Northgate raises awareness about school bullying

Northgate Shopping Centre teamed up with life coach Phil Keye from Infinity Tribe to hold an anti-bullying workshop called Tools for Bullying with local schools in Northgate’s community.

Marketing manager for Northgate Shopping Centre, Natalie Kinsley said, “We as a shopping centre care about our community and its members, and we felt that this particular initiative would be a great way to do something meaningful in our schools.

“It was a great honour to be a part of this workshop and to attend it myself. These kids are amazing.”

The centre decided to sponsor the anti-bullying workshop for the schools closest to them and so the first one was conducted with Northriding College’s Grade 7s and Grade 8s.

Northriding College’s general manager Joanne Quick said, “It was a wonderful workshop for the learners to attend, resulting in the learners building stronger relationships with one another and the teachers as they learnt various tools to support them when life’s challenges come their way.

“The youth of today have very real challenges and many of them feel alone in their struggles.

Helping them to talk to each other in a workshop like this is a positive step in helping them to see that they can share their struggles with one another, and help others with theirs.

They are not alone in their fears and many want to reach out and help each other.”

Phil Keye added, “I was happy when Northgate approached me to hold my workshop with some of the schools in their community. The workshop is life-skills based and seeks to show kids how to be strong in a bullying situation.

I aim to give them the tools to help them cope with such situations both now and for the rest of their lives.”

So far, over 10 000 learners have been trained in this programme. After the intensive three-hour workshop was conducted, youngsters were surprised with a free ticket to a day out at the Northgate Ice Rink, also sponsored by Northgate Shopping Centre.

“We understand that there is a need to tackle this issue in every school, and we look forward to our next workshop,” Kinsley added.

Details: www.keyecoaching.co.za

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