COMMUNITIES AND LOCAL
GOVERNMENT News Release (295) issued by COI News Distribution
Service. 3 December 2008
Top business men,
journalists, servicemen, a fire-fighter, lawyers and media experts
are amongst the twenty individuals being named in the first-ever
national role model programme for Black boys and young Black men
by Communities Secretary Hazel Blears today.
Following a nationwide recruitment campaign, well over 200
applications from successful Black men across the country were
received. The REACH panel comprising fashion designer and
businessman Ozwald Boateng, entrepreneur and winner of the
Apprentice Tim Campbell, founder and Director of Operation Black
Vote Simon Woolley and Metropolitan Police Superintendent and
founder of the Black Police association Leroy Logan selected the
final twenty role models to form the first national group of its
kind - to help raise the aspirations and attainment of Black boys.
The role models from a wide range of occupations and many
different parts of the country include an army officer, a
barrister, a TV weatherman, a fire fighter, a royal navy engineer,
top business consultants and entrepreneurs, a teacher, local
council leaders, a probation officer, accountants and finance
experts, a civil servant and a TV presenter and were selected
because of their outstanding abilities to inspire, lead and
connect with young black boys.
Communities secretary Hazel Blears said:
"The election of Barack Obama and Lewis Hamilton's
recent success is a powerful signal to young people that they can
achieve. But for many they will still be the men on the telly,
removed from their day to day to lives, whose achievements exist
in a world beyond theirs. "
"The REACH role modelling programme was about finding a way
of making a more relevant connection. Nurturing ambitious,
realistic aspirations by showing young Black men that they can
achieve in any and every walk of life they can imagine. "
"That is why I am delighted by the calibre and diversity of
the role models that have put themselves forward. Each of these
men has faced challenges and barriers, but through skill,
determination and hard work they have succeeded. Now they have a
chance to tell their stories and show that success and recognition
are there for the taking - if only young people reach for them. "
"We know that different people find inspiration in different
things and this was never about pretending to second guess or
prescribe models of success. What this programme is about is
increasing the pool of positive people that our young Black men
see and lifting their sights. The twenty men that are stepping up
for this challenge are more than capable of doing just that. "
Speaking on behalf of the REACH Panel, Entrepreneur and winner of
the BBC's Apprentice Tim Campbell said:
"The successfully appointed national role models were all
individually selected by young black men initially so we had a
really hard job selecting just 20 from the many who applied.
However, the personal achievements and inspirational experiences
of the final twenty were clearly evident and we now have an
extremely powerful group who will not only inspire the next
generation across the country to have limitless aspirations but
they will also encourage other role models to come forward to work
with young people on a local level. Now that the first strand of
the REACH recommendations has been completed emphasis can focus on
the remaining four areas."
The twenty role models being announced today are: Michael
Barrington Hibbert, 29, Director, financial services - Odgers, Ray
and Berndtson, Northampton
Alexander Beresford, 28, TV Weather Presenter, Bristol
Lieutenant Commander Neville Bryce MBE, 49, Royal Navy Engineer,
Isle of Wight
Junior Crawford-Brown, 38, Probation Officer, Wolverhampton
Karl George, 40, Runs his own consultancy, Birmingham
Dorian Leatham, 59, Independent Chair, Nottingham City Council, Brixton
Clive Lewis, 37, TV reporter/presenter & army officer, Norfolk
Piers Linney, 37, Corporate Financier & Company Director, The
North and London
Aleck Matambo, 33, Manager, Ernst & Young, London
Rob Neil, 44, Civil Servant, Harrow
Obi Nwofor, 32, London Underground Project Manager, Hornchurch, Essex.
Buchi Onwugbonu, 37, Financial Management Expert, Global
Management Consultancy Practice, Hayes, Middlesex
Richard Reid, 30, Fire Fighter, Herne Hill, London
Kevin Reynolds, 42, CEO Artist Management Company, West London.
Adrian Rollins, 36, Teacher, Romford
Matthew Ryder, 41, Barrister, Brixton
Karl Sewell, 49, Local Authority Senior Manager, Sidcup, Kent
Lanre Sulola, 25, Accountant, Newham, London
Mark Sutherland, 37, Head of Property: One Stop (Tesco Group), Birmingham
Phillip Thompson, 27, Design Consultant, Wolverhampton
Hazel Blears will also announce today that the role model group
and REACH project overall will benefit from an additional £1
million investment, meaning funding for the work to raise the
aspirations of Black boys will now total £2 million.
