By James Cornish
Free skills sessions are being offered in Brixton this autumn.
First aid, networking and dispute resolution are among the practical topics being covered in the lively, 90-minute sessions.
The initiative is being run by The U Brixton, with each session a one-off to avoid the need for participants to make too much of a commitment.
The next session is on 3pm today (Saturday) at the Ritzy cinema in Windrush Square.
You can either join in as a guest or become one of the hosts for the sessions – for which you are given all necessary training, kit and materials.
‘The skills are easy to learn, easy to pass on and easy to remember,’ said Muniray Sheik of The U. ‘Also there are no lecterns or PowerPoint presentations – instead, there are friendly volunteer hosts who will help ensure you have a good time and learn useful stuff.
‘Most importantly, we hope you feel empowered and more connected to your community, ready to put your new skills into action.
‘Learning these kind of skills not only has the capacity to improve our day to day lives but also has the potential to develop new leaders in our communities.
‘We know that people want to be more active, learn more skills and gain confidence and we hope that The U will give them an easy and fun way to do so.’
The most recent site for The U’s activities was in Loughborough Junction following trials in Northumberland and Sutton, South London.
The U is a Young Foundation venture supported by NESTA, the National Endowment for Science, Technology and the Arts – an independent body with a mission to make the UK more innovative. Both NESTA and The U operate at no cost to the taxpayer.
The project tries to tackle the problem that tightly-knit communities are no longer common in inner-city areas that have rapidly changing populations and where people lead busy lives.
It wants to give individuals of different ages, backgrounds and cultures opportunities to come together in a friendly and undemanding environment.
The next session is today from 3pm at the Ritzy Cinema, Windrush Square and looks at conflict resolution. The following event is Monday October 29 at the Prince Regent, Herne Hill.
Intro to The U: a citizens University from The U on Vimeo.
To sign up visit www.the-u.org.uk/brixton or call 0800 254 0154 or 07951516521
