July 2022

My name is Lizzie Takyi-Akyaa and I am the new Lead Youth Worker at Carney’s Community. This post is an exciting and humbling opportunity to make positive and long-lasting changes in the lives of the youth in my community. As a Ghanaian woman, born and bred on a South London council estate, I have a vested interest in the social capital of our young people in society. Although I do not have a traditional background in youth and community work, I have always had a burning desire to enter this field of work due to my own experiences. I have spent a decade working in customer services, and I have acquired an immeasurable amount of knowledge and experience during this time which has enabled me to feel confident as the new Lead Youth Worker. From working as a toilet attendant to becoming a Manageress at one of the largest, global bookmakers, my real-life working and personal experiences, coupled with the academic knowledge I have acquired over time, have given me a level of maturity and insight suitable for a Lead Youth Worker. I had the honour and pleasure of spending five years working as a Youth Coordinator at Elim Pentecostal Church (Battersea). This gave me an opportunity to really develop and enhance my youth work skills, by leading youth work sessions on a fortnightly basis. This role cemented my desire to work in the youth and community sector, to be able to work within my community, and to work with those living in my community. I am very excited to see what I achieve at Carney’s Community, and the impact our work at Carney’s will have on our participants’ lives.

My name is Arafat Kabuye, I grew up in Wandsworth Borough where I first met George. He was initially working closely with my neighbour who I often got into trouble with, and George allowed me to tag along to his sessions.

I was deemed high risk within Wandsworth, regularly getting myself into trouble with local police surrounding gang issues. With the help and guidance of George and other services, I managed to change my life around and started volunteering at the Chelsea Kickz project, where I progressed to work in on their programme. I then went on to attend the University of Bedfordshire and graduated in Sports Management. After a short stint as a PE teacher, I worked with a charity that assisted people who are homeless in the Borough of Lambeth. This role really opened my eyes to a different world as it offered me an insight into how disadvantage and circumstances can really affect people in their day to day lives.

I then went on to work in a Gang Prevention team in Waltham Forest for 3 years, it is here where I dealt with both active and former gang members; using my lived experience, I was able to develop good working relationships with service users to help make lasting changes and support them to reach their full potential.

When I spoke with George and heard about the Lead Keyworker role at Carney’s Community, I was eager to apply and delighted when I was appointed the post. This has completed my transition from a former gang member to being at the forefront, supporting others through 1-2-1 keywork to be the best that they can be, helping young people like myself in the area I grew up in.

We’re looking for Community Champions to take part in a new initiative run by The Childhood Trust. Have you thought about doing a sponsored event or challenge for Carney’s Community? Now’s your chance to take up the challenge and raise extra funds for our work. This autumn we’re offering a chance for you to access matched funding for sponsors of your event, alongside a pledge that you put in yourself. So if you pledge £25, this will be matched by The Childhood Trust, so that all sponsorship amounts will be doubled up to a total of £100! If you’d like to hear more about this, and have an idea for a challenge you’d like to do, please get in touch with Ali, our COO, on alice.miltondoyle@carneyscommunity.org or call the office on 0207 288 0506.

After a fantastic Champions for Children appeal in June, in which we raised over £24,000, we’re now thinking ahead to our next appeal, this December. We’re looking for a donor who may be willing to contribute to our matched funding pot. We’re looking for a total of £5,000 of matched funding this time, and have already secured a pledge of £3000 from another donor, so still need to find £2000 from an individual or a business. Could you or your business pledge the remaining funding? This is a brilliant opportunity to support the work at Carney’s Community as we’ve seen how matched funding can provide an extra motivation for our supporters to give. If you’re interested, and would like to find out more, get in contact with Ali, our COO, on alice.miltondoyle@carneyscommunity.org or call the office 0207 228 0506.