Project Destiny

Posted by The Live UnLtd Team In .

Project Destiny works with 11-17-year-olds in Rotherham to provide fun and safe events for them. “We didn’t just want to do an under-18s music event where people come along and dance,” says John Colley, Project Destiny’s founder. “Anyone can do that. We wanted to do something more, by getting them to create their own event.”

That’s where Live UnLtd came in. John’s Award provided not only the money to fund his first event, but just as importantly we gave him the support he needed because he had not run a project before.

“My Development Manager was always there when I needed him, which was great because writing a plan on paper and then doing it in real life are totally different things,” says John.

Something just clicked
Narrowly escaping death after crashing a stolen car was a wake-up call that led John Colley to turn his life around. However, it wasn’t until he attended Sova, a project which helps offenders back into work, education and training, that his life changed for good.

John, who is now 21, went on to become a volunteer at Sova to work with others who had been through similar experiences. “When I started actually volunteering something just clicked – I knew that this is what I wanted to be doing,” he says.

He is well aware of the power of gangs because for so many people from broken homes the gang provides them with the support they need. “They see the gang as their family unit, it’s their circle of stability. To ask people to step outside of that into mainstream society where they may not be accepted because of their past, it’s a big shock for them. I can tell people that I’ve done it and it does give them hope that it can be done. Everyone wants to do it, but for some people they’ve not known or done anything else.”

John now works full-time at a young homeless people’s hostel. He was recently given a Young Volunteer of the Year Award, and has even been made an ambassador for Rotherham in recognition of his work.

Prevention rather than cure
John was well aware that having nothing to do, especially on Friday nights, was leading to antisocial behavior. “That’s when I decided to create Project Destiny, to provide young people with things to do.”

Rather than simply hold a club night, Project Destiny first found out what people aged 11-18 wanted by holding focus groups. John then helped participants to take ownership of the event they chose to create by teaching them to DJ. Meanwhile, John found a suitable venue in Rotherham town centre, arranged insurance, and provided the professional security and fully qualified youth workers to ensure a safe and successful night.

Now John is in talks with other organisations to hold similar events and will even be providing a young people’s DJ service to youth summer camps.

You can visit the Project Destiny site here. Or click the button below to start your own.

John said of working with Live UnLtd: “The Award has opened doors to more funding from other sources, because it allowed me to run our first event, and get good experience doing it.”