Tabula Rasa Project by Natalie Ajibade

Tabula Rasa was launched officially on the 17th May 2012 at the Samuel Coleridge Taylor Centre in South Norwood.

The project is run by young people aged 22-24 for young people aged 11-19.  This means young people will always have a say in the development of the project. We aim to give young people a chance to learn new skills and encourage them to use them to find work and higher education courses. We currently run workshops on Thursdays 6pm-9pm which allow young people to get involved and try out tasks linked to different areas of interest.

Young people can take part in one or more of the following workshops:

• Clothes- Designing, creating, printing, customisation
• Hairdressing, Make-up and Modelling
• Music and Production- Song writing, composing, vocals, music laws
• Art & Design
• Photography and Filming e.g. music videos, photos for cd covers
• Cooking
• Using IT
• Sports, Leisure and other activities

If they already have a passion for one of these areas, then we will help push them forward and pursue their ambitions further. The project will help young people learn new skills or expand on those they already have, which can then be submitted on to their CV or get them into the habit of thinking about their futures.

Young people will also be provided with services such as: 

• One-to-one support sessions (advice and guidance)    
• Anonymous text messaging support service
• Homework workshops
• Career advice and support/ C.V writing
• Mentoring

The project has a team of talented young people that are either qualified in these areas or have excellent knowledge which can be passed on to young people and they are all Enhanced CRB checked. Our aim is mainly to make young people think about their futures from an early age and regain the ambition that so many young people have lost over time.

We would like to raise a total of £500 to go towards our hair and beauty, fashion and art workshops.  Each new workshop costs around £100 to set up.