend and damn smart business man picking up the Social Enterprise and People’s Choice awards held by the Daily Mail.<p>Nathaniel Peat runs The Safety Box a personal safety organisation which he set up after the death of Kiyan Prince. The one hour workshops he runs mainly at schools focuses on helping children and young adults how to manage conflict, raise levels of confidence and self esteem.<p> In the current negative limelight it is positive to see young black males leading the way forward for change.

Ray Lewis in the Guardian

Ray Lewis the founder and CEO of Eastside Young Leader’s academy, an organisation I think get’s the whole idea of turnaround through leadership,  get’s a great write up in the Guardian.Photo source: The Guardian

Role Model Recruitment

The BBC reports that

Successful role models for young black men are to be recruited to counteract the influence of gang culture, the communities secretary has announced.Hazel Blears said four prominent figures, including entrepreneur Tim Campbell, will hunt for 20 men, such as doctors, lawyers and businessmen. She said the Black Boys’ National Role Models programme would be an “antidote to a culture of low aspiration”.

Personally I think this is a simplistic approach to a complex problem but hey it is a start. A lot of students I speak to in schools aren’t really that bothered with role models outside of their local community. A lot of black professionals who have succeeded have left areas of poverty and depression a long time ago and in many respects speak a different language.The four men who have been highlighted include Tim Campbell (Entrepreneur), Leroy Logan (Met Police), Oswald Boateng (Fashion) and Simon Wolley (Operation Black Vote). I wish them well as they continue to promote positivity but something tells me that a lot of youngsters want to relate to someone a lot closer to home and age. Something I am finding out more and more as a visit schools.Wishing them well and watching this space.

African Students Excel in Science

The first BTWSC Professor Allotey Science Prize ceremony recently recognised seven finalists in the Council Chamber at Harrow Civic Centre in north London.Nominations for the Prize were based on the Year 9 SAT exam results and teacher assessments, and were open to Harrow secondary school students of African descent. The nominees were required to deliver a three minute presentation on global warming. The standard of the presentations were so high that instead of offering one laptop computer to the overall winner as originally planned, the organisers decided to offer two laptops.