Engage teaches the boys practical life-skills, some that may have traditionally been passed on by their father or another supportive male role model, such as D.I.Y, car maintenance, bike repairs, plumbing and soldering, electronics, woodwork.

The workshops also include sessions on self-care, planning and cooking a three-course meal, music production, photography, managing money, First Aid, and self-protection. Sessions evolve and are tailored to the interests of each cohort of boys.

Over the course of the programme, at the weekends and school holidays, boys and their mentors go out into the community and put their training into practice by volunteering for local-residents, priority going to female lone parents, the elderly, and people with a disability. Jobs we have completed include shed building, painting and decorating, gardening and garden clearances, fence painting, D.I.Y, patio jet washing, to name but a few.

The volunteering fosters a sense of responsibility and confidence within the boys and a personal sense of achievement and strengthens community links.

Many of the boys have been inspired by what they have learnt in the workshops and have actively put their new skills into practice at home or considered it as a career to explore in the future.

Engage helps to develop emotional and social competence. Emotional and social competencies have been shown to be more influential than cognitive abilities for personal career and educational success (Goleman 1996 -Emotional Intelligence).