Glow up and give back in Barking and Dagenham

By Habiba Begum, ELBA

During the half term, ELBA community partner JDS Striving for Excellence – with the support of ELBA corporate supporter SMBC – delivered a phenomenal Youth Wellness and Pamper Day for teenagers in Barking & Dagenham.

JDS Striving for Excellence core principle is to prevent young people in the borough from going overlooked or unsupported. The event focused on youth wellbeing, confidence, self-care and positive identity, delivered by qualified and experienced facilitators including a boxing coach, barber, hair stylist and many more who supported the day in a safe and fun environment.

Hosted by the John Smith House Consortium, a vibrant community hub, the event provided young people with personal hygiene and wellbeing items such as toiletries, self-care bundles and wellness products. A generous supply for the bundles was kindly donated by SMBC, who provided £1000’s worth of hygiene products as part of ELBA’s Cost of Living support project. We sincerely thank SMBC for their fantastic effort supporting this initiative.

The event included a boxing ring, male hair barber workshop, bento cake decorating, hair braiding, a movie room, a nail salon workshop, a lip gloss making station, and a fantastic live studio filming of a podcast.

JDS Striving for Excellence’s Head Manager Jeorgina, along with the fantastic team from the John Smith House Consortium, delivered a tremendous day of celebration and learning for the young community of Barking and Dagenham. To find out how your organisation can support a community partner, please contact [email protected].

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