The Respect Project

The Respect Project is a 10-week early intervention programme, working through local schools to engage with Year 9 students aged 13-14 years old.

The programme is designed to help young people to increase their ability to deal with life’s problems; overall becoming more resilient.

How does it work?

1. Recruitment by Teachers – three schools from Bristol are invited to each nominate twenty of their Year 9 students to join the program, who will benefit from an opportunity to excel in a non-school setting.

2. An Activity Day during School – all 60 students attend an outdoor activity day where they are assessed on the way they approach the physical and mental challenges put before them.

3. Invitation to Continue – 20 of the students are invited to continue to the next stage. For those not invited back, teachers are debriefed with the reasons.

4. A Second Activity Day during School – the 20 students complete a second activity day as a group. These students are assessed on how well they listen to instructions, show a willingness to get involved and work as a team.

5. Life Skills Evening Course – 15 students are invited to take part in 10 weeks of weekly evening sessions in a local community centre or youth club. Transport is provided. Sessions start with a personal contract and cover self-respect, personal challenges, relationship management, teamwork, leadership, communication skills, decision-making, drug awareness, healthy eating, local opportunities.

6. Week-long Residential in either The Lake District or Wales – this is the opportunity for the young people to use the personal and social skills they have built up to take on individual and team challenges during the week away. The experience of climbing mountains and living away from home in an alien environment sees the young people pushed outside their comfort zones and ultimately achieve more than they ever thought possible.

7. Graduation Evening with local dignitaries.

8. Debriefing to Teachers & Parents including ongoing monitoring.

The Respect Project is part of a national collaboration funded by the Youth Endowment Fund and led by Essex Boys and Girls Clubs, working with the Boys and Girls Clubs of Greater Manchester; Boys and Girls Clubs of South Yorkshire; Boys’ and Girls Clubs of Wales; Lancashire Association of Boys and Girls Clubs, and Young Bristol.