The Bettering Branch | Youth-Led Non-Profit Singapore

Who are we?

The Bettering Branch (TBB) is a youth-led non-profit empowering youths with the empathy and ability to make a difference in society through service, education and impact projects.

A youth ‘playground’ for social impact, we want to make caring and giving back as meaningful and enjoyable as it can be for young Singaporeans, because it really can be :)

What do we do?

Everything we do is aimed at bringing youths together (branching out) to make an impact (for the better). From accessible & meaningful volunteering opportunities, to youth-run social impact projects.

In other words, branching out for the better.

But what does that actually look like?

The 3 Key Problems We Exist To Tackle

Schedules are packed, pressure is high and there’s little mental space to think about the wider world

Young people today are finding it harder to care about social and environmental issues around them, not because they’re apathetic, but because they don’t have the capacity or a window to care.

Our events, opportunities & projects center around lowering the barriers to civic engagement via…

Blending issues with activities, events & platforms young people are already engaging with With our annual community event, The Bettering Run, we bring youths together to engage with environmental sustainability and healthy living naturally through a weekend social activity they would already be interested in participating in.
Bite sized micro volunteerism made easy Our ‘The Guiding Lights’ project runs weekly sessions across non-profit student care centres in Singapore located near major transit hubs (we believe greater convenience = greater accessibility!) where student volunteers can drop by to befriend and academically support primary schoolers after school on their way home.
Creating opportunities that integrate impact straight into daily student spaces Recycle Red! works with 30 local schools to place red packet recycling bins directly in school campuses, transforming a nationwide sustainability effort into something as simple as students dropping off red packets on their way to class.

Checkbox volunteerism

Youth volunteerism today is often tied to school graduation requirements, CVs and clocking hours. Youths show up, ‘tick a box’ and leave without thinking twice about what they were even volunteering for...

We try to change this by…

Creating human-centric interactions and opportunities Our volunteering opportunities are structured around befriending, building relationships with beneficiaries and getting youths to connect with the cause at hand. We believe connection is the gateway to empathy!
Centering friends and peer social connection at the heart of our events When volunteering feels like a weekend social activity with friends at a nearby elderly home or care centre, the mental association with “I need the hours to graduate” naturally fades away.

P.S. If you're volunteering with friends, remember to key their names in when you sign up and we'll make sure you're grouped together!

A young person with just an idea has little credibility, which is understandable. But you often need experience to be trusted, yet you can’t get experience until someone trusts you.

What we do

We’ve been there... As a youth-led organisation that began without any backing, funding or mentorship, we understand this all too well...
Youth run and led, from day one! Our events, opportunities and social impact projects are all youth run and led. Zero experience with leadership, project planning and volunteering is ever required to join our team. Instead, we believe passion and a willingness to learn from failure is 10x more important.

Beach clean-up with students from Paya Lebar Methodist Girls' School

Volunteers preparing for The Bettering Run

OUR PARTNERS

As a ground up initiative that started with 0 partners, resources and funding, we are proud to say we have worked with an extensive number of over 70 partners!!! all attained through cold emails, texts and outreach (though we'll caveat a few found us too! - which is proof that (YOU)ths don't need anything but a free email and social media account to start)

SOCIAL SERVICE/COMMUNITY PARTNERS

APSN - Association for Persons with Special Needs

People's Association Youth Movement (PAYM)

Brahm Centre - mental health charity Singapore

SCHOOL PARTNERS (Via Recycle Red!)

YOUTH COLLABORATORS

TBR & OTHER PARTNERS

Organisations & Businesses that have partnered with us for our annual event, The Bettering Run, in support of Health & Sustainability or other initiatives such as Recycle Red!