Gibraltar Youth Service

Young people’s community work rewarded with a Trip to London

“Experiences in our teenage years influence us well into adulthood,” says Soma, Kusuma Trust’s Executive Trustee. “It’s a really crucial stage in life. That’s why we gave this grant to the Gibraltar Youth Service. We wanted to encourage teenagers who’d committed to improving themselves, and for others to see that commitment is appreciated.”

Our grant of £4,000 funded a five-day cultural visit to London in January 2020 for 12 young people supported by Gibraltar’s Youth Service. The group of 12 to 15 year olds earned their place on the trip by committing to a programme of community work, which included organising public events, taking part in street and beach clean ups, and preparing and delivering winter food hampers to local people.

Over their five days in London, the group visited the London Dungeon, London Eye, Madame Tussauds, Zap Space Trampoline Park and the Elysium Theatre to watch Lion King.

The trip was organised by Gibraltar’s Youth Service, part of the government’s Ministry of Youth. It’s run by qualified youth and community workers and locally trained, part-time volunteers and employees, and offers personal and social learning opportunities designed to help young people achieve their full potential.

Our grant of £4,000 funded a five-day cultural visit to London for 12 young people from less advantaged backgrounds.
A GBC film featured the trip, highlighting the benefits of gaining experiences outside of Gibraltar.

“The Youth Service is extremely grateful of how supportive the Kusuma Trust have been in supporting this initiative, and we hope that the product of our project has been well received by the trustees. The young people and parents involved in the project were informed of Kusuma’s grant and they expressed their appreciation to us. And while it was only a small token, the kids insisted on thanking Kusuma at the end of our GBC piece.”

Jamie Napoli, Gibraltar Youth Service