Jack Petchey Achievers Network by Evan

Back in summer 2019 I decided to apply to be part of the Jack Petchey Achievers Network. I was familiar with the Jack Petchey Foundation having won a Jack Petchey Achievement Award beforehand so I thought I knew what to expect from the programme… I was so wrong! The Achievers Network went far beyond any of my expectations!!
The Jack Petchey Achievers Network is a year-long personal development programme that develops different skills such as self-motivation, goal setting and self-management. It’s about boosting your confidence whilst interacting with different people and becoming confident to assume positions of responsibility. We used these skills to help others by doing volunteering projects in the community. I attended a residential weekend in the Chilterns (where I crawled through muddy tunnels and raced over an obstacle course!), and attended five training days throughout the year when we worked on the different skills. I was also paired with a mentor for the year, with whom I met and discussed what reviewed my progress during the training days. My mentor really helped me to get the most out of the programme.
A definite highlight of the programme, are the people that you meet and work with during the year. Walking into a room for the first time that was full of young people from all over London and Essex with different stories and opinions, really opened up so many possibilities and opportunities for me and I made lots of friends and forged great memories. The project leader was also really fun and inspiring in the way he delivered the programme. He had two main bits of advice; be prepared and reply to your messages!! (I don’t think I will ever forget to do this again!)
The Achievers Network also taught me how important and rewarding it is to take up opportunities offered. They gave me so many unique opportunities such as judging a photography competition, looking after local mayors at other Jack Petchey events and even sitting on an interview panel for a job at the Jack Petchey offices. After getting over a few nervous moments, these chances helped me to become more confident around different people and learn how to present myself in a good light. I have no doubt that in the future I’ll look back on these experiences and use the skills I learnt.
Even though the last few training days had to be on Zoom because of lockdown (we usually met in the Jack Petchey HQ in Docklands) I still feel that I got so much out of the Achievers Network programme. It helped me to be more proactive, confident and made me a better speaker (they even gave us tips for doing presentations on Zoom!). I am now a young leader on this year’s programme, so I’m really looking forward to continue working with the Jack Petchey Foundation.