Details of the event can be found here: www.mounteverestchallenge.com. We’d like to thank our hosts and sponsors, PGL.

We wish every success to the teams from Nationwide, Intel and PGL – as well as two teams of young leaders who have been on Inner Flame’s residential course, "Fire Me Up!". They are taking part on a sponsored basis, to Pay It Forward to future participants on the course.

• Sat 26th June we have a team (mostly Young Leaders – previous course participants) taking part in an "It’s a Knockout" competition. http://www.facebook.com/#!/event.php?eid=130257526989537&ref=mf
• Sun 27th June is our next Invitation Event for people (aged 13-19) who are interested in finding out more about Inner Flame. You can try indoor rock climbing for free (subject to a small deposit),  and meet people who’ve been on the course. Email rowdy@innerflame.org.uk to book your place. 
• Friday 16th July is our "Swindon Stand Up!" event, where you can come and watch people who’ve never done so before (and one or two professionals) trying their hand at doing stand up comedy!
• Sunday 25th July will be our next Invitation Day. We’ll be trying an exciting, fun new activity for this one.

Email us at info@innerflame.org.uk for further details, or visit our page on Facebook.

His recent post (I’m summarising) argues that "bad" behaviour and irrational decisions are almost always driven by fear. If we want to change the behaviour, we should address the fear. We generally don’t – we address the symptom by punishing the behaviour. It would be better to start a discussion with the question "What are you afraid of?".

Of course, actions have consequences too. We need to take responsiblity for our choices – it’s not enough to simply blame our fears (or someone else, or circumstances etc). If we have done something antisocial, aggressive, or unhelpful, that often seems like the easiest answer.( "He winds me up – he makes me hit him"). Another way is to recognise:

• That we always have other choices
• That the behaviours and habits that we’ve got used to might not be the ones that would help us best.

We’ve booked our next course for the 10th-13th August, back in Devizes once more. If you know anyone aged 14-19 who wants more confidence, motivation or direction in their life, and loves to challenge themselves, please ask them to contact us. We’ll be holding another Invitation Day in late June.

The award recognised the contribution that Inner Flame has made for young people, and specifically Glenn for how he has used his communication skills to help other young people. Inner Flame was chosen by a panel of young people as the best project from a young person in the South West.

"It’s great to receive national recognition for what we’ve done, especially at this early stage in our growth", said Glenn, "and it was inspiring to meet the other award winners, who have delivered some exciting projects." Inner Flame was described as "motivational" by the judges.

Members of Parliament and the House of Lords were at the awards ceremony, fielding questions from young people, ranging from the benefits of sport, the role of religion in the world, to what to do about wild boar in the Forest of Dean!

David and Glenn are pictured receiving the award from Olympic medallist Leon Taylor.

You can see our article in the Swindon Advertiser here.

Once again, we’re offering a chance for people aged 13-19 to have a go on the indoor climbing wall at the Link Centre in Swindon on the afternoon of Sunday 21st March. There’s no charge, but places are limited and we need a medical form completed, so it is essential to book in advance. Please email Rowdy at rowdy@innerflame.org.uk or call him on 07888 042733 for a booking form.

We plan to offer different Invitation Event formats (possible including a "team challenge" or two) later in the year. If there’s something you’d love to have a go at, please let us know your ideas. 

So we’ve now moved to The Bentley Centre, Stratton Road, Swindon, Wiltshire SN1 2SH.

Here’s a map and directions:

• If you’ve reserved a place, Sophia will send you a registration pack shortly.
• If you’ve been to one of our events and have said "Maybe", email us at  firemeup@innerflame.org.uk to request a place on the course and a registration pack.
• If you’ve heard about us but not attended an event, contact us straight away. We meet everyone before they come on the course, and you can talk to someone else who has already done the course. We have an event coming up on Saturday 20th March in Swindon or if this is not convenient we can arrange to meet you separately. Call David on 0771 896 8609, email us at firemeup@innerflame.org.uk or fill in the form on our Contact page.

We look forward to seeing you in April!

The Inner Flame team

At the start of the year, they were struggling to find a job. Then, thanks to the "Future Jobs Fund", they became Inner Flame’s highest paid employees. (Well, OK, our first employees).

Last week, they had the chance to meet Yvette Cooper, Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, at The Platform, Swindon’s new flagship youth centre. Yvette, a member of the Cabinet, was in town to find out how young people are faring in a jobs market which saw the highest rate of increase in unemployment last year, and to hear what impact the new Future Jobs Fund has had. She said "I was honoured to meet Sol and Sophia, who are the brightest young people I’ve ever met." (OK, maybe those are my words, not hers – David). You’ll catch the back of their heads in this video:

http://www.swindonweb.com/job/?m=1261&s=0&ss=0&c=7180&t=Backing+Young+Swindon

Sol has also done two interviews for BBC Radio Wiltshire, and one for Swindon 105.5, in the last two weeks.

You’ll shortly be able to read all about Sol and Sophia’s experiences with Inner Flame (as well as Rowdy, our marketing student placement) on a new team blog. Watch this space.

The course has a maximum capacity of 16, and we currently have 10 places provisionally reserved. Further places are being offered to students at New College this week, and we are also inviting local businesses to sponsor a young employee, together with an unemployed young person from their local community who may need greater confidence, motivation or direction.

Participants are all volunteers (no-one is "sent" on the course!) and are selected based on their willingness to participate fully, to support others in their learning, and their motivation to improve something about themself or their life.