Beyond the Streets: The Orange Trust Expands to Marseille to Inspire the Next Generation

A story of loss, resilience, and opportunity inspires a new chapter in The Orange Trust’s international mission.

At The Orange Trust, we believe that where someone grows up should never determine how far they can go in life.

Every young person deserves the opportunity to dream, pursue an education, discover their potential, and build a future they can be proud of. Yet, for some, growing up in environments affected by violence, crime, and limited opportunities can make those ambitions feel impossibly distant.

Today, we are taking another step towards changing that reality.

The Orange Trust is expanding its humanitarian and youth development initiatives to Marseille, France, with a mission to inspire, empower, and create meaningful opportunities for the next generation.

Behind this expansion is a deeply personal story that reminded us why our work matters.

The Story That Inspired Our Mission

Our journey to Marseille began with the experience of one of our own volunteers.

Growing up in Marseille, he witnessed a reality that no child should have to experience. During his teenage years, he lost his friends to violence. They were young, all under the age of 18, with their entire lives still ahead of them.

For many young people growing up around gang activity, drug trafficking, and violence, the possibility of pursuing higher education or building a professional career can seem distant from their everyday reality.

But his story took a different direction.

He eventually left Marseille and moved to London, where he pursued his education and worked towards a future beyond the environment he had grown up in.

Today, he is a doctor.

His journey is a powerful reminder that a person’s circumstances do not have to define their future.

It also left us with an important question:

How many other young people could become doctors, lawyers, engineers, pilots, teachers, or future leaders if they were given the encouragement, guidance, and opportunities to believe in themselves?

That question became the inspiration behind our Marseille initiative.

We cannot change what happened to those young people who lost their lives. But we can work towards creating opportunities for others who deserve the chance to write a different story.

Changing Perspectives, Creating Possibilities

Our mission in Marseille is not simply to tell young people to stay away from crime.

It is to show them what else is possible.

We recognise that young people growing up in challenging environments may face complex social, economic, and educational barriers.

For some, opportunities can feel limited. Others may lack access to professional role models, career guidance, or supportive networks that encourage them to pursue their ambitions.

At The Orange Trust, we want to help bridge that gap.

We want young people to understand that becoming a doctor, lawyer, engineer, entrepreneur, pilot, or university graduate is not an ambition reserved for someone from a privileged background.

These are possibilities worth exploring, regardless of where they come from.

Our approach is centred on encouragement, mentorship, practical experiences, and meaningful relationships.

Rather than defining young people by the challenges surrounding them, we want to recognise their potential and help them develop the confidence to pursue it.

Mentorship: Connecting Young People With Their Future

One of the central pillars of our Marseille initiative will be the development of mentorship opportunities.

We aim to bring together professionals, university students, graduates, and experienced volunteers who can share their knowledge and experiences with young people across the communities we engage with.

Our ambition is to create opportunities for young people to connect with individuals working in professions they may never have considered accessible.

Imagine a teenager from Marseille sitting down with a doctor who once grew up in the same neighbourhood.

Or a young person interested in aviation speaking with someone who can explain the journey towards becoming a pilot.

Or a student who has never considered university receiving guidance from someone who was once in a similar position.

Sometimes, seeing someone who has achieved what you once thought impossible can change the way you see your own future.

Through mentorship, career discussions, educational guidance, and personal development activities, we hope to help young people build confidence, identify their strengths, and begin taking practical steps towards their goals.

Our objective is not to decide their futures for them, but to ensure they know that they have choices.

Beyond the Classroom: Building Confidence Through Experiences

We believe personal development extends far beyond traditional education.

Young people also need opportunities to explore new environments, build friendships, develop teamwork skills, and discover their abilities outside the classroom.

As part of our Marseille initiative, we aim to organise a range of activities designed to encourage positive engagement, personal growth, and community connection.

These may include:

• Mentorship and career workshops: Introducing young people to professionals from different industries and educational backgrounds.

• Outdoor activities and hiking: Encouraging teamwork, resilience, wellbeing, and an appreciation for the world beyond their immediate surroundings.

• Leadership and personal development sessions: Helping participants develop communication, decision-making, and problem-solving skills.

• Educational and cultural exchanges: Creating opportunities for young people in Marseille to connect with volunteers and students from the United Kingdom.

• Community engagement activities: Encouraging participants to become active contributors to their communities through volunteering and collaborative projects.

These experiences are intended to help young people discover new interests, develop positive relationships, and recognise their own capabilities.

For us, a successful programme is not simply one that keeps young people occupied.

It is one that helps them discover who they could become.

Building Bridges Between Marseille and the United Kingdom

International collaboration has always been an important part of The Orange Trust’s identity.

Through our expansion into Marseille, we hope to create meaningful connections between young people, professionals, and volunteers in France and the United Kingdom.

Our vision includes bringing UK-based volunteers to Marseille to participate in mentorship programmes, educational workshops, community activities, and cultural exchanges.

At the same time, we want these relationships to be mutually beneficial.

