Three projects were shortlisted for the Best Practice Awards with the category Empower. The winner was SI King’s Lynn for their Public Speaking Competition, with SI Chennai Downtown and SI Barbados being runners up. Full details of the projects are below.
SI Kings Lynn – Public Speaking competition for Year 6 Pupils
Project Date 25/06/2024
SI King’s Lynn held its annual Public Speaking competition for Year 6 pupils for primary schools in King’s Lynn and the surrounding area. It gives a chance for the students to showcase their public speaking skills – without this project there would be no opportunities locally like this for younger school pupils.
This is an ongoing annual competition, which started in 2006, this year being their thirteenth competition. The Club started the competition as there was a Public Speaking competition for the Senior Schools run by the local Rotary Club but there was no such provision for the Primary Schools. The winner’s shield is named to honour a past deceased SI member who was involved with a local primary School.
Primary schools in King’s Lynn and surrounding area were invited to participate and 9 teams entered. At a Club meeting, the questions were set and based on the Sustainable Development Goals the 5 P’s. The school selects one topic and a team of 3 speak for 5 minutes on their chosen subject. There was a panel of 3 judges who had a marking schedule, judging content, time keeping and presentation skills. The competition is currently held in one of the 3 High schools on a rotation basis and one judge is either the Head or Head of English from the hosting school. The Borough Mayor is invited and presents the winner’s shield and medals.
The standard of presentation remained extremely high, with N. Wootton Academy winning again. Everyone who participated received a certificate. Previously, the winning teams were presented with a cheque but club members discussed this and recommended that the individual child should be rewarded for their hard work, so Gift Vouchers were presented to each member of the winning teams. SI Kings Lynn have now established a good working relationship with one of the multi academy trusts and all 6 of its primary schools enter. Everyone who took part appeared to have enjoyed themselves and the level of confidence displayed is remarkable. Feedback from the schools is welcomed, so this year the start time was changed so that the evening finished earlier.
SI Chennai Downtown – Aashraya – short stay home for women in distress
Project Commenced in 2004
Aashraya, a half-way home for destitute women, comes under the aegis of the Andhra Mahila Sabha. When the Club took on the project, the building was in need of repairs and there was a woeful lack of funds.
SI Chennai Downtown helped to renovate the building – the rooms, the toilets and the garden. Club members visit Ashraya regularly and help with administration, health care and support for the residents. Club members contribute a monthly sum of 5000 rupees to help with Staff salaries. Members liaise with the local police station to direct women to this shelter and print posters and place them in strategic locations in the area to increase awareness among the community.
A woman who is abused physically or mentally by her husband or family can stay at this home for up to five years. She is encouraged to study further or undertake work training in order to support herself independently. SI Chennai Downtown conducts workshops on soap and candle making, basket weaving and yoga from time to time. Young children can stay with their mothers.
Sustainable Development Goals
SDG 16 – Peace – Peace, justice and strong institutions
SDG 3 – People – Ensure healthy lives, SDG 5 – People – Gender equality
Approx 50 to 60 people are helped per month; about several hundred over the years
Beneficiary Quotes
I came in fear but found a home here.” “I feel motivated to try harder.”
“I feel brave enough to approach people and speak up.”
“We reassure everyone that we’re in the same boat and you need to think of this as your home and be courteous to each other. “
“Thanks to Aashraya I got the courage to support my children to live life the way they do.”
SI Barbados – “Just Be Kind’- Anti-Bulling Project in Schools
13/02/24 end date 8/4/2024
Partner Sandy Lane Charitable Trust
School-related violence, including bullying, is widespread across all countries and is known to have multiple negative impacts on health and well-being, intruding on the learning process and on learning outcomes. Bullying can also include cyberbullying. The club contacted various High Schools for the participation of two students per school to bring awareness of this topic and to hear solutions from the youth themselves. Four students from two schools took part. Brief 3 minute videos were made with the students and uploaded on the Club’s YouTube Channel. Students also wore T-shirts with the ‘Just Be Kind’ logo as they spoke on the topic.
The project was researched and found to be an urgent one, according to the statistics worldwide for bullying and the resulting adverse effects include suicide, suicide ideation and impacts health. This project responded to the need of girls in schools with the increasing incidents of face to face bullying and cyber bullying. The students were briefed before as to what they thought of the topic and what was required
The project involved asking the students 3 questions on face to face and cyber bullying in schools. These can be seen in the videos on the clubs YouTube Channel.
YouTube Channel, IG and Facebook on Club’s Social Media pages https://www.youtube.com/@SIBarbados.
The Sandy Lane Charitable Trust granted the club $3,800 bb to assist with the videos and T-Shirt purchases. The project involved Club members as they were asked to give feedback on the logo and the three questions to be asked for the 3 minute videos.
Lives should be improved as the videos are always available on the clubs YouTube Channel and the schools involved proposed to share with the students. Students speaking to students can have a positive domino effect as issues and solutions were purported by the students themselves. Students who took part gained the self-confidence to speak up and out about the topic. This can be emulated by other students.
Beneficiary Quote
‘ This project helped to build my self-confidence in order to speak up about bullying’
What was the most important outcome? Students were able to speak about bullying and ways to combat same. Youths speaking to the youths