Building confidence

As well as with being a strategic partner in EECF’s Life Chances Campaign, Newham charity Fight for Peace has been funded through our ‘East End Giving’ programme for their Twilight summer programme. 

Fight for Peace supports young people to realise their potential, combining specialist youth support, sport and personal development alongside education programmes, employability guidance, mentoring sessions and youth leadership.

In summer of 2021, over 25 young people aged 7 to 14 took part in Fight for Peace sports activities and trips with food provided. The programme offered a safe space and engaging activities that young people could take part in. It also integrated personal development into all sessions, tackling topics such as violence, education and community.
The team observed an increase in the participant’s confidence as well as improvements in their social skills such as their ability to make friends. 83% of young people reported that they made new friends, 100% reported that they feel better about themselves and 100% reported that they feel more confident.

John was first introduced to Fight for Peace through his father who visited the academy shortly after moving to the local area. His father was interested in seeing what services the community had available and was pleased to hear that Fight for Peace offered free sports sessions. John became a member of Fight for Peace and started taking part in the Twilight programme shortly after. John said that his reason for originally joining the Twilight sessions was to stay fit and learn how to box. The coaches noticed that John was very quiet and had confidence issues. After speaking with John, he expressed that his lack of confidence was because of his height as he was shorter than many of his friends. This often led to him being bullied at school. Despite this, John showed incredible determination to learn boxing techniques. John started to receive mentoring support from youth workers and took part in personal development sessions. He developed a great relationship with the boxing coach which saw him progress into the junior boxing session: sessions for young people who would like to start competing. John has now grown in confidence, become more optimistic about his future and has developed a positive friendship group at Fight for Peace.