Farhad: Mentoring Young People at Risk
“The Agency has been the most amazing experience and I can’t believe how far I have come. I have achieved so much, including starting my project Potential, which has received interest in local schools and even had the attention of the Mayor of Manchester. With Support of the Agency, I applied to be a Virgin Money Young Leader Award, and have received additional support and funding. I have used what I learned on The Agency to start a freelance business, making websites for sporting clubs. I have achieved so many of my personal goals because of The Agency.”
Farhad founded Potential as part of his time in The Agency in 2021. The project provides education and development programmes that sit alongside specialist services including consultation and public speaking. The main goal is to help young people use their entrepreneurial skills for self-improvement. Depending on their area of interest, they are paired with a mentor who has been carefully chosen. They then collaborate on a project that will equip them with the skills and confidence they need to manage risk, time, money, people and finances. This project is inspired by his own personal experience, of being at risk of becoming involved in crime. Farhad wants young people to apply the entrepreneurial aspects involved in crime, in positive ways.
Farhad started in 2021, creating a project drawing on his own life experiences, to create ‘Potential’ a programme to support young people at risk of being involved in crime, in positive ways. The main goal is to help young people use their entrepreneurial skills for self-improvement.
Advocacy and Achievements
Farhad went over to Texas to shadow the Prison Entrepreneurship Programme as part of his Virgin Money funding. Farhad also came second place in the Big Education Challenge and has been awarded £25K to continue building his project. In 2025, Farhad won the Bright Future Prize in ‘Your Community’ category, which he had the support and investment of £10,000 from Ardonagh Community Trust to grow his work to offer better support to young people.
Aside from running Potential MCR, Farhad is studying Software Engineering at the university. Farhad continues to engage with Contact, he was involved in the Street Team in 2022, has sat on interview panels, is a member of the Steering Group and is one of the Participatory Action Researchers conducting the Longitudinal Evaluation for The Agency. He is now an Agency Correspondent and sitting on the national Steering Group.
Hear more about Farhad’s project on Inspire to Acheive: The Agency podcast. To follow Farhad’s journey or support the project, visit potentialmcr.co.uk