Over the past year, Buttle UK has collaborated with a group of six young people who have received Buttle UK grants to co-create a workshop for corporate partners. “Chances for Change” aims to help corporate sponsors gain a deeper understanding of the experiences of the children, young people, and families supported through Buttle UK’s grants. The workshop also encourages supporters to reflect on their own corporate practices and how they consider experiences of poverty and crisis both internally and externally.
Through a set of activities co-designed with young people, workshop participants are placed in the position of a young person experiencing crisis and financial hardship. By working through the decisions they must make on a day-to-day basis, participants gain insight into the pressures that poverty places on children and young people, as well as the difference a grant from Buttle UK can make to their lives.
Young people were involved in every stage of the workshop’s development, from defining its initial aims and objectives to shaping the session plan and format. Through a series of online and in-person workshops, they determined what they wanted participants to feel and take away from the session, designed activities to achieve these objectives, and approved the content and design of the workshop materials.
The Chances for Change workshop was piloted with one of Buttle UK’s corporate partners in November, with one of the young people involved in its development co-delivering the session. This young person introduced the workshop, explained the background to its creation, and led activities throughout the afternoon.
Feedback from participants was overwhelmingly positive. They found the workshop activities powerful and moving, highlighting the stark realities faced by families struggling to afford essential items that many take for granted. They also valued having a young person as a facilitator, as their involvement brought many of the issues to life, further enhancing the workshop’s lasting impact.
Buttle UK plans to run the Chances for Change workshop with additional corporate partners in the coming months. For more information, contact coproduction@buttleuk.org.