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"When the world is silent, even one voice becomes powerful."
- Malala Yousafzai, acclaimed young Pakistani activist
In our Year 9 Global Citizenship lessons, we, as a year, were given the opportunity to take part in the First Give Programme in groups. First Give is a company based in England and Wales, founded in 2014, and has been aiming to empower young people to make a positive difference for all. They have successfully strengthened the minds of 240,000 young people across the nation. First Give is an organisation that pairs alongside classes and inspires young pupils on how to support causes that they care about, by engaging with charities to challenge social issues. As part of the programme, we were given the chance to carry out social actions to fundraise for our chosen charities and spread awareness about the issue that matters most to us.
The issue our group (which includes: Ana Gollaku, Dimitris Nerantzis, Navid Mazumder, Rea Gollaku and Zainab Al-Hassani) have chosen to pin our focus on was domestic violence. Domestic violence is the term used to describe patterns of abusive behaviour that occurs within households or close relationships to gain power and control. There are a variety of forms that domestic violence can happen in, such as: physical, verbal, emotional, and sexual etc. In England and Wales, an estimated 2.3 million adults - 1.6 million women and 712,000 men have experienced domestic abuse in the year ending March 2024. Domestic violence occurs across the world, in various cultures, and affects people across society, at all levels of economic status, so we believe that it is a majorly consequential problem and that is why we decided to choose it.
After the movie, we discussed the impact of domestic violence and how it affects our world today. During our event, we ensured we held a safe space and environment for everyone attending. For our second event, we hosted our ‘Football Shootout Challenge’ in which students and staff paid £1.00 for 6 shots. At the end, we ended up with 3 winners: 1st place to Yusef Houssni, 2nd to Amar Prestreshi and 3rd to Anass Chatt. Shoutout to our goalkeepers, Mr Salih, Mr Pereira and Ayuba Alhassan, for an honourable mention. Both of our events were executed smoothly and successfully, during which we raised £162! We got to showcase and develop our organisation, management, communication and leadership skills, which are all important abilities to have when carrying out any social action. This helps present how we as a group were extremely successful at carrying out the process of our First Give project.
Overall, this project helped shine a light on this serious issue of domestic violence and the impact it has on so many lives. By being able to take part in this programme, it has helped our group and the whole of Year 9 understand how important it is to take action and stand up for what matters. It has shown us that even small efforts can make a big difference in tackling serious issues like domestic violence.
We would also like to extend our gratitude to Ms Ahmed for her vital organisation and support through every step of the way, as well as the other members of staff who have assisted with organisation, supervision and photography. Without them, this would not have been possible.
Rea Gollaku Y9, and Navid Mazumder Y9
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