Background
The overall topic aim is derived from the United Nations (UN) sustainable development goals (SDG) which was adopted in 2015 as part of the 2030 agenda for sustainable development and its 17 SDG. Our focus is on the three SDGs above as they chime nicely with the three pillars of Exercise, Education and Ethos that 3Pillars Project espouse. It is worth mentioning that we also believe in creating a common good for all our stakeholders (participants, staff, volunteers, partners and government departments).
The common good
I rather liked the quote from the report of the World commission on environment and development (WCED) document titled, ‘Our Common Future’ which amongst other key areas of sustainability focuses on human wellbeing. It reads; to improve the wellbeing of people in our society and the wider world and to sustain “development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs” (WECD, 1987, np). The definition used here is therefore, apposite to the working practices and processes used by 3Pillars Project. What follows is a synopsis of the three relevant SDG such as they apply to us with the 3Pillars, pillar in brackets.
SDG 3 – Good health and wellbeing (Exercise)
“To ensure healthy lives and promote well being for all ages” is a big ask for any organisation so we must limit what we do to that which we can do well for the betterment of those that have need of us. It is essential to our version of the common good to provide the most professional and appropriate support for the young people that use our community gym with ages ranging from 16 to 30 and beyond. GAMEPLAN now takes a holistic and end to end approach for all of our participants so that they get the very best of enduring care and mentored support. This is how we honour SDG 3 through our pillar of Exercise.
SDG 4 – Quality education (Education)
To ensure inclusive and equitable quality education and promote lifelong learning opportunities for all. As our participants leave the secure estate and reach out to us, we settle them in with some quick online training appropriate to their desired course of action. This is followed up and supported continuously with one-to-one mentoring. It is the mentor that works with the individual to create a pathway to further training in the form of upskilling or upgrading qualifications. This naturally leads to the preparation and the search for employment opportunity; we utilize our partners and sponsors to help in this regard and to good effect. Several participants move on to university and or further education. No one is left behind and in line with our inclusive ethos, there is no time frame attached to any educational course. Our ultimate goal here is to give the participant the opportunity to become a coach and mentor for those that come behind them and to act as leaders within their own communities.
SDG 16 – Peace justice and strong institutions (Ethos)
To promote peaceful and inclusive societies for sustainable development, provide access to justice for all and build effective and inclusive institutions at all levels. Again, a big ask for a charity, yet our ethos and our work toward the common good for those that we serve naturally lends itself to the task. All of our stakeholders are focussed on the needs of the participant who all receive person centred and strength-based mentoring so as to build resilience, empathy and opportunity. Due to our community gym working with the young people from local communities and through GAMEPLAN that support our participants on their journey from the secure estate to their chosen path of either training, education, or employment we can justifiably regard ourselves as an effective, inclusive institution. It is our ethical framework which is our version of the common good that provides access to justice for our participants, the people that we serve.