The Engage Programme
6 month programme
Community setting
Life-skill training
Community volunteering
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).
Are you a school representative? Find out how to get involved
Engage aims
Engage aims to teach boys valuable practical life skills and develop emotional and social competence. Engage provides boys with the opportunity to interact with the wider community, develop confidence, responsibility and gives them a sense of achievement.
Engage is part of the Equip, Engage & Inspire programme:
Our 18-month long-term early intervention programme is comprised of our Equip, Engage and Inspire programmes. Designed for boys during the critical years of 11-15, it provides male-led group mentoring, bush-craft survival, life-skill training, community volunteering opportunities, peer mentor training, opportunities to meet inspiring men from the community and opportunities to visit inspiring places.