In 2023, The Highlife Centre was awarded the King’s Award for Voluntary Service. We got in touch with them to learn more about the fantastic work they deliver for the community in the West Midlands.
What is your group’s mission?
The Highlife Centre’s mission is to enable people to become confident and productive in their communities so that they can aspire and achieve their full potential. We are a well-established organisation with a 13-year track record of successfully delivering local, regional and national programmes.
How do you make a difference in the community?
We deliver our mission by improving young people’s leadership, aspiration and creative potential. We strengthen community cohesion through arts, culture, and heritage events/activities. We also deliver business/enterprise training and mentoring support to budding entrepreneurs and organisations.
What do volunteers do at The Highlife Centre?
Volunteers represent all levels of the organisation, including leadership, and their voices are valued and supported. They have creative freedom and flexibility in their work, which means that volunteers undertake a variety of roles: management, community engagement, marketing, coaching, catering and event planning. There are also general ad-hoc event duties for volunteers to get involved with such as ushering, welcoming and administration.
How do beneficiaries benefit from your work?
The benefits of our work is evident in the feedback that we receive from beneficiaries:
I would recommend younger people to get themselves involved in the youth vision programme because, through the programme, they will be inspired on what to do for their future ambition or dream. We had a visit/talk on the programme from the Police and they enlightened us on how to join the police service.
What does being awarded the King’s Award for Voluntary Service mean to the group and its volunteers?
This award means everything to us, specifically as a minority-led organisation, as it helps raise our profile and increase our legitimacy in the sector.
What are your plans for the future?
We plan to improve on what we already do and create a long-lasting impact in the lives of our beneficiaries. We have a plan to expand our services to other areas in the midlands as well as introduce housing into our work.
How can the public get involved?
Anyone who wants to learn more about the work we deliver or get involved can visit our website at www.thehighlife.org or call us on 02477920886. You can also follow us on social media: