Two month’s ago in the March Ebrief, we profiled Southwark Playhouse, one of Better Bankside’s seven community partners. This month it’s the turn of Southwark Young Pilgrims. Like Southwark Playhouse, Southwark Young Pilgrims also focuses its attention on young people in the borough so tying in with Better Bankside’s corporate social responsibility agenda of young people and their families.

 

Southwark Young Pilgrims (SYP) is an award winning project that provides accredited training and work experience in tourism and customer service for young people aged 14-16. These young people provide an essential tourist information service to visitors to the area through two ‘meet and greet’ stands in London Bridge and the South Bank. Pilgrims act as ambassadors for the area, handing out leaflets relating to local attractions, offering advice and even guiding people to their destination. Each young person who takes part in the project receives a period of intensive training before being assessed and assigned their shifts on the stands; all of which take place out of school hours – a good indication of the commitment of the young people!

 

The project inspires and motivates students to develop their skills, change their behaviour, and have more confidence about going into further education and paid work. The project is particularly directed at those students who are disengaged and under-performing at school. It provides them with Welcome Host, Duke of Edinburgh, Youth Achievement and First Aid training, all of which can contribute towards ASDAN, GCSE and NRA qualifications.

 

In November 2007, SYP celebrated their 10th birthday and they had some incredible statistics to share with supporters. In the time the project has been running, a total of 612 Southwark teenagers have graduated through the programme and been awarded their Pilgrim Badges. The Pilgrims have given out visitor information to 154, 323 people and have escorted 3,741 people to some 146 destinations. The service they provide has been extremely well received by visitors.

 

Now spring is finally on its way, the Pilgrims and their stand can be found every weekend outside the London Bridge Experience. At the height of the summer, both stands will be operational and the Pilgrims will be out on a daily basis so you’re bound to bump into them at some point!

 

If you would like more information about the Southwark Young Pilgrims project, you can contact Veronica Alden on 0208 299 0470 or valden@mayflower1620ltd.co.uk.