"Envision is a philosophy, not a programme. It is an attitude to life - the importance and excitement of taking responsibility for issues we face in our day to day lives."
Nick Nielsen, Envision Founder
Our Mission, Vision and Values
Mission:
- To empower young people to realise their capacity to make a difference.
- To build confidence, aspiration and skills necessary for affecting social and environmental change.
Vision:
Our core vision is to see young people empowered to take responsibility for issues around them and demonstrate leadership in their communities.
Values:
- Authentic Opportunities: Within every individual lies the desire and capacity to create positive change - all that is required is the opportunity.
- Experiential Learning & Skills Building: Learning by doing is more effective than simply learning through instruction.
- Youth-Leadership: Positive change is brought about by examples of individuals and groups making a difference, 'the ripple effect'.
Envision is passionate about:
Empowerment
Each year over 90% of Envision participants indicate positive impact against: confidence, awareness, employability skills and a desire to continue making a difference. Retrospective surveys indicated that participants who had left the programme up to four years previously still felt its benefits and were more likely to be active in their communities, demonstrating the long-term impacts.
Sustainable Development
Envision reaches beyond those who traditionally get involved in sustainable development activities, offering young people from disadvantaged, diverse and inner city backgrounds the opportunity to identify and tackle issues they feel passionate about. The process builds their understanding of sustainable development and valuable skills for action and advocacy.
Volunteering
The Envision programme provides volunteering opportunities which engage and encourage young people to explore different issues that concern them. The young volunteers, 65 % from BME backgrounds, are supported by Envision staff and adult volunteers to access resources and develop the skills and motivation to then tackle those issues over a ten month period with real community benefit.
Citizenship
Envision is a Learning and Skills Network Citizenship Champion. The Envision programme is able to engage those individuals who would not normally become involved and supports them to design their own community involvement project. Having reflected on their 10 month experience with its outcomes, Envision participants develop confidence, skills, an understanding of political issues and a motivation to remain engaged in their school and wider community.
