WE HELP INDIVIDUALS & ORGANISATIONS BUILD CAPACITY & INNER RESILIENCE
WE HELP INDIVIDUALS & ORGANISATIONS BUILD CAPACITY & INNER RESILIENCE
life-changing support & opportunities
life-changing support & opportunities
THE TRANSFORMATIVE POWER OF WILD PLACES
UK
UNIQUE &
TRANSFORMATIVE personal development in the wild
PIONEERS OF CHANGE
The Singing Sands, or Camas an Lighe is a sandy beach and part of four stunning bay dunes in the north east of the Ardnamurchan peninsula. Our Pioneers of Change community centre is a safe space for girls and young women. The Pioneers Foundation Course is designed to help girls develop their confidence and self worth, and facilitate personal growth. In weekly workshops they learn about their rights, sexual risk-management, physical /sexual health and essential life skills such as decision making, planning, sexual assertiveness, effectiveness etc.
remote
wild
pure
transformative
Vulnerable girls often do not recognise abuse or grooming approaches as such, and often blame themselves. They do not know that they have rights or simply don't know where to go and ask for help. At Pioneers of Change girls learn how to recognise inappropriate behaviour, learn what to do when approached and where to find help and how to access support.
Through sporting events and fellowship activities we enable girls and young women to form strong peer support networks, empowering them to stand up and advocate for each other.
These activities are specifically targeted at supporting those girls who are either engaged in -or are at risk of becoming involved in- child prostitution, girls who have been trafficked, or have been subject to abuse.
Vulnerable girls often do not recognise abuse or grooming approaches as such, and often blame themselves. They do not know that they have rights or simply don't know where to go and ask for help. At Pioneers of Change girls learn how to recognise inappropriate behaviour, learn what to do when approached and where to find help and how to access support.
Through sporting events and fellowship activities we enable girls and young women to form strong peer support networks, empowering them to stand up and advocate for each other.
These activities are specifically targeted at supporting those girls who are either engaged in -or are at risk of becoming involved in- child prostitution, girls who have been trafficked, or have been subject to abuse.
mindful
After having completed the Foundation programme girls can move on to the Enterprise Course which prepares them for economic independence.
Girls are supported to explore and develop ideas which will enable them to generate income and are taught vocational skills with a range of choices. On completion of this programme each young woman receives a complete start-up kit, including a finance plan, for her business.
Younger girls are supported back into primary education.
collective
After having completed the Foundation programme girls can move on to the Enterprise Course which prepares them for economic independence.
Girls are supported to explore and develop ideas which will enable them to generate income and are taught vocational skills with a range of choices. On completion of this programme each young woman receives a complete start-up kit, including a finance plan, for her business.
Younger girls are supported back into primary education.
I would never have camped out in the wild before because of my inner daemons and paranoia. But Chance For Change has helped me to change my thought processes and mindsets. I have worked harder and done more with Chance For Change than I have done in a long time.
John, participant
CAPACITY BUILDING
we help you to
we help individuals and organizations to obtain, improve, and retain the skills, knowledge, tools, equipment, and other resources needed to do their jobs competently.
perform at a greater capacity
and "Capacity development
Organizational capacity building
stimulate and develop their capability over time to achieve social and economic goals, including through improvement of knowledge, skills, systems, and institutions
gives fluidity, flexibility and functionality of a program/organization to adapt to the changing needs of the population that is served
the good sounds
After having completed the Foundation programme girls can move on to the Enterprise Course which prepares them for economic independence.
Girls are supported to explore and develop ideas which will enable them to generate income and are taught vocational skills with a range of choices. On completion of this programme each young woman receives a complete start-up kit, including a finance plan, for her business.
Younger girls are supported back into primary education.
ALTERNATIVE TO CUSTODY
A highly successful rehabilitation centre and powerful learning environment for children and young men turning prison sentences into an powerful, inspiring & life-changing learning experience and foundation for a successful future
BACK TO BASICS
What is important ?
To be able to connect with nature in that way, with no mobile phones or electricty was an incredibly powerful experience. Without the distractions and the comfort I was able to connect to what really matters: my Self, real being - and community, sharing, living.
Prison life is extremely difficult in Malawi. Children and young men routinely serve custodial sentences in under-resourced and overcrowded prisons, where conditions such as lack of adequate sanitation, overcrowding, poor nutrition and risk of diseases such as HIV can be commonplace. Children in adult prisons are particularly at risk.
NOURISHING
& ESTABLISHING
WELLBEING
At arrival at our residential centre in Lilongwe we assess each boy's specific needs in terms of their emotional, psycho-social and physical wellbeing and identify specific areas for learning for each individual.
