Youth Leads News
£15,000 Announced to Support Social Action
2 minute read
The COSARAF Foundation has announced a new three-year partnership to support Xplode Magazine, Greater Manchester’s leading youth-led charity for 12-22 year olds. Xplode gives young people the opportunity to volunteer and make a difference.
Through the publication of Xplode Magazine, this amazing charity helps young people to advance in life through skills development, the building of capacities and capabilities to enable them to participate in society as mature and responsible individuals, advancing education and relieving unemployment.
Xplode Magazine is entirely designed and delivered by disadvantaged young people, helping them to find their voice and them amplify it. The magazine is created quarterly and is the culmination of a volunteer programme that involves industry training, employability advice, a social action project and mentorship.
Jonathan Freeman, CEO (Interim) at the COSARAF Foundation said: “Xplode’s work is truly impressive and we are delighted to be able to help the charity to support even more young people. Trustees were particularly impressed by the youth-led nature of the charity, ensuring that its work resonates so strongly with the young people it looks to support.”
Xplode Magazine is more than a magazine; it is a quarterly programme of skills development training, industry insight workshops, a youth-led social action project and citizen journalism which concludes with a printed magazine. This is the vehicle to increase the employability skills of young people while simultaneously showcasing their talent.
The programme, devised in partnership with corporates such as ASDA, Cineworld, O2, PwC, the CIPD and The Co-Operative, focuses on the key skills needed for employment as defined by the CBI. Young people experience elements of job interviews, CV structuring and group interviews in our sessions and they’re even faced with challenges allowing them to apply learnt information in real-life situations. The increased competition in the labour market means that the spotlight is on the skills and aptitudes beyond outstanding results.
Saeed Atcha MBE DL, CEO at Xplode Magazine added: “We know that so many disadvantaged young people go to jobs for experience and get turned for a lack of it. The COSARAF Foundation support will allow us to break that vicious circle for even more young people across Greater Manchester and expand our youth-led activities. Thank you so much for your support!”
