Power Up Full Time Fierce
In partnership with the youth and class charity RECLAIM
Full Time Fierce is a free development programme which teaches young women/girls and non-binary people, aged 15 – 21, the art of campaigning in a supportive, inclusive space, with the aim of launching their own campaigns around the theme of gender justice.
The Full Time Fierce project allows young working class women/girls and non-binary people to campaign about the issues they care about, and tell their own story, so that their voices can be heard and real change can happen. As it is a partnership between RECLAIM and the Pankhurst Trust, the intersectionality of young people’s experience is embedded in the programme, with diverse young people from across Greater Manchester taking part.
What excites us the most about Full Time Fierce is the chance to show that it’s possible to deliver three layers of change in one programme by building:
- Personal power: personal skills and confidence growth for the 75 participants.
- Campaign power: campaign wins secured by the young working class women.
- Movement power: feeding a diverse talent pool into our wider social movements.
How does it work?
Participants take part in weekly online and monthly in-person sessions covering how to campaign (power mapping, how to persuade people and have difficult conversations, the art of storytelling) as well as wider social issues (tailored to the young people’s interests, such as a session on periods and healthy relationships from period poverty charity Crimson Wave), with regular guest speakers from the world of campaigning (for example Gina Martin, who campaigned to get upskirting banned in the UK).
What can participants expect from Full Time Fierce?
• Opportunity to connect with like-minded young people and build their community
• Build their personal, campaigning and communication skills
• One-to-one support from youth worker
• Opportunity to design and launch their own campaign
• Opportunity for mentoring from a professional in a relevant field
What our participants have to say
“My favourite thing about the project so far is the period talk, because I actually learnt so much I did not know before.”
“My favourite session has been talking about how working-class people don’t feel they belong in spaces like art galleries, but realising we do belong and it’s a public space, and then going into the gallery.”
“I want to change how people view women, I don’t want to feel inferior.”