Pupils pitch social action project ideas to Dragon’s Den star
American Express and Albion in the Community welcomed former Dragon’s Den star Sarah Willingham to a social action celebration event with local schools.
Albion in the Community and American Express have been helping dozens of local Year 7 and 8 pupils to learn key life skills as part of their flagship volunteer programme, ‘Live, Learn, Play Together’.
Pupils from four Sussex secondary schools; Brighton Aldridge Community College (BACA), Rottingdean’s Longhill High School, Felpham Community College, and The Academy in Selsey took part in a series of workshops encouraging them to think practically about what they can do to protect the environment, with the students designing practical solutions to real life climate issues.
They presented their ideas for their social action projects to local entrepreneur and TV star Sarah Willingham.
The event, which took place on Monday 30 January at the Amex, was delivered by Albion in the Community in partnership with American Express. Colleague volunteers from American Express supported the students in the run up to and during the session.
The day began with a talk by Brighton resident Sarah Willingham, followed by a communication skills activity and pitch presentation where participants fine-tuned their social action projects with the help of American Express colleagues, and presented them to Sarah and American Express colleagues in the ‘boardroom’.
Sarah Willingham said: “It’s been such a privilege to be here today, working with Albion in the Community and American Express.
“This is an amazing venture, with all these brilliant children learning about what it really means to protect the environment. I’ve been so inspired by some of the amazing ideas that they’ve come up with.”
At the end of the day, each participant received a certificate of achievement, a BHAFC shirt medal and a copy of book ‘You Are a Champion’, donated by the Premier League.
This event marked the culmination of a six-week social enterprise challenge, encouraging pupils to explore the issues that BHAFC or their school face in trying to be more environmentally sustainable and reducing their impact on the environment. Students worked together in small teams on the projects, this helped them develop their soft skills such as teamwork and communication, which have been identified as key employability skills.
Over the course of the six weeks, pupils were supported by AITC coaches and Amex colleague volunteers to prepare and develop their projects.
Rob Josephs, Schools Manager at AITC, said: “Today we saw some fantastic ideas for social action projects from our pupils, they’ve worked hard for six weeks, and I’m really impressed with what they’ve achieved.
“Over the course of this programme they’ve learned some key skills like communication, inventiveness, and team-work.
“The Learn Together programme is a fantastic initiative for young people, and once again the students have been engaged and enjoyed themselves along the way.”
AITC has been working successfully in partnership with American Express since 2011. Combining the power of football and passion for BHAFC with the time, energy and expertise of American Express colleagues to help local communities across Sussex. The ‘LEARN Together’ strand of American Express and Albion in the Community’s ‘LEARN, LIVE, PLAY Together’ volunteer programme offers the opportunity for young people to develop their soft skills, including teamwork, problem solving, decision making, creativity, leadership and communication.
Find out more about our partnership with American Express.
This article was written when our name was Albion in the Community. As of August 1 2023, we are the Brighton & Hove Albion Foundation.