Is that on the SCQF...? Comedy & Confidence

In the fifth of a new series of blogs, we look at some of the more unusual programmes that are on the SCQF. Read on to find out more about the Comedy & Confidence™ DirectDevitt Awards from Anna Devitt, CEO/Founder of Comedy & Confidence™. C&C™ is a community interest company, which was created by Anna Devitt (Most Ambitious Woman in Training & Education in Scotland 2018; Creative Edge Winner 2017) due to her own experiences within school and her career as a stand-up comedian.

Comedy & Confidence™ provides a creative, energetic, personal development programme for the most disadvantaged young people that helps them to “get the life they deserve and not the one they were dealt”. We make use of the power within laughter to develop emotional understanding and the medium of comedy as a tool to build confidence, resilience and communication skills.

The Comedy & Confidence ™ awards allow young people to grow their self-esteem and inner confidence by challenging themselves with new experiences and taking them out of their comfort zones. The medium of comedy is a “safe” and “creative” space. It is an inclusive experience for all young people without barriers to participation, showing them that their capabilities are not limited to a classroom.

Each stage of the Awards has been SCQF credit rated by SQA, meaning that young people will achieve formal recognition for any or all stages completed. We have also been in discussions with the Insight Team to include our Awards on Insight in future – a Scottish Government benchmarking tool used by schools.

We help young people gain the confidence, skills and qualifications they need to move on to further education, training or into the workplace with higher self-esteem.

Although our programme develops the skills and traits needed for work, we focus and aim to have the biggest impact on young people's wellbeing and aspirations.

We work with young people, schools, social work and local authorities across Scotland. We concentrate on young people aged 12+ who lack the confidence to further their career or education.

The young people we worked with have complex lifestyles - many are care experienced, some are homeless, have learning difficulties, some are incarcerated, and mental health issues are commonplace. Our young people ALWAYS create a piece at the end of their training and these have gone on to impact on policies for young people.

A DirectDevitt Comedy & Confidence Awards learner, Katie, says: “I left school early, due to various barriers and my disability. Most people said I wouldn’t be able to achieve – I don’t have a qualification in Maths – but I do have one in Comedy & Confidence ™ and that makes me want to keep going and take control of my own life – ‘cause I can.”

The Comedy & Confidence™ programme is made up of a number of awards at various SCQF Levels:

Name of Award SCQF Level
The DirectDevitt Confidence Award 3, 4 & 5
The DirectDevitt Comedy Award 6
Comedy & Confidence The Direct Devitt Comedy Award 6

For more information on learning programmes on the SCQF, have a look at the SCQF Database.

For more information on Anna Devitt and the Comedy & Confidence ™ awards, read the following press releases:
https://www.heraldscotland.com/business_hq/17221129.commercial-focus-why-staff-are-all-smiles-at-storage-vault/

https://glasgowcityofscienceandinnovation.com/alias1-124/

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