Philip Lawrence Awards Network

To provide a first-rate performing arts service to children aged 7-16 within inner city Manchester and help empower those with little/ no confidence and challenge negative mindsets to achieve great heights and raise ambitions for younger generations within the local community through teamwork, development, participation and involvement.

Who we are

Young people aged 7-16 in inner city Manchester

Where we're based

Manchester

When we started

July 2008

How we started

I self-taught myself street dance and started teaching dance to my friends aged 13 because there was nothing to do in my local area that involved dance and provided performance opportunities. I created a group that performed in many local and national venues called 'Cold Passion' which ranged from ages 13-19. When I was 16 I started teaching in local youth and arts centres where I noticed the potential in the young generations. From here I went onto work with them voluntary and this is currently ongoing.

Our work

I teach dance to the young people within my community at open classes and once at a certain standard put them in a group which I teach voluntarily and take them to competitions, both national and international, to compete. The children pay nothing and we fundraise to get them to the different competitions. This project is not just about dance, it is also about tacking social problems within my community. For example:

LONGEVITY- There are a lot of projects in and around the Manchester area that lack longevity and consistency, which is what I already provide, and plan to continue to providing. For instance, school holiday week long programmes to introduce young people into the arts that many arts centres do and although there maybe the opportunity for regular open classes, not much individual time and monitored progression is given to them so they can see and feel the difference. A lack of longevity and continuity is not good for young people as it does not give them a chance to stay focused and off the streets to instil lifelong transferable skills into them such as, ambition, drive, motivation, organisational skills, entrepreneurial skills, leadership skills, team work, self belief etc.

LACK OF ASPIRATIONS AND SELF ESTEEM- The young people I have come across have a serious lack of self belief and it is not until I have shown them what they are capable of that they do then realise it. This can be due to bullying, lack of positive role models, lack of positive encouragement and motivation from parents etc. As well as a lack of self belief, this can lead to a poor work ethic that develops and gets worse through their lives, the start of anti-sociable behaviour, lack of motivation to try anything new and bad school work as well as many more things. I am also trying to raise the aspirations of the children within the local area and continuously develop them. I aim to teach them self belief and help them to trust in their own abilities.

LACK OF ACTIVE ROLE MODELS- A lot of the young people in my classes’ have not mentioned any real life role models when talking to me. I aim to train them to teach and peer educate so people their age and below have someone and something to look up to which seems more attainable as they are coming from similar places. Role models show young people what they can be and what they can do, potentially inspiring them to do better for themselves. A lack of role models means a lack of inspiration and no motivation to do anything. With a lot of people if they cannot see the light at the end of the tunnel they don’t see anything to work for, as the old saying goes, ‘seeing is believing!’.

LACK OF NEW/INNOVATIVE ACTIVITIES FOR THE YOUTH- In my area I feel that the organisations providing services for the youth do not cater to the youth. They introduce new innovative activities, but not anything will catch a decent enough following and caters to what they want. My focus is to provide a free service for young people within my community so that they can learn skills and discipline through dance that are transferable into everyday life. I also intend to try and help the young people become self sufficient within the field of dance, i.e. be able to choreograph, be able to rehearse and work as a team without me.

Future plans

To carry on providing this service and hopefully inspire more young volunteers than I already have to keep giving back to the community.