Organisers will seek to wield the influence of local role models in another initiative to reach the youth of the Territory when the Follow The Movement Group (FTM) hosts ‘Step Up’ – a seminar for young men on March 7, 2014 at the H. Lavity Stoutt Community College (HLSCC). Photo: VINO

First Lady, Mrs Lorna Smith, OBE expressed that she was very pleased to be a part of the forum and was very excited about the upcoming event. She opined that young people need something to rally around and have a sense of pride in. Photo: VINO

Local youth mentor Melvin M. Turnbull aka Mitch, who heads Project Lionheart and has dedicated much of his life to working with youths, hailed the multi-agency approach being taken by FTM and said it was all about partnerships in reaching the youth. Photo: VINO

The initiative follows on the heels of a similar forum for young women hosted by FTM late last year with guest speaker and performer Melanie Fiona.

President of the FTM Group, Craig Lake aka Push Pop envisions that the forum will be an annual event which will increase its reaches and general effectiveness.

First Lady, Mrs Lorna Smith, OBE expressed that she was very pleased to be a part of the forum and was very excited about the upcoming event. She opined that young people need something to rally around and have a sense of pride in.

“We expect [the young people] to feel more motivated, we expect them to have a greater sense of hope for the future, more passion about the community, more pride in the British Virgin Islands…” Mrs Smith said.

Mrs Smith also saw a need for greater levels of mentoring and increased involvement by businesses and members of the community, “I think the business community needs to be more supportive of young people and their efforts,” she said.

“We talk about [youths] being the future, but you have to point them to the direction that they should be going to or their being the future could be a future that could be disastrous,” Mrs Smith added.

She also pointed to the wide use of social media among youths and illustrated that more positive messages could be encouraged and derived from its usage.

Local youth mentor Melvin M. Turnbull aka Mitch, who heads Project Lionheart and has dedicated much of his life to working with youths, hailed the multi-agency approach being taken by FTM and said it was all about partnerships in reaching the youth.

Speakers at the forum will be addressing a range of topical issues that affect youth when the event kicks off at the College at 10:00AM. Parents are also invited to be a part of the event. The forum will be graced by several celbrity and guest speakers and will witness performances by Planet VI. Among the keynote speakers will be Ms Lavern Horne-Gumbs, Mr Bryan scatliffe, Mr David Foot, Mr David Morris, Mr Clarence M. Faulkner, Mr Julien Johnson, Mrs Kaylinda Richardson and Mr Mitch Turnbull. 

The youths will be divided into groups at the forum and are expected to participate in several highly interactive sessions with each of the speakers. 

Turnbull added that the previous forum had many follow up questions from the young ladies and a similar scenario was expected with the over 300 Third and Fourth Form males that the group will be addressing.

“The key is to attract and have conversations around these topics that they each will face some time in their lives,” Turnbull said.

Follow the Movement will be doing continuous follow-ups with the youth to gauge the progress made following their attendance at the forum.

Participants will once again be provided transportation from Virgin Gorda by Speedy’s and ground transportation by Romasco Group.