Nurture Academy is a Social Enterprise based in east London (Stratford), which delivers workshops and accredited courses in Braiding, Barbering, Crafts and Futsal. The training offered is aimed at helping the local communities in and around east London by providing them with practical skills to assist in life and employability.

Why was Nurture Academy created?
Nurture Academy was initially created to celebrate the history and art of black cultural braiding. Since then, having realised that there is a lack of provision to teach and support local communities, we are now in the process of taking root and setting up the Academy. We have created an open and safe space for young people to freely express themselves. We work to improve self-development using our 3 step Acorn programme to target challenges and alter mind-sets to affect change and ultimately nurture life; hence Nurture Academy.

We also work with organisations all around London to help people struggling such as ex-offenders and the homeless; In 2018/19, we supported homeless people in Newham and have worked with Caritas Anchor House, offering a three day Barbering and Braiding workshop. Residents involved said:

It is initiatives like this that we believe will really make a difference to the community and empower people so that they can impact lives in a positive, unique and creative way.

What challenges does your organisation and people you work with face?
There are a number of challenges facing us surrounding our new building which we are currently renovating to create a children and youth salon. We have been working towards raising funds to make this salon fit for purpose; we are hoping for donations to cover the cost of flooring, plumbing, health and safety fixtures/fittings, which has been difficult. We want to make it open for people from all backgrounds and hope to create employment opportunities.

Often, those wishing to access our services are from Boroughs facing high levels of poverty and so subsidising workshops and courses can be challenging. We are grateful to have been funded in the past by various organisations, who run a number of our projects within the local community at no cost to the service users. We need more support like this to continue to help those who are facing barriers when trying to access our services. The work that we do is important to the community because our engagement isn’t simply to occupy time but to open doors for individuals that would be shut otherwise.

How do Team Challenges from ELBA help the academy and the community?
We are so grateful for all the work ELBA has put into helping us. Teaming us up with professional corporations and their volunteers to paint our building; inviting us on their training program and facilitating the donation of much needed furniture for our space. This has really helped us as we have managed to get things done such as painting our hallways, salon walls, which has helped speed this process up. Having volunteers from corporates also bridges the gap, exposes issues facing our boroughs and encourages dialogue and understanding between individuals and groups alike.

The budget ELBA provides through the corporate teams, also assists us in managing expenditure and allowing us to focus on our initial aims in the first instance; helping our users.

Everyone we have been in contact with at ELBA has been so friendly and meticulous, making every stage of each process clear and easy to follow.

ELBA has inspired and encouraged us to carry on our work for the community as their activities have propelled our programmes for the future. We couldn’t be where we are today without their dedicated and precise work.