Sustainable Southwark
The Pitch
Problem statement
We grew up in London’s 9th most polluted area, Peckham, witnessing multiple deaths linked to pollution, and the complex social issues faced by my community. I empathise with our beneficiaries as I grew up in a poor, single-parent household and at 14 years old, I saw my brother falsely imprisoned for murder. Despite the socio-economic barriers and injustice, I was fortunate enough to access 7 scholarships, study Engineering at UCL, and I now work with Sir Lewis Hamilton’s electric racing team, Team X44, racing to raise awareness of Climate change. Tackling the climate emergency is more important now than ever, however there is currently a shortfall of 470,000 STEM professionals.
Solution
Sustainable Southwark'' is a 8-week long project that will be delivered in three key phases: ‘Engage & Inspire’, ‘Empower’ and ‘Unleash’ to build relationships with local engineers and 120 ambitious young people who are disproportionately affected by climate change in deprived areas in Southwark. This will be achieved by facilitating a competition to develop engineering-based solutions to mitigate local pollution issues. Through 20+ fun activities, industry and neighbourhood visits, fireside chats, intimate workshops and mentoring led by relatable and inspirational engineers, the young people will increase their awareness and knowledge of how engineers can solve these issues.
Why are we best placed to deliver?
Motivez is a community and youth-led organisation with deep ties in Southwark. In March 2021, our CEO, George Imafidon, joined Southwark’s Climate Change Advisory Group to provide expert advice on youth engagement. This allowed Motivez to partner with 20+ community-led organisations to develop qualitative research into effective engagement strategies with our Youth Advisory Panel (YAP). Some of the team's recent achievements include: Young Engineer of the Year 2022 by Royal Academy of Engineering Director of the Year Award Trustee at the Hebe Foundation Governor at Archbishop Tenison’s Academy Trustee at the Co-op Foundation (set up Carbon Innovation Fund) Board of The Hamilton Commission
Focus Areas
Delivery plan
Budget breakdown
| 48 Hours Youth Worker Time, (8 Hours/Week for 12 Weeks) @ £15/hour | £1,400 |
| Materials and equipment for prototyping for competition (12 groups @ £30/group)) | £360 |
| Facilitation of 10+ activities and workshops; Insight days, showcase event, training costs for engineers | £880 |
| Travel/Sustenance (Food, refreshments, volunteer expenses for 12 mentors) | £360 |
Beneficiaries
120 people
Expected impact
Short Term Impacts Young People Increased educational attainment and interest in STEM careers Increased ability to problem solve, apply design thinking principles and present ideas Increased belief in their ability to be change-makers and leaders in the local community Increased networks, social capital and feelings of control over life outcomes Engineers Impacting the lives of the young people they have worked with Increased self-awareness and confidence working in their abilities with a diverse audience Improved communication skills for technical concepts Medium/Long Term Impacts Young People Increased likelihood of pursuing a career and securing employment opportunities in STEM Improved knowledge and relationships with local, relatable, STEM role models Development of green leaders Engineers Increased confidence to engage in public engagement opportunities Increased representation of senior BAME engineers to inspire underrepresented engineers of progression opportunities
Track record
Previous impact includes: 92% more confident in achieving their career goals 86% more confident about the job application process for long-term employment 85% of participants in higher study or entry-level employment including destinations like Accenture, Facebook, KPMG and J.P. Morgan Case Study - Adedoyin Adeyanju Adedoyin struggled to convey her skills and areas of expertise throughout the application process in 2021. After employing the framework and skills from our workshops, she received an offer to study Engineering at Warwick University and leveraged this platform to receive 2 scholarships and 7 internship offers from Bloomberg, Deutsche Bank, Macquarie, National Grid, Amazon, Royal Bank of Canada and GSK in 2022. She commends our ‘Summers Not Cancelled’ and ‘Application Season’ programmes for this. As of September 2022, she has a return offer from Thames Water, joined Motivez as a Youth Advisory Board member, and been profiled as one of the UK’s Top 150 Future Leaders in STEM