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Life skills
Once a disabled child receives support from Whizz-Kidz - whether it’s a wheelchair, tricycle, training or advice - we invite them to join our growing UK network of young Ambassadors. Ambassadors are aged 13-25 and play an active role in the charity’s work whilst we offer them essential life skills to support their transition to adulthood. This in turn develops their confidence and self-esteem and also gives them the opportunity to socialise and make new friends.
As part of our three year strategy we plan to offer life skills training to our UK wide network of young people. We plan to work in partnership with organisations in both the private and public sector to build long-term relationships to develop and deliver successful, meaningful work experience and training opportunities.
Life skills are an essential part of a young person’s overall growth and development. Our goal is to ensure that the young disabled people we support have the same opportunities as their peers and the necessary skills to lead a more independent life.
Ambassador Network
All of our beneficiaries can join our Ambassador Network and support the charity at both a national and local level. The network is currently establishing local clubs where young Ambassadors meet regularly to identify local disability issues that they can campaign around and get more involved with our work.
We currently have over 200 Ambassadors and eight local clubs are now active in Belfast, Birmingham, Blackburn, Glasgow, Guilford, Leeds, Newcastle and Swansea. The more young beneficiaries that join the network the more clubs we will evolve.
Kidz Board
Our network of young people is led by our Kidz Board, a group of 12 beneficiaries aged between 13 and 18, who represent the UK. Our Kidz Board and Ambassadors are encouraged to take advantage of new opportunities to further develop their independence and act for themselves.
In recent years the Kidz Board, who meet four times a year, has become a very influential group. The Board is focused on discussing decisions facing the charity and raising awareness about issues that affect them everyday. Aside from meetings, the Kidz Board also attend events, give media interviews and campaign to make a real difference to their lives and the lives of other disabled children.
Work Placements
There is no such thing as a 'typical' work placement for a young disabled person, but working in partnership we aim to offer our beneficiaries the chance to gain invaluable insight into the work environment. We will offer work placements to those people that have missed out on a placement or who would benefit from a placement to further increase their employability potential.
21 year-old Ambassador Ruth, who is studying journalism, did her work experience at our HQ office and BBC Ouch and found it to be a very positive and beneficial experience:
“I absolutely loved every minute of my work experience at Whizz-Kidz and at the BBC. As a wheelchair user I found barriers to getting work experience and the placements I have been offered didn’t fit into what I’m interested in at all. I feel more confident about my transition into the workplace since taking part”
If you're a young person and would like to find out more about work placement opportunities, please go to the Kidz Zone.
If you’d like to help us to change more young disabled peoples lives please go to get involved.
To see the impact our work has on the lives of disabled children please visit meet the kidz.
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