Little Blackbird

Well-Being, Personal Development & Social Value Programmes

Education

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Education & Community based Social Value Projects

With extensive experience delivering interventions within Education and Community settings, our Social Value initiatives are designed to explore key themes and topics including Well-Being, Resilience, Positive Masculinity and Personal Growth.

For organisations looking to deliver targeted sessions, we also offer a range of interventions that tackle topics including violence against women and girls, knife crime, hate crime, violent crime, coercion and control, consent and sextortion/online offending. 

We work closely with our Social Value partners to plan and deliver projects that have real, sustainable impact, rather than stand alone sessions.  By including direct, invaluable input from our Social Value partners within our delivery, our model ensures an inclusive and holistic approach is taken for maximum impact.  As part of the long term sustainable legacy of each of our projects, all of our Social Value initiatives offer sessions for parents and guardians, and teachers and support staff. 

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The Man I Want To Become – Positive Masculinity Creative Film Project

Suicide is the leading cause of death for young people in the UK, with almost 75% of all suicides being boys and men.

Built on lived experience following the tragic loss of a friend, Mike, to suicide, and created by Little Blackbird in 2022. ‘The Man I Want To Become’ project responds directly to these challenges.

The Man I Want To Become it is an early-intervention, film-led initiative that supports young people to explore healthy masculinity, improve communication, strengthen emotional resilience and understand accountability. It can be delivered in schools, grassroots sport, community projects and adapted for adult groups within the same settings. Little Blackbird strive to challenge cultures and stereotypes related to old age perceptions of masculinity which are no longer fit for purpose, instead creating new ideas around what it means to be a boy/man, and promoting a better understanding of what positive expressions of masculinity look like.  

The film, which includes footage from the workshops, direct to camera thoughts, reflections and advice on the type of man they want to become from the young people themselves, provides the lads with an impactful summary of the project, and its learning objectives.  The availability of this resource moving forward ensures that each young man who participated in the project will always have access to a powerful reminder of their values, beliefs and motivation to become the best man they can possibly be.

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Building resilience & goal setting

The session can be led actively inside the classroom, or outside in an open space, where content can be delivered as part of specific exercises, linking resilience with individual goals.

Each session is bespoke, and very much tailored to the needs of the group, however key components will include exploration of what resilience is, emotional intelligence and how to nurture it, and focussing on who we are and finding power in having goals, no matter how big or small.

The tone and questions posed to the group will be adapted based on the age and functioning of the participants. Active exercises are a catalyst to prompt more in-depth conversations and connections with older children.

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Well-being Awareness – for Teacher & Support Staff

This session explores the key pillars of well-being & positive mental health, and will aid participants in their understanding and recognising of emotions, and spotting “red flags”.

We consider our role in nurturing self-esteem, sense of belonging and resilience in those we teach/ coach/support. This session explores managing emotions and stress.

To be delivered actively inside the training room/classroom. Each session is bespoke, and very much tailored to the needs of the specific needs of the group. This session can also be adapted to be delivered with Parents, Guardians and key adults.

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Well-being awareness for young people

The session can be delivered actively inside the classroom, or outside in an open space, where content can be provided as part of specific exercises, linking emotions to physical challenges.

Each session is bespoke and very much tailored to the needs of the group.  Including an energiser, and team building exercise, this interactive workshop uses visual learning aids to support engagement. The delivery of our “Pull the Plug” exercise will be used to explore the impact of stress, and discuss strategies to “drain” our stress levels. Participants will be encouraged to identify individual trusted support networks, and signposted (as appropriate) for any additional support.

The tone and questions posed to the group will be adapted based on the age and functioning of the participants. Active exercises are a catalyst to prompt more in-depth conversations and connections with older children, and statistics may be included to solidify specific points and raise awareness. 

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How do we promote positive masculinity?

A session for Teachers and Support Staff

By recognising and being equipped to address concerns relating to negative stereotypes around masculinity at the earliest opportunity, participants can promote healthier and more positive expressions of masculinity, supporting a more equitable and inclusive group of young people.

Key components of the session will include exploring what Toxic Masculinity is and how is it linked to mental health, the perception of masculinity amongst young people, the role of teachers and support staff in nurturing / modelling more positive attitudes and changing thought processes.

Bespoke sessions can also be developed, with staff learning interventions that they can deliver with young people to address specific issues.