Who's Driving the Bus?

Over one hundred different children a week. Ice skating and museum visits. Mentoring and relationship building. Football and computer classes. Opportunities and education. This is what drives Dennis Charles, the MAC (Mobile Activity Class) Project Manager, as he drives a minibus of excited children to an activity class each day.

Dennis Charles, who goes by “Charles” has worked at West London YMCA for over a year, and has seen his project grow and flourish in that time. Along with three other staff members, Charles works with groups of children from several different estates within the borough of Ealing. Each day a different program takes place at a site within the local community, and the activities are as diverse as the children which attend.

The classes often have stations that provide something for everyone. Football, basketball, circuit classes, piano playing, and computer classes give children a chance to discover their own personal gifts. As well as emphasizing their talents, Charles finds that one of the benefits of these activities is finding the weaknesses of children that could be improved upon as well. By asking them to complete tasks on a computer, he is able to discover their level of reading and writing. With these realizations, Charles and the other staff members can then further help the children with education and support. A large success has come through the Wednesday mobile classes in which they run a computer class at Poplars. It is called “Digi-smart”, and its goal is to teach children how to use computers and some of the programmes on computers. The children began this class with no knowledge or skills relating to computers, and now they are publishing beautiful power point presentations!

The mobile activity classes provide a free service that these children wouldn’t normally receive because of their circumstances. Many of the children have limited options because of family incomes, their location, or the fact that they are no longer in school. These daily activities create opportunities. The mobility of the classes opens doors. Charles believes in creativity. Besides the daily activities, he has also arranged trips such as ice skating, bowling, and museum and art gallery visits. These activities give the children a chance to see the world beyond their estate.

About once a month on a Tuesday, a meeting is held for the young people to voice their opinions. This is an opportunity for them to give feedback and have a say in the activities that happen within the classes. The responses are positive and children enthusiastically want to come back to the classes

Charles has hopes of spreading this kind of project to other boroughs and reaching a greater number of children in need. For now, he is busy with family visits to register more children, and has had to put the register on a rota because the demand has been so high. Charles is driven by this enthusiasm and the positive difference he is making in the community. At the start of the project, he was driving one minibus. Today, there are two.

Dennis Charles
MAC project manager