Boys and young men also receive (often for the first time) access to quality healthcare, as well screening for communicable diseases and STIs such as HIV. We provide healthy nutrition and therapeutic feeding where necessary, as well as opportunities for physical exercise, sexual, emotional, physical health education and counselling.
ADVENTURE
We enable young boys and men to reflect on and understand the behaviours that have led them into crime. Through Cognitive Behavioural training they learn how to make positive and effective choices, and our Advantaged Thinking approach enables them to plan to use their talents and abilities to the best effects.
In addition programme participants receive education and training in a vocation of their choice. Focus is placed on experiential learning to ensure long-term retention.
Towards the end of their programme, participants take part in enterprise training to focus their specific business idea. They receive a complete tool kit for their business and leave with a concrete income generation plan.
By the time they return to their communities they have acquired the skills needed to live successful and productive lives free from offending.
SUPPORTED
SUCCESSFUL
REINTEGRATION
Due to stigma families and communities are often reluctant to accept young offenders back into their communities.
The Chance For Change Reintegration Team mediates between families, communities, victims and participants to ensure successful reintegration. We help communities to recognise that the young man who returns to them is a different person with new skills who has much to offer.
We follow up on each young person's progress within their communities, ensuring they have settled and provide continued support if needed.
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Awareness campaigns and advocacy have reached 10,126 people.
6,040 have been indirect beneficiaries in families and communities.
ALTERNATIVE TO CUSTODY SUCCESS STORIES
Since 2012 our legal team has enabled 242 children to avoid time in prison.
941 Participants have taken part in Criminal Justice Programme. 555 have successfully trained in enterprise.
RITES
OF
PASSAGE
Innovative personal development programmes, youth advocacy activities & informal education addressing Health and Wellbeing, Youth Unemployment & Risk of Involvement in Crime
RITES
OF PASSAGE
SUCCESS STORIES
Rites of Passage operated between 2012-18. Its workshops, courses and campaigns have involved more than 13.000 young people in Malawi.
796 young people have become economically active and independent.
4,338 have taken part in our educational health and wellbeing campaigns.
1,037 young people have become involved in advocacy.
9,572 have participated in increased awareness campaigns of human rights.
31,591 members of the wider community have benefitted.
Rites of Passage enables young people to make positive choices & stay safe, find employment and become active ambassadors of positive change in their communities.
Rites of Passage works with young people in townships in Lilongwe where high youth unemployment and poverty is putting young people at risk of becoming involved in crime and risk of STIs such as HIV is threatening lives.
Our initiatives provide informal education, raise awareness about drugs and alcohol, sexual/mental health and youth advocacy. Our local economy enterprise development courses enable young people to become successful entrepreneurs.
NEWS & ACTIVITIES
Pioneers of Change Day Out in Malingunde
A great day out for 73 girls, packed with fun activities, games, self-reflection activities and sight-seeing. The trip enhanced the girl's sense of belonging and was a wonderful opportunity for everyone to interact in a different environment, get to know each other better and helped the participants to bond with facilitators and develop trust.
22 June 2019
Pioneers of Change Football Team
Pioneers of Change have now got their own all female football team, ‘The Pioneers’, consisting of 23 players. Football has become very popular and is having a big positive impact on the girls' confidence levels, self-worth and team building skills.
2018
Girls Lead The Way - Raising awareness about sex trafficking
76 school girls gathered in Lilongwe and climbed a mountain raising awareness about the risks of school age girls being trafficked, coerced into sex work and other forms of sexual abuse and exploitation.
This great day was a wonderful opportunity to develop and strengthen bonds and trust amongst the girls and with our facilitators.
Global Forgiveness Day
Since 2016 we have run an annual Global Forgiveness Day Campaign with focus on the reintegration of young people who have been to prison. Due to stigma attached to having been to prison young men and boys are often not accepted back into their communities. The events raised awareness on the importance of forgiving young people who have been in prison, and giving them a chance to return and start their lives afresh in their communities, opening the door to new and positive futures.
Rocket Wood - Sustainable Firewood Project
This project addresses the critical problem of deforestation caused by wood being cut down for fuel. As part of a new C4C project, young Malawians are developing and innovating new local solutions. Working in partnership with local farmers, and employing local young people as business leaders, local firewood is now grown sustainably and delivered directly to the local community.
Oct 6, 2016
Dzaleka Enterprise - Training For A Future in Malawi's Largest Refugee Camp
Malawian law currently does not allow refugees to find employment outside the refugee camp. Our team developed and delivered a six-week enterprise-training programme specifically for refugees in Dzaleka, designed to support and enable them to develop small businesses and enterprises within camp. Young people learnt how to identify opportunities within their situation, how to plan and set up a business and manage risks. This programme has been met with impressive enthusiasm and commitment.
Jul 5, 2017
