More Than a Programme: Five Years of Changing Lives and Building Bridges

There are moments when a room becomes more than a room. On a warm July evening inside Sacred Heart Catholic School in Camberwell, it ceased to be merely a hall dressed for celebration. It became something rarer.

It became a meeting place between generations, between institutions and communities that have too often spoken at one another rather than with one another.

It became a place where possibility refused to apologise for existing. On Friday 24 July 2026, Elevated Minds, alongside the Metropolitan Police Service, celebrated the fifth anniversary of the Elevated Aspirations Programme.

Yet to describe the evening simply as an awards ceremony would be to misunderstand what unfolded. Certificates were handed out. Speeches were made. Music filled the room. Poetry found its voice. Families applauded. But beneath every applause lay a quieter question that Britain has wrestled with for generations:

How do we teach young people to believe in institutions that have not always believed in them?

The answer, perhaps, begins not with policy but with presence. Not with promises, but with people. For five years, Elevated Aspirations has attempted something many thought impossible. Conceived through the vision of Doreen Sinclair-McCollin, known affectionately as Dory and NSIKAN of Elevated Minds, working alongside leaders within the Metropolitan Police Service, the programme has invited young Londoners into spaces they have often observed only from a distance. Not to persuade them. Not to recruit them. But to allow them to see, to question, to challenge and to understand.

Trust cannot be manufactured. It must be earned. And earning trust requires the courage to listen as much as it requires the authority to lead.

Commander Dr Dr Alison Heydari, opening the evening, reflected on the wider significance of Elevated Minds’ work over the past seven years. Her words acknowledged something increasingly evident: that genuine partnership between communities and policing is not built through slogans or strategy documents. It is built conversation by conversation, encounter by encounter, human being by human being.

That truth echoed throughout the evening.

Barrister Stephen Akinsanya rose to speak not as someone offering charity to young people, but as someone recognising their labour. “You earned this,” he told them. “Nobody gave it to you. You showed up, you did the work, and this afternoon the room stands to recognise that work and applaud you.” Simple words. Necessary words.

For too often society speaks to young people, particularly Black young people, as though achievement were an exception rather than an expectation. Stephen inverted that narrative. He reminded them that dignity does not arrive as a gift from institutions. It grows from discipline, perseverance and self-belief.

Perhaps nowhere was that truth more powerfully illustrated than through the return of Esme Gustave.

Five years earlier she had sat where these students now sat, uncertain of what lay ahead. Returning as a Cohort One alumna, she spoke of how one opportunity altered the direction of her life.

“The programme didn’t just give me work experience; it opened my eyes. Before that, policing wasn’t even on my radar. Today, five years later, I’m entering my final year at law university, I’ve completed my police training, and I’m about to begin serving as a special constable with the ambition of becoming a detective. All because I said yes to one opportunity.”

Transformation rarely announces itself. It begins quietly with one conversation, one invitation, one person choosing to believe that another future is possible. Her testimony was joined by fellow Cohort One graduate Joel Chigbo, alongside Emmanuel, Javell and Reuben the first young people to place their faith in what Elevated Minds hoped this programme could become.

Their presence reminded everyone that success is measured not merely in statistics but in lives redirected.

Commander Colin Wingrove brought the perspective of more than three decades in policing. Reflecting on leadership, professionalism and public service, he spoke less about rank than about character.

• Know your purpose.
• Treat people well.
• Work as a team.
• Remain humble.

Then came perhaps the most memorable advice of the evening. “If you’re going to panic,” he smiled, “panic very slowly.”

It was humour carrying wisdom. Life, he suggested, will always present moments of uncertainty.

The measure of leadership is not the absence of fear but the ability to think before reacting, to seek counsel before judgement and to remain steady when circumstances encourage haste.

Closing with references to Prince’s Let’s Go Crazy and Kiss, Commander Wingrove reminded the young audience that authenticity remains life’s greatest qualification.

“You don’t need to be anything other than yourself. Being you is enough.”

In a world forever encouraging performance, there is quiet revolution in such advice.

Throughout the evening another truth emerged.

The Elevated Aspirations Programme is often described as creating opportunities for young people. That is only half the story.

The programme changes police officers. It changes barristers.

It changes civic leaders.

It changes anyone prepared to enter the conversation honestly.

One local official, herself a mother, perhaps captured it best.

“Changing the mind of a young person is no mean feat, they are smart, tenacious, and spot insincerity a mile off. Dedicated, constructive communication reaps huge benefits, and I bet this experience has had just as profound an effect on the police officers and institutions as it has on the students.”

There is profound wisdom in those words. Every bridge alters both riverbanks.

The evening itself reflected the richness of those relationships.

Keyboard performances by Kaliyah and Ife, and a commanding spoken-word performance by actor and poet Ceyon King reminded everyone that education is never confined to classrooms. Art tells truths that reports cannot.

As certificates were presented by Commander Dr Dr Alison Heydari, Barrister Stephen Akinsanya, Commander Daniel Levi, T/Commander Colin Wingrove, Victoria Etuk, PC Nsikan Etuk, PS Mensah Elliot, and founding members Javell, Joel, Emmanuel and Reuben, each young person crossed the stage carrying more than a certificate.

They carried evidence. Evidence that someone had invested time in them. Evidence that they had invested time in themselves.

Dorren Sinclair seen here on the right with Lady Kandrene Puranada

The evening concluded with heartfelt reflections from founder Doreen Sinclair-McCollin, whose vision has helped transform Elevated Minds from an idea into a movement.

Roots of Strength

Five years is a milestone. But perhaps it is not the anniversary that matters most. Perhaps what matters is that another generation of young Londoners left believing that their voice belongs in every room they enter. That institutions can change when people choose courage over comfort.

That bridges are built not from concrete, but from conversation. And that hope, though often fragile, becomes remarkably strong when enough people decide to carry it together.

About Elevated Minds

Elevated Minds delivers coaching, mentoring and work experience programmes that equip young Londoners with confidence, aspiration and opportunity. By creating meaningful partnerships between communities, employers and public institutions, the organisation continues to demonstrate that lasting change begins when young people are trusted, challenged and empowered to shape their own futures.

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