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Kenya’s National Youth Service
ByJohn MayThere is much talk in the UK at the moment (and has been since the last election) about the creation of a National Citizenship Service for young people. Kenya got there first, nearly 50 years ago. Kenya’s National Youth Service was established on September 1st 1964, through an Act of Parliament. It was charged with…
Scouting for the Google generation
ByJohn MayWhen Baden-Powell ran his experimental camp on BrownseaIsland, he did not realise that he was starting a movement. But that’s what happened. One boy told another about the fun that couldbe had by becoming a Scout. Anothertold another. The modest concepts ofgetting together with a group of your friends, having fun, getting involved inan adventure,…
Youth to Everest – Days 3 & 4
ByJohn MayIt’s known as the Namche Bump. A climb of about 600 meters elevation. It starts with a mind-numbingly terrifying (for me anyway) crossing of a wire bridge, suspended high above a gorge and then a street, steep climb that takes in countless sharp hairpin bends in the path. The journey took us…
Relational intelligence – hearing the young unheard
ByJohn MayOver the past year as High Sheriff of Oxfordshire, one lesson has come through consistently: if we want to change outcomes for young people, we must start with relationships. That demands a different kind of attention, and a different kind of leadership. Over the past year, as High Sheriff of Oxfordshire, I have worked under…
A day in Göteborg
ByJohn MayStansted airport at 6:30am on a Friday morning is not the Stansted airport I know and love. I’m used to relative quiet, a sensible queue at Starbucks and a sea of people dressed pretty much the same way as me in dark suits, carrying laptopc ases and reading The Times (or if they’re very, very…
I didn’t know…
ByJohn MayFor all my teacher friends, whether finishing their first year in the classroom or their thirty-first… Have a wonderful summer holiday. I Didn’t Know I didn’t know that years of school and a university degree would be of little consolation when facing a room full of bright little eyes on the first day of school….

