LEAP PROGRAMME
Growing lived experience leadership across the refugee and arts sector.
Alongside our core hub workshops, Babylon runs the Leap Programme, which supports young people to train as facilitators and deliver workshops to external audiences.
Through the programme participants gain facilitation skills, confidence in public speaking and paid work experience, while contributing positively to wider understanding of migration and displacement.
By facilitating workshops, our participants spread awareness of the challenges that displaced young people face in the UK, and support others with the knowledge and tools to advocate for refugees within their own communities.
Our Leap Graduates progress into paid hub assistant, coordinator and workshop facilitator roles at Babylon, creating clear pathways into employment and embedding lived-experience leadership in our organisation, while demonstrating a model that can be adopted across the wider sector.
Babylon also supports young people to explore creative careers. Through our industry networks, we have supported participants to DJ at festivals such as Glastonbury, produce and screen films with The Roundhouse, and exhibit their artwork in cultural institutions across London and Stoke.
LEAP OUTCOMES
14 young people with lived experience of forced displacement took part in facilitator training since 2024
5 graduates of our 2024 cohort went on to coordinate or assist with our London community hub programme
All 2024 graduates have subsequently facilitated or assisted paid workshops for other organisations
“I found the programme a very welcoming and inclusive space where we were treated with respect and were supported. Because of the environment you created, it was very easy to get along with everyone and connect with them.”
LEAP graduate