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Community Action Placement: Unlocking Leadership Opportunities

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In this blog post, Xavier Lake (School Leadership Award Holder, Class of 2020) reflects on the impact of the award – especially his Community Action Placement – on his leadership opportunities at Glasgow University where he is a member of the University Union Board of Management (GUU).

I embarked upon my journey with the GUU by applying as a Fresher’s Helper and following a successful interview, I was employed in the role. My time with the Rank Foundation, especially my Community Action Placement (CAP) in Hexham, heightened my awareness of making a positive impact on the society around me.

In turn, as a Fresher’s Helper I widened my own sense of being part of the university’s community as I began my work not knowing anybody but by the end, I had made friends across all year groups and faculties and worked with salaried university staff members.

I strongly believe that the CAP gave me the confidence and drive to do this and showed me I truly enjoy helping others as it gives me a great sense of reward and motivates me to find other opportunities make a difference.

The election competition began almost immediately so I had to formulate my manifesto, campaign, and persuade my friends to help me. My leadership skills were most definitely called into action. The Rank Foundation’s belief in my skills as a leader enthused me to approach other students to discuss my manifesto and have fun with it!  I was over the moon when I was successfully elected to the board.
 
Holding office within the GUU has alerted me to the need to understand and process the multi-faceted issues that arise, such as: accessible study places, financial problems, course resources, allegations of misconduct, event planning, even helping when students have a bit too much to drink! I am then duty bound to meet with senior members of the university to eloquently explain matters to them with the aim of making impact to bring about positive change and feedback their responses to the union membership.

I feel my drive to make a difference for others was deepened and became a core value for me after the CAP at the Hexham Youth Initiative, seeing the joy and happiness that young people gained form the staff’s dedication has left a lasting impression upon me to help others where I can.

I am extremely grateful for the knowledge and progress that the Rank Foundation’s School Leadership Award has furnished me with, as I know I would not be following the path I am on without the confidence and self-belief the programme gave me.

On reflection, the essential ingredient that unlocked my confidence was completing the CAP because it took me far from home, placed me among strangers and into a job I had not done before. I loved my time in Hexham and was warmly welcomed. I am proud of my CAP and dearly hope you will be too!

Community Action Placement: Discover your Ability

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We were really excited to welcome a new host to our Community Action Placement programme last summer. Able2B, based in Norwich, is a community interest company set up to develop services that help improve function for children and adults with a disability. Their headline, ‘Discover your ability’, perfectly summarises their positive and inclusive approach.

With seven of the School Leadership Award class of 2023 considering applications to study medicine, Able2B seemed an ideal location for their summer placement. Four award holders were made very welcome by the team in Norwich. In this blog post, Mirabel, one of the award holders, reflects on her placement.

I had rarely been in a position of care for people with disabilities.
Therefore, initially I aimed to learn about the way that I would respond to being in a completely foreign situation – faced with a variety of different verbal, physical and emotional barriers.

My only experience of disability was a family member who was diagnosed with dementia and is in a persistent vegetative state. I subconsciously associated the term disability with suffering and exhaustion – I aimed to have personal interactions with the clients at Able2B and explore how my preconceptions would change.

They did! I had not expected to see brain injury survivors who had been told that they would never stand, let alone walk again strolling alongside me due to the work of Able2B. Whilst I did find myself tearing up occasionally, it was not due to feelings of sadness but sheer admiration and joy for both clients and the work of those at Able2B.

My time in Norwich helped me to focus on qualities needed for leadership which I now see as:

Enthusiasm: Regardless of whether it was 9am or the last 5 minutes of the day, the leaders put the same level of energy into every client and were always present – regardless of the client’s response.

Communication: Some clients were hard of hearing or sight and some could not communicate entirely – teaching me that communication is personal. As a leader, it’s my job to adapt my message to ensure that everyone hears it.

Knowledge: The leaders could scan a person for 5 seconds and identify exactly what they required – more importantly, had the courage to employ innovative ways to aid them in achieving it.

Empowerment and Patience: When taking 1-1 sessions, encouragement always produced the most results. Sometimes I’d find myself repeating words of encouragement or reassurance 4 times and instead of getting frustrated, repeating it a 5th empowered the clients to keep going.

Self-belief: I was bewildered by the relentless perseverance of the clients. Throughout the sessions, I saw some whispering “you can do it” to themselves and they did not allow their impairment to limit their potential which I hope to use when approaching obstacles as a leader.

Bearing: With clients, if I appeared exhausted and disinterested, they would too. The clients taught me that through life, everyone will encounter different obstacles; however, it is the way you carry yourself through these that will determine your success.

Ripples Story: “The language of heritage”

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In this article, Mariama Techie-Afful, a Rank Fellow (Class of 2009) and a first-generation Briton born in the UK to Sierra Leonean parents, shares how she developed a deck of cards to help Africans learn their native language and stay connected to their cultural roots.

I’m Mariama, from the Fellowship, Class of 2009, a first-generation Briton born in the UK to Sierra Leonean parents, married to a Ghanaian, mother of two and the founder of Nafolan (pronounced Na-foh-lan). My parents did a fantastic job instilling a sense of cultural pride in my siblings and me. Although our ability to have conversations in Krio is questionable at best, it’s a skill we possess, nonetheless.

Many Africans living on the continent are multi-lingual. Meanwhile, those born outside of Africa to African parents tend to only be receptive to bilingualism; that is, they cannot engage in active conversation despite being able to understand the language.

Nafolan (which means ‘You should learn’) was birthed out of the desire to see more learning resources for my son in Krio and Twi so that he will be connected to his cultural roots, especially as English is the default language in my home. There are limited resources on the market for parents of African heritage who wish to teach their children their native language, something I discovered in 2021, shortly after my son was born.

With this in mind, I created a deck of 25-27 cards containing words and phrases commonly used in everyday speech and a pronunciation guide. I launched the business in 2022, and with just over two years of experience, it is still in its infancy. The reception so far has been overwhelmingly positive, and whilst I am no marketing guru or know every supporter personally, it has been important from the onset to ensure I share the brand’s vision with simplicity and clarity.

I have been able to leverage the power of community, a lesson I first learnt during my Community Action Placement at the Arun Community Church; it is to this that I accredit my success. Currently, we have four languages spoken by communities across Africa’s Western and Eastern coasts (Krio, Twi, Yoruba, and Swahili). We are working on a series of audio guides to supplement the cards. There are more than 2000 languages spoken in Africa, so the long-term goal is to be able to provide comprehensive language resources for as many of these languages as possible.

Mariama Techie-Afful

Rank Fellow (Class of 2009)