Who we are
Willmore Youth Foundation is a youth based organisation which was established in 2019 as a response to the leadership gap that exists amongst the youth. We aim to include the youth in the economic activities of the society by encouraging entrepreneurship, leadership and healthy lifestyles, thereby helping the government to move closer to the NDP 2030 vision.
What we do
We work strategically with the youth in an attempt to help them become actively involved in the economic spaces of the society.
how we do it
Build the capacity of the youth through:
Leadership development programmes
Entrepreneurship development
Encouraging healthy lifestyles
Career preparation programmes
OUR VALUES
Professionalism
Accountability
Commitment
Integrity
Respect
Transparency
Our partnerS
career development
To expose students to as many career opportunities as possible to ensure that every student has a clear and inspiring direction for their careers. To encourage students to make study/career decisions in accordance with their interests, abilities and aspirations through Self-understanding and Development, Career Exploration and lastly Career Planning and Management.
career development programmes
Career Guidance
Through a collaborative effort with various stakeholders, the organisation will introduce a number of career development initiatives in an attempt to ensure that learners make wise career choices. It is important to note that this is a holistic approach to career development, designed to encourage and limit dissatisfaction on the part of the scholars pertaining to their career choices. The entire process will be detailed below.
Career Expositions
Career expositions play an important role in ensuring that scholars are well equipped with the necessary information required to make wise career choices. This is typically an opportunity for the organisation to organise an event centered around providing information related to an array of careers which the learners could explore.
The structure of these expositions include a professional guidance from a psychometrist, who considers the skills, interests and passions of the learner. Moreover, the psychometrist further guides the learners on in demand careers and personality types of the individual then linking them to a particular career more suitable for the individual.
Job Shadowing
Job shadowing generally involves exposing someone to a working environment that fits their career of interest, thus giving them an opportunity to decide whether to pursue the chosen career path. This initiative exposes the learner to a real world of work. The learner has to learn and observe a professional doing a certain job.
Applications
As soon as the team is done with the process of exposing and guiding the learners through the processes and initiatives described above, we then commence with the process of applications into institutions of higher learning. Through experience, this is one of the frustrating processes to date. Some of the things which make it so relates to the following: Limited funds for applications; not meeting university requirements on the part of the learners. However, we continue to work hard to ensure that such challenges are addressed in future.
Tutoring and Mentorship
Learners from townships and rural areas face the unfortunate situation whereby they have limited resources, such as access to private tutors and mentors to help them excel academically. As a consequence, we aim to make these things available to them by working with various organisations which provide such services.
The main purpose of this programme is to see improved performance rates of the learners, both academically and socially. This will as a result ensure that the beneficiaries of this programme are better positioned to attract opportunities similar to those with resources.
University Programmes
The academic journey does not end in grade 12, it is a lifelong journey one has to embark on. Therefore, it is important to come up with programmes suitable for a post-matric student. Adjusting to a new environment can be an overwhelming undertaking for anyone, and students are not exempted from all the highs and lows which comes with a new environment.
Mentorship
Once the students are accepted and officially registered into university, reality begins, nerves kick in and excitement gets the best of the “freshers”. While some institutions offer the privilege of providing mentorship to a small portion of their students, some are without this privilege, even for a quarter of its students, due to lack of both financial and human capital. It is for this reason that we want to see the students enjoying maximum support regardless of their socio-economic background.
As an organisation, we have acquired acquaintances across various institutions in the country. Therefore, we aim to expand our reach across all institutions of higher learning, so that the students and youth we serve all have adequate support when they get to universities.
Ready for Work
This programme is specifically designed to help students transition into the workplace with the help of people already in the workplace. This will involve creating content, such as videos posted on social media, as well as hosting workshops addressing the challenges and opportunities found in the workplace. Moreover, we aim to have a platform that has various opportunities, such as internships, learnerships and entry level jobs. In order to support our efforts in this initiative, we will partner with organisations, public and private companies
wellness programmes
One in four youth (24.7%) reported feeling sad or hopeless, and just under 18% had made at least one suicide attempt. Only 37.2% of youth who reported feelings of sadness had sought treatment from a counsellor or doctor. More young women (20%) than young men (15%) had considered suicide.
Against this background as Willmore Youth Foundation we believe that it is pertinent for youth in our country to be knowledgeable about Mental Health in order to help them lead better lives and thus inspire holistic socio-economic growth in the world. In order to make this a reality we aim to do the following:
Suicide awareness
Collaborate with mental health practitioners
Share mental health related content on social media
Link youth to mental health related services
Substance abuse prevention
Training and development
leadership
As former learners ourselves, we have noticed a gap in leadership amongst both primary and secondary school learners. We have observed that most people are part of leadership programmes during their school years, however they still lack the most basic characteristics needed to become an effective and influential leader in society.
Therefore, our strategy is to ensure that those from disadvantaged backgrounds have an equal set of leadership skills as those from better resourced schools.
entrepreneurship
Although there is still more work to be done, the youth in our country have responded positively to the national development plan of 2030 by the government. The NDP aims to strengthen the economy and drive employment rate through the SMME sector. The NDP target is to witness approximately 11 million jobs by 2030 created through SMMEs.
As WYF we are striving towards supporting the government’s efforts by:
Encouraging youth to venture into entrepreneurship. Assist youth with information related to enterprise registration for compliance purposes. Conduct workshops to ensure that youth acquire the necessary skills needed to be successful as entrepreneurs through strategic partnerships with reputable business owners.
Entrepreneurship Support
Link youth to funding opportunities. Help youth market their enterprise to get clients. Leadership development for success of youth enterprises.