Young people in Marseille have their own experiences, perspectives, talents, and knowledge to share.

By encouraging exchanges between communities, we hope to build an environment where participants can learn from one another, challenge assumptions, develop friendships, and broaden their understanding of the world.

We believe that international exposure can be a powerful tool for personal development.

It can introduce young people to different cultures, new opportunities, and perspectives they may not otherwise encounter.

Most importantly, it can help them recognise that their future does not have to be limited by their immediate surroundings.

From Marseille to the World: Creating International Opportunities

One of the most exciting ambitions behind our Marseille initiative is the possibility of connecting young people with The Orange Trust’s wider international humanitarian network.

Our organisation has developed experience delivering sustainable projects across Tanzania and Zanzibar, including healthcare outreach, educational development, and community support initiatives.

We want to explore ways for eligible participants from the communities we engage with in Marseille to become involved in future international volunteering and humanitarian deployments.

This could include opportunities to participate in supervised educational, community development, and humanitarian activities in locations such as Zanzibar, Tanzania.

Imagine a young person who once believed their opportunities were limited to their neighbourhood travelling internationally, meeting new communities, supporting meaningful projects, and returning home with new experiences and ambitions.

For some, such an experience could become a turning point.

International participation would be developed with appropriate safeguarding, supervision, eligibility requirements, and local partnerships, ensuring that opportunities are responsible, inclusive, and beneficial to both participants and host communities.

Our ambition is to create pathways that allow young people not only to experience the world, but also to contribute positively to it.

We want them to move from discovering opportunities to becoming the people who create opportunities for others.

Developing the Leaders of Tomorrow

At The Orange Trust, we believe that the greatest measure of our impact is not simply how many people participate in our programmes.

It is what those individuals go on to achieve.

Our long-term ambition in Marseille is to support young people throughout their personal development journeys, helping them build the confidence, skills, and connections needed to pursue their aspirations.

We want to encourage participants to become mentors themselves, support their peers, contribute to their communities, and eventually take on leadership responsibilities.

A young person who joins a workshop today could become a university student tomorrow.

That student could become a professional, community advocate, or humanitarian volunteer.

And one day, they could return to Marseille to inspire another generation.

This is the kind of sustainable impact we believe in.

Not simply changing one person’s circumstances, but helping create a cycle of opportunity that continues from one generation to the next.

Ziriya Academy: Supporting the Vision Through Education

As part of this wider ambition, Ziriya Academy is also exploring the development of a dedicated educational and personal development programme that could complement The Orange Trust’s work in Marseille.

The proposed programme would focus on mentorship, educational pathways, leadership development, and international learning opportunities.

By drawing on Ziriya Academy’s wider educational ambitions and international connections, the initiative aims to explore additional ways of supporting young people in building their academic and professional futures.

The programme remains in development, with further details to be established as the Marseille initiative progresses.

A Mission Rooted in Hope

The Orange Trust’s expansion into Marseille represents something deeply meaningful to our organisation.

It began with the story of a young person who experienced devastating loss, left behind an environment marked by violence, and went on to become a doctor.

His journey reminds us that extraordinary potential can exist in places where opportunities may feel limited.

But it also reminds us of the young people whose futures were cut short.

We cannot bring them back.

What we can do is work towards a future where more young people have access to the encouragement, guidance, education, and opportunities they deserve.

We do not believe that every young person must attend university or pursue a particular profession to be successful. Success takes many forms, and every individual deserves the freedom to discover their own path.

What matters is that their ambitions are not restricted by a lack of opportunity, guidance, or belief in what they can achieve.

Our mission is to help make those possibilities visible.

This Is Only the Beginning

From supporting healthcare and education in Tanzania and Zanzibar to developing humanitarian outreach initiatives across the Sahara, The Orange Trust has always believed in creating sustainable change through action.

Our expansion into Marseille represents a new dimension of that mission: investing in young people before their potential is lost to circumstances beyond their control.

We know that meaningful change takes time.

It requires trust, consistency, collaboration, and a genuine understanding of the communities we work alongside.

We are not arriving in Marseille with the belief that we have all the answers.

We are coming with a willingness to listen, learn, collaborate, and contribute.

We hope to work alongside local communities, educators, youth organisations, professionals, and volunteers who share our commitment to creating opportunities for the next generation.

Because somewhere in Marseille today, there may be a future doctor, lawyer, engineer, pilot, entrepreneur, or community leader who has not yet discovered what they are capable of achieving.

And perhaps all they need is someone to help them see that future.

Join Us in Building That Future

As we develop our Marseille initiative, we welcome individuals, professionals, organisations, and supporters who believe in empowering young people through education, mentorship, and meaningful experiences.

Together, we can help build a future where young people are recognised not for the challenges they face, but for the potential they carry.

From Marseille to London, from Zanzibar to the Sahara, our vision remains the same: to create opportunities, empower communities, and build an impact that lasts beyond our lifetime.

The Orange TrustCreating an impact beyond our lifetime.