News and Events

Future Leadrers Programme

May 6th, 2011 in News

The Future Leaders Programme – Birmingham Leadership Foundation

The Future Leaders Programme is a new initiative from The Future Melting Pot that aims to work with young people to explore their views of leadership, develop relevant skills and explore with them how they can be applied to enterprise.

Objectives of the Programme

  • To develop young people’s transferable skills, enabling them to use them in their future careers or training opportunities.
  • Provide young people with the relevant tools to lead meetings, deliver presentations and overcome barriers that may otherwise prevent them from succeeding.
  • Unleash the aspirations of young people to help develop a work ethic that will benefit them throughout their lives.

Need for the Programme

From a young age, young people are taught core curriculum subjects at school that are essential in developing their knowledge base and helping them secure jobs later in life. Despite this, there is currently no stage in a young person’s early life where they are given the explicit opportunity to learn leadership skills. In the current economic climate, following the recession that seems to be leading to a relatively jobless economy, it is vital for young people to be more than just academic. Personality, entrepreneurship and leadership are vital in terms of success and career progression. The Future Leaders Programme will help young people from deprived areas develop the skills they need to become successful community and future business leaders.

Aims of the Programme

-          To engage with young people from disadvantaged communities in Birmingham and the West Midlands.

-          To provide skills-based training sessions to young people interested in enterprise, self-employment, improving their job prospects and personal development. This will develop four key skill areas: communication, analysis, presentation skills and working as a team.

-          To facilitate group discussions and debates with the young people to find out what leadership means to them and to explore the key facets of community leadership.

-          To encourage young people to think about leadership in a positive manner and explore the ways they can act as leaders in their community; to discuss the key components of a successful leader.

-          To work with participants on a personal level to help them unlock their talents and make informed choices concerning what they want to do through individual mentoring and group sessions.

-          To provide work or volunteering opportunities to participants to enable them to put the skills they have learned into practice.

-          To celebrate the contribution to society and enterprise that young people can make and to encourage them to share their experiences with others.

-          To create a framework from the piloted version of the project that can be replicated elsewhere and used to benefit many more young people.

-          For the participants to become ambassadors of the FLP and The Future Melting Pot, with the aim of them helping to replicate the programme in future.

This was a 3 month programme that commenced in January 2011!!

TFMP – Social Entrepreneurship Project

March 31st, 2011 in Heritage Project, News, Volunteering

Are you looking for a work placement that will give you hands on experience, a chance to take the lead and a varied, exciting work environment? If so, then The Future Melting Pot’s Social Entrepreneurship History Project could be for you. We’re looking for young volunteers to get involved with the project, researching the history of social enterprise in Birmingham. This is a ground-breaking project that’s never been done before, so not only will the experience look great on your CV, you’ll be a pioneer in the field. You’ll get to work with professional filmmakers, receive group and personal mentoring and take a lead role in documenting the project. If this sounds like something you’d love to get involved in, email:

n.shillingford@thefuturemeltingpot.co.uk for more information.

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Job Vacancy filled – Project Manager

February 15th, 2011 in Heritage Project, News, Vacancies

The job vacancy for a Project Manager to work on our upcoming Heritage Lottery funded project – The Future Melting Pot Social Entrepreneurship History Project, has now been filled.

The project will be looking at the history of social entrepreneurship in Birmingham. We will be recruiting a cohort of volunteers, who will be encouraged to take the lead on shaping the project and researching the material that will eventually become a permanent archive to the work achieved over the course of the project. Working in partnership with Birmingham Central Library Archives, we are aiming to examine in some detail case studies of social enterprises past and present, as well as looking at the social issues that led to these businesses being created (such as post-war redevelopment, immigration and the decline of industry).

This type of project hasn’t been done before and so we are really excited to see what we find. We are looking to recruit a Project Manager on a 13 month contract, 3 days per week throughout the life of the project. They will oversee the smooth running of the project and supervise the work of the volunteers.

Event 22nd October 2010

October 15th, 2010 in News, YRP, events

On Friday, 22nd October, The Future Melting Pot will be celebrating the success of the Youth Rehearsal Programme, our innovative pilot project designed to help young people develop their skills and turn their aspirations into reality.

The event will be a chance to celebrate the individual successes of beneficiaries, some of whom have set up their own businesses while others have found jobs or have embarked on a range of training courses. It will also provide an opportunity for networking and will be attended by a range of local entrepreneurs, youth workers, TFMP volunteers and YRP trainers, including Justice Williams MBE.

