Watch: UK’s Inspirational ‘RECLAIM’ Project Bridges Gap Between Teens and Adults

Again, leave it to some of the good folks on Reddit to share something awesome!

Thanks to tdobson , I’ve come across a Manchester, England-based mentorship program called RECLAIM which seeks to empower the city’s young people by letting them “reclaim their name.”

Hailing from the region’s most disadvantaged communities, the teens are paired with a network of adults that help them make a difference in those communities and fight stereotypes.

RECLAIM film directed by Dominik Rippl

RECLAIM's latest film directed by Dominik Rippl

RECLAIM ‘s newest film, directed by Dominik Rippl , demonstrates the difference mentoring can make in the lives of young people anywhere.

The film stars the program’s own youth members: Jordan McGlacken , Frances Capon , Mia Capon , Terry Manyeh , Stephan Holt , Latoya Reisner , and Lucy Cooke . Enjoy it below.

Alone I walk these crowded streets,
I’m half awake I’m half asleep.
Down cul-de-sacs of broken dreams,
down empty paths inside I scream;
and you can see it in my face,
hope disappeared without a trace.
I’m coming last in life’s great race,
I’m dropping fast im losing pace.

I need someone to shine a light,
I need someone to throw a rope.
To help me stand back up again to remind me there is hope.
I need someone to lend a hand to guide me on my way,
To reclaim this voice inside my head so I can have my say.
Look into my eyes, look into my dreams.
It matters not where I come from, my music, my clothes, my hair.
Judge a tree not by it’s roots but by the fruit it bears.

RECLAIM is currently seeking 30 professional mentors to support its teens with business skills development. If interested, contact them through their website at reclaimproject.org.uk or on Twitter @RECLAIMproject.

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Editor-in-Chief at Sinuous Magazine, designer, and founder of NYC-based boutique design firm theComplex Media & Design. I've been designing for 13 years, writing on the internet for about the same, and I appear on radio and podcasts under the name "Lanae Mc'Levans." Photographer and overall geek who is passionate about art, music, politics, technology, fashion, and women's issues. A serial day-dreamer. Foul-mouthed. Opinionated.