Making Generation R, an initiative by Blesma and social enterprise The Drive Project, has reached more than 50,000 young people since the birth of the programme in 2016…
Making Generation R trains Blesma Members to take their powerful and inspiring life stories about overcoming adversity into schools to help teach pupils about everyday resilience. This learning allows the students to better cope with the stresses of growing up.
In the 2018/19 school year, Blesma Members visited 182 schools, as well as educational, youth and first responder facilities across the country, facilitating a mammoth 490 workshops and assemblies. In that same period, the workshops reached 30,481 young people – breaking the target of 30,000 set at the start of the year.
“The programme has proved a huge success; the innovative workshop sessions have been praised by teachers, youth leaders and young people alike,” said Ian Waller, Blesma’s Operations Director. “To hear how Blesma Members have dealt with adversity and rebuilt their lives gives young people an idea of the coping skills they need to face up to their own challenges.”
In addition to running workshops, in schools in 2018/19, Making Generation R was piloted in the NHS – with four workshops being run to 119 nurses and 15 junior doctors – as well as one to 17 Fire Service personnel.
This August, a team even delivered a workshop to prisoners in HMP Swansea. “We were invited to adapt the sessions by staff at the prison and felt that our Members’ experiences could help people make the transition back into society,” said Ian.
“The veterans have been trained to deliver their experiences in an engaging way and the impact has been significant. To hear how they dealt with adversity and rebuilding their lives gives people the strength to face challenges that otherwise might derail them.”
