On Saturday 3 August Richard took part in an event organised by  “The Challenge” (website www.the-challenge.org ), a major charity involved in promoting social inclusion amongst young people, funded by the Cabinet Office.

The event involved teams of young people aged 16 to 18 developing and presenting projects to promote socially useful ideas. A panel assesses the proposals (this part based on the TV “Dragons’ Den” concept) and can award up to £80 to the team for them to undertake the project. Richard was one of the “Dragons”, forming a panel with Croydon MP Gavin Barwell and the HR Director of the Fairfield Halls.

The event took place at St. Andrew’s secondary school, at Warrington Road in Croydon.

Richard says “The ideas put forward by these teams were so imaginative. Their projects were all socially useful, though not always entirely practical. But the enthusiasm was massive and the careful presentation of the projects, all of them based on research the teams had carried out, was impressive. One involved inviting people to paint on massive boards, to combat graffiti but also to produce an artwork. Another promoted a national “telling jokes” day, to cheer us all up, and another promoted strategies to get people on the Croydon tram to talk to each other, as they did during the Olympics.”

All the teams were awarded the funds they sought. This was not a “play” exercise – the teams will get the funding and take their ideas to completion.