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Gatsby Benchmarks
ADAM RAMGOOLIE, 16
LONDON
CHARACTER VIRTUES DEVELOPED:
• Hope/optimism • Compassion
• Leadership • Resilience,
perseverance,
determination
• Courage
STEPHEN TUTIN, 20
GLOUCESTER
CHARACTER VIRTUES DEVELOPED:
• Leadership • Openness
• Confidence • Communication
skills
• Empathy
What have you done through social action?
I never had support to get involved in ‘traditional’
volunteering, but managed to craft my own
opportunities. Mainly using the internet to form the
framework which didn’t exist in my local area, I’ve
created, organised and administrated several online
groups; for example, to provide a safe space for people
with autism.
How has this helped your career?
It allowed me to get my dream job with EDF Energy.
I was told my CV stood out as I could back up skills
I claimed I had with evidence that I’d demonstrated
them in the real world. That gave the interviewers
specific examples to ask about, which I felt
more confident answering than many of the
generic questions.
The confidence, skills and insight I developed from
social action also enabled and encouraged me to
become involved with steering groups, volunteer for
professional institutes and take a lead in a number of
areas. I’ve made contacts, developed skills and had
fun experiences.
What skills have you learned?
The biggest benefit is a large boost in confidence, as
you learn how to adapt to different situations. This
helps you learn faster, do better at exams and make
new friends.
Another key skill is leadership: how to inspire and
organise people and resolve disputes. I gained these
skills creating and running an online community from
the ground up and they have enabled me to take up
higher-profile optional roles at work.
Through my online community, I learned how to
communicate updates and changes, about branding,
and how to create a leadership team to support me
in running the group. I even organised small group
challenges, which gave me some teamwork skills. I
made mistakes, but that’s how you learn.
82 // WELLBEING
“Social action gave me the belief
that, with hard work and a vision,
we can all create change”
What does social action mean to you?
Through social action, I went from being a bullied child suffering from
depression to a happy and confident public speaker. Its impact on
volunteers and those who benefit cannot be underestimated. Social
action gave me the belief – in myself and society – that, with hard
work and vision, we can all create change.
What have you done as part of #iwill?
I heard about the campaign through Team London, the Mayor of
London’s programme encouraging social action among young
people, and applied to become an #iwill ambassador, encouraging
young people to get into youth social action.
From speaking at the 2018 Character Education Conference in front
of teachers for the first time to being appointed a young adviser to
committees, I’ve shared my story and youth suggestions that
have been listened to. Being treated with dignity by adults has been
a privilege.
How has social action helped your career?
It has helped me learn how to act and advocate among professionals,
improving my confidence, speaking and leadership skills. I’ve started a
youth advocacy group – Get2Learn – to engage youth in the
movement towards social integration. We’re holding the Fair Education
Youth Summit on the status of social mobility in education to highlight
the importance of youth voice and young people’s insights on
addressing educational inequality.
ABOUT #IWILL
The #iwill campaign promotes social action among
10-20 year-olds, including campaigning, fundraising and
volunteering. More than 875 business, education and
voluntary sector partners have committed to
embedding social action into the lives of young people.
Find out how to embed youth action into your school
or college at: bit.ly/EducationYouthSocialAction