10/09/2012
CROYDON’s NEXT TOP ROLE MODEL 2012
The Summer of 2012 with be remembered for many things, The Queen’s Diamond Jubilee, the London Olympic games, but in Croydon, It will be long remembered for a summer programme funded by the Croydon Council Youth Summer Activities Fund called ‘Croydon’s Next Top Role Model’.
‘Croydon’s Next Top Role Model’ is a personal development programme with a key purpose of strengthening the participant’s skills in team building, personal confidence, effective
communication and leadership. The project was over-subscribed before the first day.
The skills embarked on challenged the young people to create in just 10 days (spread over 3 weeks) a community event of the same name. To achieve this effectively, the 25 students were divided into 4 working teams; Marketing, Sponsorship, Administration and Events Logistics. Each team had its own team leader chosen by a vote from among the group and their responsibility was to complete daily tasks which were set at each morning’s briefing meeting by the programme facilitators. Each team was also assigned a mentor who was able to manage the process of each team and guide them through this learning experience. Team leaders were ultimately responsible for the success of the daily targets.
We watched young people who arrived on the project showing signs of nervousness and shyness and expressing feelings of boredom, anticipating the experiences to be ‘crap’ but instead left the project describing the experience as good, enjoyable and a number of students expressed the fact that they felt more confident and happy. The programme was an overwhelming success and a landmark lesson in social integration.
The ultimate goal of the programme was to deliver to the community an event that had never happened in North Croydon before; ‘Croydon’s Next Top Role Model – The Event’ is a community competition that challenges the locality to ask the questions, who are the real everyday role models in our community that help and aid others in their ability to make good decisions and grow into successful individuals? The various project teams mentioned above did an amazing job at covering the creation of this production.
Marketing, which was expertly led by Micaiah, age 12 who ensured that the publicity materials were created on time, and widely distributed within the community. Sponsorship, expertly managed by Fummi and Jessica managed with supervision to raise over £300 in sponsorship (financial and in-kind), an amazing feat for two young ladies aged 13 and 14 respectively with less than 10 days experience. Administration was led by Rosaline, age 14 who ensured that all the paperwork for the smooth running of the event was in order on a daily basis. Finally, the Events Logistics team led by Cion age 14 and Rochelle 17 who were ultimately responsible for the construction of the event that took place on 31st August at the CACFO Centre on Northwood Road.
The event itself was an amazing show of community cohesion and brought together local residents and local heroes. The night was supported by Mr. Maurice Reeves from the House of Reeves. Our judges were: Gavin Barwell MP (Croydon Central), Donna Fraser, 4 times Olympian and Lola Mustapha deputy member from UK Youth Parliament. The night was proficiently hosted by Joey James from the Croydon based group “Rough Copy” (as seen on X Factor).
The hall was packed to capacity with people standing and overflowing into the hallway, every space was at a premium. We had a short list of 10 finalists that whittled to 7 to then face a public vote based on their response to the pre- prepared questions presented by the judges. The audience was amazed by the thrilling vocals of Rashad and Ashley (14) who sang heartfelt renditions of a John Legend song “Take it Slow” to rapturous applause. In an exciting night that saw Thornton Heath work together in the spirit of unity, we are proud to present the winners of the competition:
Winner 2012 – Chris Syrus
1st Runner up – Kyle Richards
2nd runner up – Naomi Harrison
Well done to those who showed that by participating in the event their desire to make Croydon a better place for all really did make the dream come through.
Since the event, the winners have been heard on BBC London 94.9FM, are to be featured in the Croydon Guardian newspaper. They have also been invited as guest panelists to a film screening focusing on role models to be held in Leytonstone and have all been invited as special guests to the BYA Awards which will be held on the 10th November at The Tabernacle in West London.
Great oak trees have always grown from humble acorns and this event has witnessed the birth of a phenomenal event, structured and delivered by the local youth of Croydon. With the support of Gavin Barwell MP and other local support, ‘Croydon’s Next Top Role Model‘ will be back, bigger and better next year creating more exciting good news stories for this south London Town.