All twenty of the successful role models have an inspiring story
to tell and come from many different backgrounds - from growing up
in socially and economically deprived areas across the UK, to
growing up in Nigeria. Some have experienced racism. Some have
experienced trying times in their younger years, seeing friends go
down the wrong route and getting into trouble with police and
experiencing pressure to join gangs. But all, with drive and
determination have gone on to achieve despite the challenges that
many young Black men can face.
A number of the role models are eminent business men, achieving
places in the Black power list. The twenty men range in age from
25 to 59 years of age, and bring with them a wealth of experience
that they will use to galvanise Black boys and young Black men
across the country. They will share their stories with Black boys
who may face similar challenges today. It is these men who will
help to provide the most powerful antidote to a culture of low
aspiration that is seeing too many of our young Black men fail.
One of the role models, Clive Lewis, who is a TV
reporter/presenter and army officer in the Territorial Army said:
"I know only too well how difficult it can be to make your
way as a Black man through the pitfalls life throws up in front of
you. Fortunately I had a father to help guide me. Not everybody is
as fortunate and maybe that's where I can help."
In the New Year the role models will each be helping to devise an
individual action plan - designing a programme of activities with
Black boys playing to each of the role models strengths and
skills. The role models will also work together on group
activities targeting different regions of the country where they
are most needed. They will go into schools and colleges, youth
projects and also young offender institutions and they will talk
about their personal journeys. They will encourage young people to
set their sights high and offer advice and support through
workshops aimed at boosting confidence and building resilience to
enable young Black boys to turn their back on some of the negative
paths they could go down. As well as these specific visits the
messages and stories from the role models will be amplified
through use of blogs and podcasts, as well as web chats and wider
media activity.
The role models will also act as regional leads for many other
mentors and volunteers across the country - these mentors are
those men that applied for the role model programme but who
despite their skills and experience missed out in the final
selection process. The mentors will provide an invaluable one to
one service for Black boys in their area and will be a port of
call for the boys when they are needed.
A report to Government last year highlighted the barriers that
are preventing some Black boys from fulfilling their full
potential, and stressed that too often the only images of
successful Black men were those of rap artists - who can glamorise
crime, guns and gangs. They said that Black boys and young Black
men needed a much wider set of images and examples to follow to
show them that Black men can be, and are, successful in a wide
range of fields. The creation of the role model group is one part
of the Governments package of measures to help raise the
aspirations and attainment of young Black men and it specifically
aims to boost the number of positive Black role models for our
young Black men to aspire to.
The REACH report highlighted a number of barriers preventing some
Black boys from fulfilling their full potential and recommended
that these be tackled together to bring about the changes that are
needed. The Government is currently taking action to:
* Improve engagement between schools and Black parents -
Government and community leaders are currently looking into
establishing home school partnership agreements to take place in
schools across the country. These and other programmes are to
engage parents with schools and will be looking at how best to
meet the needs of Black families.
* Strengthen the reporting and monitoring of race equality and
schools - Ofsted has reviewed, revised and published new guidance
for inspectors which will strengthen the way that it reports on
race equality issues including drawing attention to good practice
and highlighting inequalities.
* Supporting Black led Voluntary and Community Sector
organisations - These are often the organisations working most
closely with young Black men at risk of dropping out.
The role model group is being launched tonight at an event on
London, and alongside Communities secretary Hazel Blears the event
will be hosted by Kwame Kwei Armah and Baroness Scotland, and
Minister for Higher Education David Lammy will also be attending.
They will speak to an audience made up of the role models, the
wider mentoring group, Parliamentarians, and many from the
recently launched Black Power list.
Notes to Editors
1. Biographical details of the twenty role models can be found at
http://www.communities.gov.uk/publications/communities/nationalrolemodels
2. The role models will now be managed by the Windsor fellowship
who have been awarded a Government grant to manage the role model
group, and in the first few weeks will be supported by the
Government so that the role models activities can begin in full in
the New Year.
3. A national Black role modelling programme was one of the
recommendations made by the REACH group in their report entitled
An Independent Report to Government on Raising the Aspirations and
Attainment of Black boys and Young Black Men http://www.communities.gov.uk/publications/communities/reachreport
4. The REACH group was set-up by Government in 2006 and had 22
members drawn from a variety of sectors, including the voluntary
and community sector, education, academia and law enforcement.
5. The Government response to that report can be viewed at: http://www.communities.gov.uk/publications/communities/reachresponse
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