Rekindle's six-week Earth Needs Us runs Tuesdays to Thursdays, 4pm to 7pm, from 13 October at Oasis St Martin's, Tulse Hill. Free, ages 11 to 14, hot food.
A free six-week programme for 11 to 14 year olds starts in Tulse Hill on 13 October, running Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays from 4pm to 7pm until 19 November, with hot food provided for everyone who comes. It is called The Earth Needs Us, it is about what climate change is doing to south London, and it is run by the charity Rekindle at Oasis St Martin’s, 155 Tulse Hill, SW2 3UP. There are no eligibility requirements and sign-up is through Rekindle’s application form.
Ilhan Yonis, Rekindle’s Youth Team Manager, wrote to Clapham News asking us to pass it on to families here. Everything below comes from that email and from the two documents sent with it: the A3 poster and the project description. We have not been paid to publish it, and where Rekindle makes a claim we cannot check, we say so.
What the six weeks involve
The poster sets out what the group will do over the six weeks:
- Ask questions and hear different perspectives
- Explore what is happening on your doorstep
- Get creative with fashion, art and wildlife projects
- Visit local places and meet people making change
- Help create a film and exhibition sharing south London’s climate story
- Have your say and turn ideas into action
The project description says the group will be 15 to 20 young people, which is the clearest indication we have that places are limited. It also says the six weeks end in something public: “a short film alongside an exhibition that platforms the reality of the climate emergency from a South London perspective”. Neither document gives a date or a venue for that showing, so we cannot tell you yet where the film will be seen.
“It is our lived, present reality on the streets of Southwark and Lambeth”
The project description is worth reading in the charity’s own words rather than ours. It opens:
The climate emergency isn’t an abstract future threat; it is our lived, present reality on the streets of Southwark and Lambeth. ‘The Earth Is Us’ is a youth-led social campaign born from the understanding that environmental justice is deeply personal. We will examine the crisis with compassion, recognising how the global crisis affects the air our working-class families breathe, the unbearable heat in our housing estates, and the rising cost of the food we purchase every day.
On what the young people will actually do with that:
Over the 6-week programme, 15-20 young people will explore the climate crisis through the lens of intersectionality; participants will connect global challenges to their own lives, alongside looking at what actions they can take in their local community to combat climate change, support individuals most affected by its impacts, and amplify the voices and stories that highlight the urgency of the crisis.
And on the point of the film and exhibition at the end:
By bringing together voices from across the community, we aim to spark important conversations, inspire collective action, and encourage others to view those who are most vulnerable in this crisis with greater compassion and care.
The document is titled ‘The Earth Is Us’ while the poster and the sign-up form both say The Earth Needs Us. It is the same six weeks.
Three more free programmes after this one
Ilhan Yonis described Rekindle as “a nationwide charity focused on supporting the education of 11-14-year-old young people through programmes in Critical Thinking, Creativity, Cultural Education, and Change Making”, with its London base at Oasis Village in Tulse Hill. The email says four programmes are planned across the academic year:
Throughout the year, we’ll be running four completely free, fun and engaging programmes for young people aged 11-14, combining creativity, new experiences and social action. Each programme will give young people the chance to explore issues that matter to them, develop their ideas, and take action within their communities.
October is the first. The other three are due in February, April and August, and no dates for those have been published yet. On who can come, the email is plain:
There are no eligibility requirements to take part. We simply want to reach young people who would enjoy the opportunity and benefit from getting involved.
One inconsistency worth flagging before you apply: the poster and the project description both say ages 11 to 14, while the email asks us to share the opportunity with young people aged 10 to 14. If your child is 10, ask Rekindle first. Rekindle’s own website gives its registered charity number as 1192950 (Rekindle).
What it means for you
If you have a child in Year 7, 8 or 9 in Lambeth or Southwark, this is three afternoons a week of free, fed, structured activity through the autumn half term period, in a building on Tulse Hill rather than a trip into town. That combination is rare, and 15 to 20 places will not go far across two boroughs.
Practical points from the documents:
- Dates: 13 October to 19 November, Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays, 4pm to 7pm.
- Where: Rekindle at Oasis St Martin’s, 155 Tulse Hill, London SW2 3UP.
- Cost: free, and the poster promises “free hot food provided for all”.
- How to apply: the sign-up form, which is titled “REKINDLE Earth Needs Us Programme Sign Up”.
- The poster: Rekindle asked us to help spread the word, so the A3 poster is here as a PDF if you can put one up at a school, library, club or shop.
What the documents do not say is whether the sessions run through the October half term week, how travel or collection at 7pm is handled, or what happens if more than 20 young people apply. Those are questions for Rekindle, and the sign-up form is the place to ask them.
If you are looking for other things for children to do locally, our guide to things to do in Clapham lists free days out in the area.
Are you running something for young people in Clapham, Brixton, Streatham or Tulse Hill this term? Tell us and we will write about it: hello@claphamnews.co.uk.
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