Living a life built on Purpose - Sandy from Traction

The Shaun McCambridge Podcast

03.51 - Sandy’s journey to starting Traction

“Why not start something that makes a direct impact on young people”

8.00 - CEO Bike Build

Young people growing into their potential and meeting expectations that might be held of them in workplaces.

It is so much more than the bike. Make the situation at Traction relevant to their outside life.

10.05 - Core fundamentals taught at Traction

“We know isolation and loneliness are felt through the neural pathways in much the same way as physical pain. So the health impact of being isolated and lonely is as deleterious as smoking a packet of cigarettes a day over a long period. So for our young people, when they say that they just want to make friends, we take that seriously because quite often they haven't had many role models in how to build good relationships.”

Traction allows providing young people with role models they have never had and teaches them confidence. It’s a wellbeing framework

12.00 - Elements of wellbeing

1. Be engaged in learning
2. Being active
3. Being connected
4. Being influential (we are all leaders)

13.32 - Tangible benefits of Traction’s program

Sometimes the most tangible benefit is just for these kids to have one day a week where they feel safe and are learning not just surviving.

It’s not a program you are sent to do, it’s an opportunity.

17.04 - The 2 things you need in life

1- Love and connection

2 - Meaning and purpose

19.00 - What has Sandy learnt in the corporate world and the Traction world

Ordinary people working together can create extraordinary things

Having a vision and team built around a shared purpose

The challenge in not-for-profit space compared to the corporate arena is just the uncertainty around, or it's difficult to plan for the long term because of the pipeline of funding that's required to invest in, whether it be program delivery or developing the capacity as an organisation or investing in the infrastructure needed like without.

22.30 -

“The energy comes from seeing the results and the difference we're making and we're about prevention. So there's a lot of attention being paid to youth crime in our community at the moment. And to me, there's work that has to be done on that. If we get in early and reach young people before they slip through the cracks in the system and get them on.

Positive and trajectories to their potential and possibility, then it's a much smarter investment upfront than having to deal with the knock-on effects later.”

23.45 - The cost of incarceration on society/community

A massive trigger for youth crime is exclusion from school. As soon as you fall out of, or are excluded from the schooling system, who are you going to hang out with?

28.20 - What do kids fundamentally need to have a positive/good/great life?

- Care and love

- Recognise that every young person has unique gifts, and brings different strengths, and try to understand what they are

- Encourage them to participate and have a go

- Education is key and there are so many ways to learn

- Have a community around the young people

30.30 - What stands in the way of the grander vision you have?

“It's about fuel in the tank. We've got a great model. We've, we know the attributes of powerful mentors and we are ready to scale up the program and reach more young people.

We're ready to recruit, train and develop.”

34.00 - What is your purpose and your why?

● It’s about making a difference, something each day. Ordinary people working together can do extraordinary things

● Be present within the community to find what is possible

● Sense of belonging around a shared purpose/cause

● We are not here for a long time so it’s about who is around you