Workshopping with Babbasa to help young people into the industry
Babbasa is a Queen’s Award-winning social enterprise, tackling rising youth unemployment, educational underachievement and declining aspirations across Bristol’s diverse young communities.
Having recently celebrated its 10th anniversary and supported over 4,000 young people, the group’s name – which comes from an ancient African word – translates as citizens coming together to act as a support bridge for those in need.
Playing a small part in helping to bridge that gap, this month, Meeting Place supported Babbasa in support of its Challenge Week project.
A group of motivated young people from across Bristol, and from a range of backgrounds, joined us for a PR workshop on the theme of Galvanising to Maximise Impact.
With support from others across the city, the group are taking part in an Apprentice-style programme of workshops, which will culminate in a large-scale event later in the year on the theme of sustainability.
The sessions cover disciplines such as operations, business development and outreach, with our comms workshop an opportunity for them to gain a tangible understanding of building compelling PR campaigns.
Freddie and I demonstrated our own routes into the PR industry and how, despite perceptions, it really can be an industry for all. Whilst some systemic barriers still exist, I believe it’s a welcoming industry where – irrespective of your background – you can carve out a niche, whether that’s for an agency that specialises in consumer sports, digital comms, or B2B.
Outlining our own approach, the workshop helped the team develop their understanding of PR and how to build a comms campaign:
- Define your comms objectives
- Establish your audience and map your stakeholders
- Set a clear strategy
- Consider which channels to use
- Measure the impact
The group were adept in understanding the approach and quickly set about – on their own accord – building a compelling comms campaign, which they’ll now implement in the next few months in the run-up to their event.
Sharing these tips and giving hands-on experience in a workshop scenario taps into Babbasa’s five core youth empowerment programmes, which combine a mix of soft skills training, mentoring, career-oriented events, and targeted recruitment support.
Whilst our workshop was a small step in that support, the programmes are tailored to each young person’s needs. The sessions help them acquire confidence, develop skills, build social capital, and attain career-oriented experience at their own pace.
If you or your team have a presence in Bristol, we’d urge you to meet up with Babbasa for a quick coffee, to help play a part – no matter how small – in being part of the change.
You’d be helping to create the future generation of comms experts, creatives, activists, coders, architects, engineers and entrepreneurs, who are truly diverse in race, faith, culture and class.
To find out more about getting involved with Babbasa, please visit: www.babbasa.com
