We find out how a local Bradford children’s charity are helping to improve the lives of children and young people from deprived areas.
The Bradford-based charity One In A Million was co-founded in 2005 by Wayne Jacobs (former Bradford City player and assistant manager) and Matthew Band (business leader and social entrepreneur).
The charity believes in the philosophy that “every child is unique and valued” and works with them to Engage, Enrich and Enhance their young lives to discover what makes them ‘one in a million’. They operate through their core values of; “Compassion, Honesty, Integrity and Excellence” and believes that “it takes a community to raise a child”.
Wayne further explained: “One In A Million is a charity that works with children and young people aged 5-19, through sports, the arts and enterprise programmes and pathways. Using formal and informal education to break cycles of deprivation over their young lives, valuing and celebrating their uniqueness, letting them know they are ‘one in a million.”
Since starting its first project on the Canterbury estate on 6th May 2006, with 7 children and 5 volunteers, One In A Million (www.oiam.org) has grown and now has community workers in each of the five constituencies within the Bradford Metropolitan District, engaging with over 2,000 children and young people every week.
During the last fourteen years the charities projects and pathways have grown, ranging from athletics, to football and cricket. They also provide social and community events, from cooking, ICT to dance.
Partnerships have also been formed with leading sporting organisations such as the Bradford Bulls, Bradford City AFC and the Yorkshire Cricket Foundation.
The charity also opened a Free School in 2013 at Cliffe Terrace, inside the former Bradford City AFC club shop. The school was funded by central government and is independent of local authority control.
One In A Million aims to ‘make a difference’ in some of the most deprived communities of Bradford; Bierley, Canterbury, Keighley, Manningham and Windhill.
Their motivation is to help change the negative statistics of children and young people so they can thrive socially, educationally and in their wellbeing.
Their goal is also to instill young people aged 5-19 years old, with skills, confidence and knowledge, providing progression pathways, supporting them to become work ready.
The charity provides regular updates through their quarterly ‘Celebrate’ magazine, which highlight a snapshot of their activities including; threshold experiences, after school activities, their annual STARS awards ceremony, talent shows, career expos and many other success stories.
Helping fund such good works is the charities thriving Corporate Partners Programme, supported by local companies, which they are looking to grow.
Recently, through the charity’s corporate partners initiative, they have recently launched a programme which enables the charity to give young people an insight into working life, the skills needed as well as company visits, which they wouldn’t usually get access to.
OIAM Charity Executive Craig McHugh said: “As a local employer our partners realise the importance of having a future workforce that is strong and work ready. By investing in the young people of today, through the work of One in a Million, we are partnering together to create a better tomorrow for our local economy.”
To become a corporate partner please contact; craig.mchugh@oneinamillion.org.uk and support a child through its programmes annually.
Such events include the One In A Million annual charity Business Lunch, planned for Thursday 23rd April at the Midland Hotel in Bradford, which has a reschedule date for September if needed.
Craig said that supporting One In A Million is a two-way relationship and companies gain a lot too by supporting the charity.
“We strongly believe in building sustainable relationships within the local business community and we organise networking events for our corporate partners to engage across the district. We also organise events and volunteer programmes, which are great for both teambuilding, networking and fundraising to support the work that we do. By doing so, we want to help companies access meaningful corporate social responsibility, with a strong local outcome, which they can see and identify with.”
One partner is Bingley-based Emerald Publishing, a global publisher of academic journals and reports.
Craig says that Emerald Publishing was recommended by another fellow corporate partner who “shared the same core values and objectives.”
This led, in 2018, for Emerald Publishing to deliver an ‘Education Day’ for Year 7 students focussed on basic interview skills.
The company’s Head of Community Partnerships, Melissa Fojt, leads and is responsible for the company’s responsible business strategy.
Established in 1967 at the Bradford Management School, Melissa says Emerald’s ethos is to create a real impact on communities, not only through its products, but within its communities, with a key focus on Social Mobility and Inclusivity.
“One in a Million is an outstanding charity that has an emphasis on values, creating a culture for students to learn and develop. The story of OIAM and how it was established as well as the school being from a disadvantaged area of Bradford, resonated with Emerald colleagues and inspired us to provide opportunities to their students.”
After the success of that first ‘Education Day’, Emerald continued to partner with OIAM, becoming its official Charity Partner in 2019.
Since then, Emerald has built on this partnership with a Second Education Day and a First Mentoring Programme featuring CEO Vicky Williams, sales director Shariq Mumtaz, and Melissa. There were also World Book Day celebrations and participation in Emerald’s Second Volunteering Day.
Through various Emerald partnerships, OIAM children also received tickets for Yorkshire Carnegie and T20 games at Headingley and a tour of Leeds Playhouse.
This year, also saw a Second Mentoring Programme with seven colleagues from Emerald and 18 students from OIAM.
In February, two OIAM students came to Emerald for work experience. They spent the day with group services manager Nasser Malik and his team. They received an overview of the roles of the services team, including software developments.
Melissa said: “The experience was very hands on and even set up laptops/upgraded software of directors.”
Last month, on World Book Day (March 5), OIAM students also visited Emerald’s head offices. They got to see departments such as marketing, design, finance, people team, production and legal.
After a talk from author Susannah Lloyd, the children enjoyed a workshop on writing and imagination skills, followed by a presentation of certificates to mark the completion of the mentoring programme.
And on March 17, Melissa was to due to give a talk at a OIAM Corporate Partners network breakfast on ‘Partnering for Positive Change’ discussing Emerald’s relationship with OIAM, hopefully inspiring other companies to get involved either with OIAM. Though, sadly, the event was postponed due to the Coronavirus crisis and will be rescheduled later in the year.
Melissa says partnering with OIAM has brought Emerald’s community partnership program ‘alive’ and staff can see the impact Emerald is having on the students. Emerald gives staff two days off work to volunteer and many use that to help OIAM.
“Colleagues from the Mentoring Programme loved having the opportunity and it was a rewarding experience.”
In line with its ethos, Emerald is also involved in other education charities the National Literacy Trust to boost literacy in the regions, plus the Social Enterprise Academy which runs leadership and personal development programmes to support social change.
Melissa says businesses need to be aware of their impact on society and contribute to the Sustainable Goals set out by the United Nations. If a firm is profitable and has the time to partner and connect with a local school, both sides will benefit and improve social mobility.
“It’s moved away from being just profitable, it’s about giving something back because we can. We can help to contribute towards the global challenges, where one is quality education and provide opportunities to those who didn’t know it was even available.”
She added: “Emerald has an approach to how we’re acting responsibly as a company, with two more strategic pillars, Fair and Transparent Employer’ and ‘supporting underrepresented voices’. We believe that everyone can make a real impact, so it’s our goal to empower people to do just that.”
Mark Hughes, OIAM’s chair of governors concluded: “Emerald Publishing are an amazing international brand, and yet they remain committed to their local heritage by supporting charities and school’s like ours. For this we are truly grateful. Thank you. Our students are inspired when they have been with colleagues at Emerald.”
For further information on how to support One In A Million, please email; craig.mchugh@oneinamillion.org.uk or phone 01274 723439.
