You Make It

You Make It is a holistic, empowerment programme for young marginalised, unemployed and underemployed women to enable them to claim a right to their city and become active in the cultural, social and economic life of it. We work with women from the inside out, giving them the skills, confidence and networks to pursue their dreams.

www.you-make-it.org Fundraise for us

administrator@you-make-it.org

07494737706

Registered charity no. 1158572

Member since July 2018

Latest News

We've launched our new online programme!

On Monday 18^th May we launched our brand new online programme with 20 incredible young women who'll be embarking on an inspirational 12 week journey with us. Our new online service provides access to creative workshops, guest talks, mentoring, therapy and much more so that young unemployed women have the tools to prioritise their wellbeing, grow their confidence and realise their full potential. We’re incredibly proud that in this ever isolating situation of the Covid-19 pandemic and lockdown, we’re still able to support those that need it the most.

Read our CEO Asma Shah's interview with Rich Mix

As part of their Raised @ Rich Mix season our CEO & Founder, Asma Shah is interview by the East London cultural venue which is one of our longtime collaborators. Asma discusses how You Make It grew from an idea that began at her kitchen table 9 years ago into an award-winning women's empowerment organisation, and why we're needed now more than ever:

“The work we do at You Make It is about direct intervention in the lives of young women who’ve wrongly been overlooked because of issues around race and class, not just gender. Our work is all about making sure they’re able to feel the power and potential within themselves and are able to get to where they want to be in life."

Read the full interview here.

Architects of Meritocracy - In London, women from all walks of life are taking back their ‘right to the city’

We are incredibly proud to have our work featured in the Financial Times recent 'Architects Of Meritocracy' supplement, published on 7^th December 2017.

"It was anger at inequality in London that drove Asma Shah to found You Make It. The first years of her life were turbulent, her mother fleeing a violent marriage and taking Ms Shah and her three sisters with her. “We were in a refuge, then we were brought up on a council estate and went to a terrible school,” she says.

Despite that, Ms Shah, who has held management positions at Channel 4, the Roundhouse and Creative Skillset, always believed she would go to university and get a good job. Yet, she says, many black and Asian working class women lack self-confidence and a sense of a “right to the city”.

Eighty per cent of the programme’s graduates are in work or further education. “It is about giving tools for employment but that is secondary,” she says. “We address the stuff that really holds us back — [having] no confidence and no networks.”

Our charity was built on our CEO's strong values and vision for change. Six years on, these attributes remain integral to our work as we continue to empower women to claim a right to their city."

You can read the full article online here

Or read the PDF Here.

About us

Our founding CEO, Asma Shah, set up You Make It from her kitchen table because she had experienced her own journey in overcoming barriers to achieve and felt compelled to help others do the same.

London is of course a wealthy city, but we work with women from some of the most deprived boroughs in the country who risk falling through the cracks without us. What we have achieved since our inception is incredible - of over 200 women we've recruited mostly from local job centres:

Over 90% have stuck to our programmes;
82% of these have gone on to gain full time paid employment, work on their own creative start ups, or have accessed formal education;
81% feel happier as a result of YMI;
82% feel more connected to a new professional and social network;
83% report BIG increases in their confidence because of what we offer them.

Our 6 month long programmes include 1-1 therapy, deep and caring relationships with our small but perfectly formed YMI team of three, 1-1 mentoring, tailored and inspiring workshops that rotate around amazing cultural and city venues traditionally outside of their reach such as VICE Magazine, National Theatre and Morrison & Foerster, business start up experience and support, work placements matched to individual interests and aspirations for longer term work, and a truly inspiring graduation event.

Based on employment outcomes and the holistic support and health services we provide for women, independent evaluators have calculated that per cohort we make a state saving of approximately £408,000 across a 3 year period. We currently run two cohorts each year.

Our success is down to us working with women from the inside out, focusing on development of self esteem, self awareness, and mental wellbeing as much as anything else. This approach is critical as we work with women who not only have to get ahead work wise, but who also have a range of personal issues to overcome, including a lack of confidence, self worth, and struggles relating to depression often linked to previously undisclosed abuse, trauma and neglect.

With your help, we can make the network of empowered young women grow. We've seen them leave us to do amazing things, they've gone on to create jobs with their own start ups, they've become artists who actually earn from their creative talents, they've used their new found confidence and voices to set up their own life changing organisations dedicated to helping others. Basically they've made the VERY MOST of anything we've provided them access to and they've made the world just that bit better.

We'll leave you with this one quote from a graduate who emailed our founding CEO on International Women's Day:

“You saw something in me long before I felt it and because of you, I value myself in a way that I could have never of imagined. You Make It unleashed the woman I was born to be, after the depression, poverty and thoughts of suicide locked her away. Getting out of the negative cycles isn't easy, but your idea that you continuously work on made me know that it is possible and I could never go back to being the mediocre me. You have birthed so many of us into women and helped us to find ourselves in this world that systematically tries to write us off. Thank you. You have not only changed my life but my son's, my family and friends and the many people I can inspire by just being. Nurture A Girl, Raise A Nation”

We have lots of exciting and rewarding ways that you could get involved in our work beyond donations. Get trained in the art of mentoring and guide a young woman towards her personal and professional goals, or gain an extra pair of hands in your organisation by offering a work placement to an eager and motivated candidate ready to learn and give her 100%.

Thank you for visiting our page and please do get in touch if you'd like to be involved!