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The Smile Outreach

Programme Report · 10 October 2025 · Gwarinpa & Kwali, Abuja

The Hand to Mind Club Writing Competition 2025

Fifty students. Twenty schools. Two centres across Abuja. A one-day writing competition under the Hand-to-Mind Project, held simultaneously at our Gwarinpa and Kwali centres.

📍 Gwarinpa & Kwali, Abuja🗓 10 October 2025✍️ Hand-to-Mind Project
See the winners Read the report
HTMC 2025Students writing at the Hand to Mind Club Writing Competition
50
Students who wrote
20
Schools represented
2
Centres, Gwarinpa & Kwali
1
Day, one shared theme

Overview

About the competition

On 10 October 2025, The Smile Outreach held the Hand to Mind Club Writing Competition simultaneously at two centres in Abuja - Gwarinpa and Kwali - as part of the Hand-to-Mind Project's youth engagement and literacy work.

Fifty students from twenty secondary schools took part, writing on a shared theme designed to encourage creativity, advocacy and self-expression while strengthening their awareness of the social issues around them. Each sitting opened with registration and consent, a short introduction, and a rundown of the competition guidelines before the writing began.

This report sets out how the day ran at each centre, the outcomes recorded, and the operational issues we are carrying into next year's planning.

Two centres, one day

How the morning ran across Gwarinpa and Kwali

📍 Centre One · Gwarinpa

Gwarinpa

29students
10schools
4volunteers
The writing window
10:15 a.m. - 11:15 a.m.
Coordination
Led by the Abuja and Nasarawa State Coordinators, volunteer Marvellous, and a volunteer videographer.
Consent
100% compliance Every participating school arrived with signed consent forms, in hard or soft copy.
Unregistered school
One school arrived without completing the online registration, having received the official invitation but not the form. On-the-spot consent forms were issued, signed by parents, and returned as scanned copies before the school took part.
📍 Centre Two · Kwali

Kwali

21students
10schools
1facilitator
The writing window
11:27 a.m. - 12:27 p.m.
Coordination
Supervised by our Programs Officer alongside teachers at the host school.
Consent
Not collected Consent forms did not arrive with the Kwali candidates - an accessibility gap we are naming plainly and designing out for next year.
Volunteer attendance
The volunteer scheduled to support Kwali was involved in a road accident en route and could not attend. She was safely attended to and excused from duty.

Proceedings

How the day ran

The scheduled start was 9:00 a.m. Heavy rainfall through the morning delayed most schools, so both sittings began later than planned. Timings were adjusted, registration and consent were completed on arrival, and each centre proceeded as soon as it was ready.

9:00 a.m.
Scheduled startMost schools arrived later than planned due to heavy rainfall. Registration and consent continued on arrival.
10:15-11:15
Gwarinpa sitting29 students from 10 schools wrote over the hour, supported by four volunteers.
11:27-12:27
Kwali sitting21 students from 10 schools wrote over the hour, supervised by the Programs Officer and host teachers.

Participation was strong at both centres. Students engaged with the theme and wrote with focus throughout their sittings. Teachers, volunteers and coordinators maintained order, fairness and proper documentation, and both centres were recorded in photos and video for reporting purposes.

Outcome & impact

What the day produced

  • ✓
    50 students reached across two centres - 29 in Gwarinpa, 21 in Kwali.
  • ✓
    20 schools represented ten at each centre.
  • ✓
    Five coordinators and volunteers on the ground - four at Gwarinpa, one facilitator at Kwali.
  • ✓
    A thought-provoking, educational exercise that strengthened literacy, self-expression and social awareness among participants.

Challenges

Two operational issues affected delivery and feed directly into next year's planning:

  • Weather delays. Heavy rainfall delayed the start at both centres and compressed the schedule.
  • Accessibility & transport. Travel conditions affected volunteer attendance at Kwali, and consent forms did not reach the Kwali candidates.

Results

Meet the winners of HTMC 2025

The winning entries from both centres are published on the Hand to Mind Project site. Photos and video from the day are available alongside them.

See the winners Photos & videos

Conclusion

A successful competition across both centres

The Hand to Mind Club Writing Competition was delivered successfully at Gwarinpa and Kwali despite the weather-related delays, thanks to the coordination of our volunteers and state representatives and the cooperation of the participating schools.

The lessons from running two centres in a single day - on timing, consent collection and volunteer logistics - will guide planning for future competitions to ensure smoother delivery across multiple sites.

See the winners The Smile Outreach
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