Goals: To raise the academic and social aspirations and achievements of Black boys Funding: The Birmingham head office is funded by its backer, the Church of God of Prophecy Worldwide; local branches seek funding for staff from schemes such as the Children's Fund
Contact: National Black Boys Can Association, 0121 358 8618; Luton, 01582 651011. www.blackboyscan.co.uk
Low expectations, discrimination and stereotyping continue to block the progress of many young Black people, but Black Boys Can is doing its best to change the situation.
The organisation aims to improve the lives of boys by providing personal development activities. It has been running since 1999 and now has groups in cities such as Birmingham, Coventry and Leeds, most of which are run by volunteers.
Spokesman Henroy Green says Black Boys Can is based on four pillars: working with parents; working directly with Black boys; working with the mainstream education sector; and political lobbying.
One of its major success stories is in Luton, where Trevor Adams works with around 40 boys. The Luton group has been going for a year, works with four primary schools and has just started a pilot project with Lee Manor High School.
It has taken boys on residential weekends to encourage team building, teaches skills such as time management and focuses on Black history and culture.
"GCSE history and science have very little input from Black culture that the boys can identify with," says Adams.
"There are also issues with the wider Black community not being aware of what's happening in schools. And there's the way young Black boys are portrayed by the media - success doesn't make headlines but failure does."
What's next? Adams wants more people, such as businessmen, in the Black community to become involved in the project and act as positive mentors to the boys. At a national level, Green hopes that, through more lobbying, Black Boys Can will be able to persuade the Government to back the programme and aid its expansion into more areas.
