Barker-Mill Foundation (BMF) has pledged its support to Winchester based charity, Fixers, for the second time in the form of a £10,000 donation.
The donation from BMF will allow Fixers, the charity which supports young people to use their own experiences to tackle important social issues, to continue their work in South West Hampshire.
With the support from BMF, key issues facing young people today, such as mental health, and domestic and sexual abuse, can continue to be discussed, challenged and confronted.
The support from BMF will fund two unique Fixer projects in South West Hampshire, enabling the young people leading them to tackle the issues that matter the most to them.
The Fixers’ in-house team of media professionals will help the young people to get their message across by helping them to make a professional resource such as short film, booklet or poster.
How the Fixers choose to address their chosen issue is up to them, there is just one condition – their ‘Fix’ must benefit at least one other person.
Tim Jobling, trustee at the Barker-Mill Foundation, said: “Fixers truly deserve this funding as the work they do is of real benefit to the young people of today.
“The young are the future, and we’re pleased to have the opportunity to support this charity a second-time round – helping to ensure that Fixers can continue to talk to future generations by telling their own relatable stories. It’s great to see young people in the community trying to change attitudes and create awareness about hard-hitting issues that really matter to them. The passion behind their projects is evident.”
BMF have funded previous projects run by Fixers, which have helped many local teenagers and young adults:
- Jayne, whose real name has not been used, experienced domestic violence growing up and wanted to work with Fixers to help others understand that the way you behave in front of your children can affect the way they behave themselves. The 19-year-old, from Southampton, created a film which was screened at Chapter One, a domestic violence unit in the town centre.
- Kimberley Brewer, 19, from Eastleigh, wanted to help others understand what being in an unhealthy relationship means, after a friend was manipulated by a controlling partner. The result was a film which was shared more than 5,000 times on Facebook.
- Catherine, whose real name has not been used, decided to tackle child sexual abuse after she experienced a form of this when growing up. At a young age, she did not understand that she was being abused, and what was right and what was wrong. Because of this, Catherine, from Southampton, wanted to create a colouring book aimed at young children to help give them a better understanding of their bodies.
Andrew Middleton, Director of Growth and Innovation at Fixers said: “We’re really pleased that BMF, once again, have stepped up to the mark and supported Fixers to help us carry on the great work we do here in the South. We’ve seen so many young people do incredible things with their projects and we just want to continue to deliver and support young people.”
Fixers works with young people aged 16-25 across the UK to help them campaign on issues they feel strongly about, with the valuable support of organisations like BMF.
Since the charity was founded in 2008, it has helped more than 20,000 young people across the UK to have a voice in their community on a wealth of issues including cyber-bullying, self-harm, suicide and transphobia.
To find out more about Fixers please visit: http://www.fixers.org.uk/