Envision was established in June 2000 by four young people.
Our vision was to make the biggest positive and sustained impact on the world that we could as four individuals. Knowing that the efforts of four would be comparatively small, we sought to identify an audience who, if inspired and enabled, could make a much larger impact. We settled on young people as the next generation and a key motivational force in themselves...
We decided to work with 16-19 year olds because they are at a key stage in their own lives with respect to making decisions for their future, and the positive impact they could have on their local community. We also felt that negative press around young people could be most effectively tackled through young people setting their own positive examples for others.
In our first year we organised an auction of promises which, thanks to friends, family and inspired community members, managed to raise £10,000 – enough to cover our core costs for our first year. We spent very little, saved everything and worked every hour on the project for the first 18 months. After convincing five groups of young people to participate and with an amazing learning experience of the first year of the programme, Envision was born.
Today, Envision has gone from an idea to a fully functioning charity with offices in Birmingham, Bristol, Leeds and London. We have gone from working with 50 young people, to working with over 4000 young people each year enabling them to realise their capacity to make a difference. The model is a simple and effective one - principally because of the example it sets for young people. Envision has grown to become one of the biggest youth empowerment networks in the UK.
