The Power of An Hour
London Village Network is a charity that inspires disadvantaged, disengaged and at risk 16-24 year olds by asking professionals to volunteer just one hour of their time.
Our theory of change, developed with behavioural scientists, is that it takes ten touch points to change a young life. 1 hour might not seem much but collectively ten hours can be transformational.
Why LVN is needed
Our life opportunities depend heavily on who we know, what they can teach us and the doors they can open. With every 7/10 jobs going unadvertised, networks remain a pivotal factor in finding employment. Many young people simply don’t have access to adults who can open-up their worlds - who are willing to share their insights into the many diverse and fulfilling career opportunities that exist.
Family dispersion, the collapse of community, the increase in knife crime, gang activity and postcode imprisonment coupled with loss of funding and a lack of trust in statutory services has made it harder than ever for less privileged young people to build positive networks .
“.... understanding the links between socio-economic status, social mobility and social networks can be summed up by “it’s not what you know, but who you know’.” Joseph Rowntree Foundation
Who we help
Our priority is hard to reach, estate-based, vulnerable young people not used to positive engagement and less likely to gain meaningful employment. Specifically, we seek to support those living in poverty unable to access the support they need, this would typically include: NEETs (Not in Education Employment or Training), care leavers, youth offenders, persistent truants, excluded pupils, young carers, gang-affected youth and those at risk of anti-social behaviour.
Find out how LVN’s Be Your Own Boss programme helped unlock Monet's entrepreneurial potential
How we help
Our aim is to ensure all young people have the advantages that come from having good social and professional networks in order to build their own careers. We do this through our innovative LVN App and 'Power of an Hour' programmes:
1) Our LVN app enables us to:
- signpost young people to youth services across London
- make volunteering and giving an hour super easy
- match young people’s interests to LVN volunteers wanting to share their know-how
2) Our 'Power of an Hour' Programmes are designed to maximise the hour volunteers give:
- 'Industry Insight' Pizza Nights: one-hour, small-group sessions where LVN volunteers share their journey into their profession and offer advice on how interested youth can access similar industries.
- 'Be your Own Boss' workshops: a ten-week workshop, one-hour long, explaining the steps to becoming a successful entrepreneur.
- 1-2-1 bespoke sessions: young people can receive help and advice from volunteers on everything from career planning, CV writing and coursework to preparing for interviews, completing job applications and applying for internships.
Our volunteers
Volunteers are the backbone of LVN. They help build young peoples’ confidence and connections in friendly, safe environments. They encourage the development of the mindsets, skills, creative ideas and know-how needed to enhance their productivity and contribution to society.
Our young people have received the power of an hour from volunteers across a range of backgrounds, from IT, television & film, sport & leisure to accountancy, construction and music production. Everyone has an hour to give and giving feels good.
Share our volunteers' stories.
How you can help London Village Network help more young people like Monet
We need to expand the potential of both our app and our service delivery. We have the essentials in place – our app and a proven model, both of which have been designed for greatest impact and most effective use of our precious resources. Now we need to fund our growth. Help us by pledging your support today.
How we will spend your gift
£3 will fund a personal development plan
£15 will pay for one youth worker training manual
£50 provides pizza for 20 hungry minds at an LVN session
£150 covers the cost of our app for one month
£1,000 will go towards developing our youth loyalty reward scheme
£3,000 enables us to deliver our youth worker upskill training programme which includes hosting monthly Industry Insight Pizza Nights and access to our app enabling youth workers to match young people with volunteers for a year.
The LVN team
The LVN team consists of Founder & CEO - Rachael Box, Fundraiser - Karen Duncan, Partnerships & Development - Nicki Shears, and Social Media - Jade Broomby. Between us we have 70+ years of experience working with young people, funders, community groups and delivering successful projects. Supporting us is a passionate team of eight Trustees, the latest of whom is Google Director Catherine Ruggles. Catherine is driving the development of our app taking it to the next level.
Support us - you'll be in great company
Collaborating with like-minded groups is key to our success and we work hard to establish strong, smart partnerships. We are privileged to be supported by some incredible individuals and organisations.
The last 12 months has seen us deepen and expand our links with: City & Islington College, the Business Design Centre, Catch22, The John Lyon’s Charity, City Bridge Trust, the Mayor’s Office for Policing and Crime, Code4000, Soapbox, Arsenal in the Community, the Violent Crime Prevention Board, Macquarie Bank, EndemolShine, Peabody Housing and Middlesex University to name but a few. Demand for what we do is high and growing daily. Our app is becoming a sought after tool for youth workers and statutory teams. We have a list of youth workers on our waiting to go through our training.
Please pledge your support and donate today. Help prevent more young people from being left behind and at risk of anti-social behaviour and crime.
If helping with our social inclusion mission isn't enough, we have a selection of amazing rewards to say thank you. Our rewards appear on the right-hand side of this page, keep checking back for new rewards.
LVN in the media
If you're interested in finding out more about us, check out these press snippets:
http://islingtontribune.com/article/victims-of-violence-mix-with-students-for-inspirational-power-hour-in-angel?sp=1&sq=London%2520Village%2520Network
https://www.candi.ac.uk/news-events/news/charity-london-village-network-and-candi-work-together-again-create-ad
https://youtu.be/pk6Jv70v6sY
http://www.lvn.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2019/02/bbc_radio_london_lvn_full.mp3
