Blog
Keep up to date with Skills 4 All
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Oldham Community Radio Interview
We had the pleasure of welcoming Ian Wolstenholme from Oldham Community Radio, to our STEAM Summer Skills Club. Ian chatted with some of our Young Digital Leaders and children who have attended our Holiday, Activities, and Food Club. Please, listen to the joyful interview.
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STEAM Summer Skills Clubs
We have had an incredibly engaging and enriching two-week experience, igniting inspiration among more than 100 young children attending from various wards across Oldham through our STEAM summer skills clubs.
Throughout this time, we offered an array of activities ranging from robotics and crafting to sports and coding, fostering a hands-on learning environment that resonated exceptionally well with the participants. This HAF (Holiday Activities and Food) program has garnered tremendous popularity, making it one of our most successful and bustling editions to date.
Our heartfelt appreciation extends to the Department of Education, Oldham Council, and the Trusthouse Charitable Foundation for their invaluable support and funding, instrumental in bringing this empowering initiative to fruition.
Children spanning ages 6 to 12 have had the privilege of immersing themselves in a spectrum of activities encompassing Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts, and Mathematics. These engaging sessions have been expertly led by educational specialists and a cohort of talented young individuals who constitute our esteemed Young Digital Leaders group. Their exceptional contributions in facilitating a diverse array of activities have also made them exemplary role models.
Additionally, we have had the honour of hosting distinguished guests, including a seasoned voice coach, a former Disneyland dancer, the intrepid explorer, educator and author Steve Hill, and the robotics virtuoso Jay Patel.
Notably, Oldham Community Radio graced us with their presence, engaging in insightful conversations with some members of our team. Evidently, we have budding broadcasters among us. Feel free to tune in to our captivating interview here on our blog page.
As our dedicated team takes a well-deserved break, we extend our heartfelt gratitude to all the young participants and their guardians for their enthusiastic attendance and involvement.
Stay tuned for forthcoming announcements regarding our upcoming STEAM Club endeavours. The journey continues!
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The National Lottery Heritage Project
As part of our National Lottery Heritage funded project, students from two Oldham schools attended an insightful training session at Manchester Library.
The team at Ahmed Iqbal Ullah RACE Centre and Education Trust held a half day training session to support students from St. Anne’s Academy and Blue Coat School, with their heritage and archive learning.
Students explored the difference between archives and museum collections, the importance of collecting the stories from ordinary people, and developed their questioning technique.
They then had the chance to put their new skills into practise using state of the art oral recording machines while interviewing one another.
After lunch, students were taken on a tour of the digital archives and latest exhibition. We look forward to the day their heritage work is displayed on show for the public.
Young people participating in the project will choose their medium of choice to share their COVID-19 stories with some having the chance to return for deeper learning later in the summer.
Learn more about the My Story, My Voice: A COVID-19 story project by following us for weekly updates on our Twitter page.
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Funding Success
Skills 4 All is awarded a £92,000 grant by The National Lottery Heritage Fund to create a project called My Story, My Voice: A Covid-19 Story
Made possible by money raised by National Lottery players, the project focuses on capturing, preserving, and sharing the first-hand experiences of young black and brown people and their families during Covid-19 in Oldham.
Supported through The National Lottery Heritage Fund, the project will focus on the deeper connection to and appreciation of family tradition, culture, and heritage that took place with extended family during the lockdowns, and that young black and brown people have told Skills 4 All is important to them.
The project ambitions will give young people the tools, time, and platform to gather, express, and share their COVID-19 experiences with the wider community.
During this project Skills 4 All will help 24 young participants from across Oldham to get involved in this project.
Working with heritage professionals at the Ahmed Iqbal Ullah Centre at Manchester Library, Digital Scrapbooking Experts, Video Creation and Public speaking professionals, the young people will learn core skills to preserve their heritage.
In addition, they will gain up-to-date digital and work-ready skills they can use to strengthen their career opportunities in the fast-growing digital sector in Greater Manchester.
Commenting on the award, Co-Directors Reddy Lenge and Rubbi Bhogal-Wood said: “We are thrilled to have received this support thanks to National Lottery players and are confident the project will support these young black and brown people to capture their lockdown memories and share their newly discovered appreciation of their cultural heritage and faith.
Doing this will help them understand themselves, their identity, their resilience, and their growth after COVID-19. They want their stories to be amplified to friends, family, the local community, and have their voices archived for generations to come. We’re thankful to have the chance to make this happen.”
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Inspiring Future Social Entrepreneurs
We were delighted to be asked to co-host the Inspiring Young Enterprise Event.
The Oldham Enterprise Trust created the event to inspire over 80 students from 5 local schools in Oldham to learn more about social impact businesses.
Our co-directors, Rubbi and Reddy co-hosted several fast-paced ideation sessions with the young. Then the students had to choose their best idea and pitch it to the panel via a short film.
Hearts were beating fast, energy was high, the results were inspiring.
