The JN Circle UK (London Chapter) announced the winners of their new Community Funding initiative in Brixton recently, which provided six young entrepreneurs with financial aid for a community project.

The Community fund is an initiative developed by the JN Circle UK team to support young people in London with a project that positively impacts the wider Afro-Caribbean community and also aligns with the aim of ‘Bridging the Gap’ – that is, supporting initiatives that help young people to learn more about Afro-Caribbean culture and encourage educational and entrepreneurship upskilling in the community.

The three winners of the JN Circle Fund Community Fund were 1) Reconnect JA (Formerly Repatriation Jamaica; 2) Black Swan Collective and 3) Let’s Talk Education.

Reconnect JA

Reccarnei Phillipson, Founder & Initiative Lead came up with the idea of Reconnect Jamaica: The Experience in 2018. On speaking to The Voice she said: “I came up with the idea of Reconnect JA: The Experience (formerly Repatriation Jamaica) when I returned from a trip to Jamaica and didn’t have the ‘coming home’ experience I was expecting. A lot of this was down to not understanding how to get around Jamaica and generally not feeling as though I was meeting the right people to help me navigate around key areas.  When I returned to the UK,  I googled ‘volunteering in Jamaica,’ ‘international students JA’ and fell down a rabbit hole. I found information about every other country, but nothing on Jamaica.   So I thought I would start my own programme…. “

There are two parts to what Reconnect JA will offer:  1) They will offer online services that provide accessible and high quality formal and informal educational content about Jamaican history, language, authentic recipes or music.   And then 2) Reconnect JA: The Experience will be a volunteer tourism package deal for young people. They will support with flights, accommodation, basic transport and food, as well as educational content at a heavily subsidised price, making travelling around Jamaica more accessible for young people.

Reccarnei told The Voice that “the JN Circle Bridging the Gap Fund will allow us to make our first real step towards offering services that will support the Jamaican diasporic youth in the UK .  

Charde Christian, (Treasurer & Co-Secretary) at Reconnect JA said: “Ultimately, the ‘Bridging the Gap’ fund from JN Circle is the beginning of a chain reaction. Having the funding allows us to progress in creating a website, expanding our outreach and begin to provide the services we envision to our community”.

Black Swan Collective

The Black Swan Collective came up with an idea to host ‘The Entrepreneurship Event – a dynamic initiative aimed at bridging the gap for African Caribbeans by fostering a culture of entrepreneurship and providing a platform for aspiring business owners to learn, connect, and be inspired.

The event will feature an entrepreneurship master class, led by guest speakers who are accomplished entrepreneurs of Afro-Caribbean descent, sharing their insights and experiences.

The idea for the Entrepreneurship Event emerged from their collective desire to address the unique challenges faced by African Caribbean entrepreneurs coupled with the fact that they realised that a lot of their members (young black working professionals) have entrepreneurial aspirations.

Tobi Bakare, one of the Founders of Black Swan Collective told the Voice: ” We believe that by providing access to education, mentorship, and inspiring success stories, we can contribute to closing the existing gap and creating a more inclusive and thriving entrepreneurial ecosystem”

“The JN Circle funding is not just an investment in our event; it’s a catalyst for transformative change within the African Caribbean community in London. With this support, we can empower individuals to turn their dreams into businesses, break down barriers, and pave the way for a more inclusive and vibrant entrepreneurial landscape. Together, we are not just filling a gap; we are building bridges to a future of limitless possibilities“.

Let’s Talk Education

James Anthony, Founder and Innovator of Lets Talk Education created ‘Money Mogul’. Money Mogul is an educational board game that promotes and aids financial literacy learning. The game focuses on investing and can be enjoyed as a family-friendly table top game. His business – Let’s Talk – is focused on spearheading a much needed nationwide effort to improve financial literacy by partnering with schools, charities, and councils, and the development of this board game is a true testament to his commitment to bring financial education into each and every home.

James told the Voice: I currently go into schools, charities, and businesses to run workshops on financial literacy, and it was during one of these workshops that I had the idea to develop a game to help students see some of the key concepts in action. The gamification of learning is a proven method for teaching and with Money Mogul we have a product that makes learning fun, active, and personal for all participants”

“If I had to describe the funding from JN Circle in one word I would say “Empowering”. These funds will empower us to get more prototypes and run more playtests with the public, go into schools and run sessions with a whole classroom instead of a select few, and all in all bring us closer to empowering underrepresented communities with financial education”.

JN Circle is a transnational network of community advocates who, by leveraging the JN network, serve as change agents to improve their own lives and positively impact their communities.

JN Circle UK is sponsored by JN Money Services – a subsidiary of the JN Group that offers global remittance services.

To connect with any of the Community Fund Winners, visit their Instagram pages: @reconnect_jamaica, @black.swan.collective and @letstalk.uk