Undergraduate students are developing leadership skills while creating change in our local communities through the King’s Civic Leadership Academy. Developed by Student Success at King’s, the programme of mentorship and training aims to develop the students’ confidence as leaders and instil the skills needed to create positive change.
More than 80 per cent of the students participating in the Guardian University Award-winning programme are from underrepresented backgrounds. It empowers them to flourish beyond the classroom, enhancing social mobility and student success.
Naureen Abubacker, Project Manager for the Civic Leadership Academy, said, ‘By providing relevant paid work experience to students who are primarily from non-traditional backgrounds and can’t tap into personal networks, the programme enhances their employability skills while they develop as civic leaders.’
Civic Scholars work as full-time interns over the summer break with one of the Civic Leadership Academy’s 18 charity partners across London, including Peckham-based community development charity Pecan, the Young Barnet Foundation and the Living Wage Foundation in Lambeth.
Poppy Bootman, King’s Civic Scholar and Geography student, said, ‘My time at the Living Wage Foundation couldn’t have been better. They have involved me in nearly everything, from sitting in on calls and meetings to presenting to a local council to improve and practise my professional confidence.’
During term-time, students work alongside their studies, spending five hours a week with their charity partner helping to address an issue that the charity has previously lacked the resources to tackle.
Chris Price, CEO of Pecan, said, ‘The situations that people living in poverty face every day are complex and take a lot of time and energy to try to resolve. Finding the time to seek longer term solutions is not easy, so the brainpower and energy of the King’s team is helping us to identify sustainable alternatives.’