The event will be held at the Big Peg in Birmingham’s Jewellery Quarter (address below). It starts at 1pm and should finish around 5pm. There will be a finger buffet and drinks available for all of those attending.

We are keen to get as many entrepreneurs, organisations and other interested parties as possible to attend, so if you think you might be interested in attending our networking and celebration event, please email info@thefuturemeltingpot.co.uk for more information and so we can get an idea of numbers.

We hope to see you there!

Address: 755/56 The Big Peg, 120 Vyse Street, Birmingham, B18 6NF

Interview with Justice Williams

September 28th, 2010 in News, Videos, YRP

The Future Melting Pot is lucky to have the support of a wide range of fantastic people supporting us with the development and delivery of our work. One of those amazing people is Justice Williams MBE, who has won awards for her great work with young people in Birmingham. Justice has also worked with us on our Youth Rehearsal Programme, delivering training sessions to beneficiaries. Charlotte from TFMP recently interviewed Justice about her experiences of working with TFMP. You can watch the interview below.

Impressive Award for TFMP Volunteer

August 2nd, 2010 in News, Volunteering

The Future Melting Pot is proud to work with volunteers who are leaders in their communities, and who are enthusiastic about working to make the world a better place.

Rashioh Koroma, one of those volunteers, was recently awarded a Certificate of Achievement from the Universal Peace Federation and the Women’s Federation for World Peace. The award acknowledges the work of young people making a difference in their communities.

Rashioh was presented with the award at the House of Lords in Westminster for his positive work in areas such as education, promoting peace and acting as a positive inspiration to other young people. Rashioh says that the award has given him the opportunity to make contact with a wide range of young people’s organisations, extending his network and providing more opportunities for positive activism.

He plans to continue his work campaigning against the use of child soldiers in war, as well as working to engage creative, talented young artists in music and arts projects in order to further support the campaign.

Rashioh, a university student, will also be continuing with his role working in research at The Future Melting Pot. We wish him every success and are very proud of what he has achieved so far.

TFMP Video

August 2nd, 2010 in News, Videos, Volunteering, YRP

The Future Melting Pot has created a video detailing how the idea for the organisation came about, the work we do – particularly our pilot project, the Youth Rehearsal Programme – and some thoughts from a couple of our volunteers. You can view the video below. We hope you enjoy it!

The Road Ahead

June 17th, 2010 in News, Volunteering

The Future Melting Pot is launching a volunteer mentoring scheme, funded by Awards for All.

The programme – called The Road Ahead – will offer 12 TFMP volunteers the chance to further their personal development and develop the skills necessary to champion both the organisation and our pioneering pilot project, the Youth Rehearsal Programme.

We are very excited about the launch of this scheme and look forward to offering our volunteers the opportunity to further increase their employability and receive recognition for the work they do as a result of this project.

If you would like more information about this or any of our other projects, please feel free to email us on info@thefuturemeltingpot.co.uk or call us on 0121 638 0106.

New Vice-Chair for TFMP Board

June 9th, 2010 in News, Pictures

The Future Melting Pot is pleased to announce the new vice-chairperson of our Board, Henri Christophe.

Henri is also the team leader for our Youth Rehearsal Programme and is actively involved in capacity building for the organisation, effectively linking the operational and governance sides of The Future Melting Pot. He has extensive business experience, which makes him ideal to take on the challenges of both working with the Board and working with the staff and volunteers of the organisation.

Henri is enthusiastic about working to benefit young people and enjoys sharing his knowledge through public workshops and seminars. He is also a member of Birmingham International Speakers, which is part of Power Talk International.

Henri says he is passionate about helping young people to succeed because, “I believe that ultimately it is up to our generation and the generation to come to rescue and revitalise the country. This is a fantastic opportunity to get involved with young people and share ideas to enhance our future careers and business start-ups.”

We wish Henri the very best of luck with his new role and look forward to working with him closely.

Our new vice-chairperson, Henri Christophe

Applications Still Open

May 31st, 2010 in News, YRP

We still have places available on our pilot project, the Youth Rehearsal Programme, so if you’re interested but have not yet applied, you can find more details on the course and download an application form here.

Don’t hesitate to contact us if you want to find out more – email info@thefuturemeltingpot.co.uk or call us on 0121 638 0106.

We hope to hear from you soon!

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