A brief history
An aim of Children Our Ultimate Investment (UK) is to tackle disadvantage and social exclusion through delivering a practical youth development programme, Teens and Toddlers. This innovative programme fosters, through intensive interaction with small children and classroom time, greater self aspiration and hope for the future, as well as educational attainment.
Teens and Toddlers was originally conceived by Laura Huxley, widow of the writer Aldous Huxley, in the late 1970s in California USA. Laura developed deep concerns for disadvantaged children, their capacity to fulfill their human potential and their earliest relationship experiences. Children Our Ultimate Investment (UK) is dedicated to the 'nurturing of the possible human'.
Laura's rationale for Teens and Toddlers was that, 'the greatest gifts life has to offer are sound health and good relationships - with ourselves, our relationships, our community and our environment. Unfortunately both health and relationships are often undermined through our childhood and adolescence, when we are still dependent and most vulnerable. The largest portion of human suffering - illness, loneliness, a lack of meaning, anti-social behaviour - would be greatly diminished if we lived in harmony and love. The well being of the world depends largely on the quality of the relationships between parents and their children. If they were to live in a loving state of consciousness, the benefit would be universal'.
The Teens and Toddlers programme engenders in young people a sense of responsibility and empowerment. It awakens their sense of potential, creates a more informed sense of choice, and gives them a positive experience so that they can find and value their self worth in new ways.
Risky behaviours and teenage pregnancy can be a response to deal with difficult life situations, which give an immediate gain, but long-term loss. When young people find themselves without hope for a better future and without the necessary life skills to change their circumstances, doing drugs or having a baby can seem like an easy 'way out' - which devastates their future both educationally and socially. All this is at great cost to our society, for in the long term, the results are devastating.
Children Our Ultimate Investment (UK)
Children Our Ultimate Investment (UK) was founded by the current CEO, Lady Diana Whitmore, in 2001 to address the social exclusion of disadvantaged young people. We now run a range of programmes, which inspire disadvantaged young people to achieve the life skills, qualifications and self belief they need to succeed in school, work and life. Our ultimate aim is for all young people to feel valued, included and inspired to contribute to their communities. Since we were founded in the UK, we have helped over 7000 young people and vulnerable children (autistic, refugees and elective mutes) in over 25 local authorities countrywide.
The charity delivers Teens and Toddlers programmes with partners in the public sector, such as schools and local authorities. The programme has developed since its foundation in the US to focus on the broader aims of keeping young people in school and employment. One important addition to the programme is a National Award in Interpersonal skills (NCFE). This is often the first qualification the young people receive, building a sense of pride and encouraging them to go on to further education. Children Our Ultimate Investment (UK) has also innovated through the Teens and Toddlers Sustainability Programme which trains local people to deliver the project in their local community to increase reach to more young people.
