The I Can & I Am Bus
I Can & I Am recently celebrated its fifth birthday, a landmark that we want to use to move the charity to the next level, and in James’ words, move from simple ‘Inspiration’ to a more life changing ‘Transformation’.
Inevitably this will require a more hands-on approach, with more time dedicated to individual and small group work, backed up by ongoing support and communication, which will be key to long term impact.
We were recently gifted a fully fitted double decker bus by Howdens, the trade kitchen suppliers. This will be ready in January 2021 and we’ll be using it to visit schools to deliver mentoring, workshops and presentations to young people, staff and parents. The ground floor has been converted in to a kitchen where we will use bread baking as a conduit.
So what’s the Plan?
- As well as presentations, we’ll also be delivering group workshops and engaging in one-to-one or small group mentoring.
- The delivery will be based around our four core pillars of Belonging, Growth Mindset, Multiple Intelligence and a sense of Real Hope
- The bus will provide a focal point, on board we’d typically have James plus two other facilitators. We’ll offer breadmaking / mentoring downstairs, alongside workshops upstairs throughout the course of a day on a given site
- We’d look to work alongside secondary schools, youth clubs or universities (as local as possible to reduce costs), and will instigate follow up processes as appropriate
- We’ll be implementing Impact Measurement from day one so we’ll be able to gauge what works and what doesn’t.
- We’re proposing a ‘Pilot Year’ throughout 2021 during which we’d aim to keep the bus as busy as possible. After this we’ll review our activity, work out where we’re having the most impact, and direct resources accordingly
- We are actively fund raising to help cover many of the costs involved in running a pilot such as this and donations can be made via our Just Giving page here
- We are actively fund raising to help cover many of the costs involved in running a pilot such as this and donations can be made via our Just Giving page here