Sparking Confidence: How Eden Girls’ Leadership Academy students found their voices

At First Give, we are dedicated to empowering young people as they make a positive difference in their communities through charitable social action.

Through our core programme, a whole year group of students engages in a dynamic experience where they identify social issues that they care about, connect with local charities and develop and deliver social action projects for those charities. In the latter half of the programme, students prepare engaging and creative presentations that they’ll showcase at their school’s First Give Final – an exciting celebration at the end of their programme where the year group compete in their classes to secure a £1,000 First Give grant on behalf of their class charity.

Eden Girls’ Leadership Academy Birmingham has partnered with First Give since 2023, embedding the First Give core programme into their Year 9 curriculum. This year’s cohort of Year 9 students demonstrated just how transformative the experience can be, as students went from nervous to confident over a few months.

While the students were familiar with charitable giving already – “it’s part of our Star values”, reflected Director of Learning and Humanities, Safa Abdalla – the First Give programme introduced a new challenge: building confidence and self-esteem in order to speak out. Centred around youth voice and decision-making, the First Give core programme asked the students to advocate for causes that matter to them: a challenge which begins as early as the programme launch assembly.

First Give Facilitator, Felicity, was met with a sea of nervous faces when she asked the students “what social issues matter to you?” Fast forward to the end of the programme, and the staff were amazed by the transformation. Sitwat Mirza, who coordinated the First Give programme at Eden Girls this year and last, said:

“I feel like they’ve gone through such a transformation. At the assembly, none of them spoke, it was really quiet. Now, looking at all of the work that they’ve done, they’ve all really improved and really benefitted from the programme… When it comes to their careers, they will remember this, and they will take it forward.”

Sitwat Mirza, teacher at Eden Girls’ Leadership Academy

This year’s programme saw the students supporting four charities through a range of different social action activities ranging from in-school competitions to ‘sponge the teacher’ fundraisers to creative video campaigns, the students used their skills and talents to support their chosen charities, and they did so with pride and passion. “They’ve really enjoyed taking part” reflected Safa.

Their Head of Year, Shazia Naz, was thrilled: “Year 9 were completely overtaken with this programme, and it was wonderful to see them engaged in their learning, and they were really inspired to advocate for their selected charity. I hope they can apply these new skills to their other lessons.”

This year’s winning group supported Anawim, a Birmingham based charity and centre for women. The group demonstrated their deep knowledge and understanding of their charity, how they worked, and showed tremendous maturity and compassion in how they conveyed this to a supportive audience of peers. Responding to the news of the students’ success, Anawim commented: “We work with more than 1,700 women in Birmingham every year… This grant will support our work. Thank you so much!”

Community Judge, Michelle Thompson from Birmingham City University, added “It’s a pleasure to see how much young people enjoy engaging with community services and want to make change. It gives me hope for the future and what young people can bring to their environments.”

Echoing Michelle’s words, we’re confident that this is only the beginning of these students’ giving journeys, and we’re excited to see what they do next. A huge thank you to all of the staff and students at Eden Girls’ Leadership Academy Birmingham, for your passion, commitment, and spark.