The Cultural Heritage and Identity Programme - My Life Matters

“I saw my bredrin get stabbed right outside the school gates. Broad daylight. We were just laughing a minute before. Then he dropped. Everyone ran. The next day, people were posting RIPs like it was normal. I didn’t cry. I didn’t talk. I just stopped feeling. From that moment, I decided it’s safer not to care.” — Young person, Manhood Academy Global

This is what too many young people in Newham are living with — knife crime, trauma, and silence.

Across the UK, over 100,000 children go missing every year, and too many are lost to violence before they ever get a chance to grow. Every statistic is a broken story, every silence a wound our community feels.

At Manhood Academy Global (MAG), we believe the opposite of going missing is being seen.

Our Cultural Heritage and Identity Programme (called My Life Matters by the youth) is about reconnection — rebuilding belonging through heritage, healing, and human connection.

We’re turning barbershops and youth hubs into safe sanctuaries — spaces where young people sit with elders to talk, listen, and remember who they are before the streets, the system, or social media define them.

Together, they’ll:

• Deliver six interactive workshops across Newham
• Record 50 oral histories with elders, barbers, and community leaders
• Produce a 12-part community podcast series
• Create a public performance celebrating African and Caribbean culture and resilience

Over 300 residents will take part directly, with thousands more engaged online.

Through storytelling, chess, and shared reflection, we’ll bridge generations, break silence, and transform pain into purpose.

Because when our young people know where they come from, they stop losing their way. When they feel seen, they put the knife down. When they feel rooted, they rise.

🖤 Please vote for us

Let’s turn trauma into transformation, and make Newham a place where every young person’s life truly matters.