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Brighton & Hove

Youth Service

Grants Programme

2017 - 2020

AREA NARRATIVE REPORTS

1^st April 2018- 31^st March 2019

Contents

Page number

Central Area - Brighton Youth Centre 3

West Area - Hangleton and Knoll Project 7

North Area - Trust for Developing Communities 13

East Area - Trust for Developing Communities 19

Equalities (LGBTQ) – Allsorts 25

Equalities (Disabilities) - Extratime 28

Equalities (BME) – BMEYPP 33

Central Area

Lead Organisation - Brighton Youth Centre

How have the services in your area, over this period, included young people in the development and delivery of your and other services?

Young people are embedded in the development and delivery of our services across our organisations.

At BYC, there is a weekly meeting where members decide on upcoming events, activities and groups and discuss matters of relevance to the group. Following issues at the youth centre, we worked with members to reshape the sessions on offer and make changes to improve engagement and participation. B.fest, Brighton’s only youth-led creative festival, is managed by a steering group of 12 young people, who have been meeting weekly to decide on individual events, curate the programme and design the publicity.

At TCP, young people have been involved in the design of regular sessions, holiday activities and events through the year. The dedicated young women's group decide the programme as do the young men's group which was formed at the request of TCP’s male participants. Young men were supported in contributing to the 'Young Men Matter' research project for Brighton University looking into the barriers for young men accessing services in the city. Tarner young people also led a restorative justice public art project in collaboration with the Phoenix Gallery and BHCC.

The Fresh G’s Girls Group at YPC now has a member run steering group, made up of young people who have been members of the group and have now developed a leadership role.

Young people designed 3 sets of skills-based psychoeducational workshops – including learning manuals, posters, content and feedback forms - at YAC and BYC, in which over 40 young people took part. At YAC, in response to feedback groups of young people accessing the Support & Advice drop-in, they are expanding their offer to include LGBTQ+ Sexual Health interventions, awareness raising events and community events.

YP are invited to participate in central area meetings and sit on board of trustees/attend trustee meetings within our organisations. We support young people to attend the Cross Party Working Group and have been heavily involved in the development and delivery of the Youth-Led Grants Process.

How have the services in your area, over this period, enabled young people with Protected Characteristics e.g. BAME, disabled or LGBT or with multiple disadvantages e.g. facing school exclusion, experiencing mental health issues and/or poverty to feel safer and supported?

We run a number of specific groups for young people with Protected Characteristics or multiple disadvantages. There are two weekly young women’s groups, a young women’s skateboarding session, a young carers’ group, Global Social Club (an open club, working particularly with young asylum seekers/refugees), two weekly clubs for young people with an Autistic Spectrum Condition, a termly ‘Go Skate’ project supporting at risk or isolated young people to improve their mental well-being through skateboarding, 3 arts sessions offering support for young people experiencing mental health issues, and a monthly youth club for adopted young people. In total these targeted groups have been attended by 251 individuals. We also create a culture where all young people feel safe and supported within our universal sessions. For example at BYC youth clubs, 1 in 4 young people who attend are LGTBQ+ and this is reflected in a high percentage of the youth work team.

Global Social Club has consolidated its position as a ‘youth club of sanctuary’ and continues to support young people in finding a voice, finding community and making positive connections. Tarner has high numbers of BAME residents and have followed on from a collaborative event with BMEYPP to develop engagements with the local community.

YAC drop-in now offers case work to young people with complex needs who require practical support around an issue such as debt, benefits, poverty. 17 young people were supported over an average of 6 sessions to prevent escalation of their situation and reduce stress around managing finances.

When parents were asked what their child had enjoyed or gained from coming along to mASCot,

replies included:

· “Being part of a community. Meeting lovely people….having a social life where she is in the middle of things!”

· “My teen was feeling lonely after finishing his GCSEs and has really perked up since joining the Club. He said he loved club as he was able to be himself”

· “She has made brilliant friends and her self-esteem has soared”

· “The chance to be part of a group, where no-one judges him”.

All organisations have carried out 1-to-1 work with YP facing multiple issues and living in challenging circumstances, including liasing with and referrals to families, schools, social workers, adolescent, youth offending and other specialist services.

How have the services in your area, over this period, supported communities with council house tenancies, particularly around, anti-social behaviour, social inclusion and improving readiness for employment?

We have carried out at least weekly outreach and detached sessions, with a focus on the Level and other areas identified as affected by youth anti-social behaviour: including May Road, Pankhurst Avenue, Tarner Park, Queen’s Park. Detached teams have developed relationships to support young people at risk of exploitation and those suspected of being involved in County Lines.

Over the year we have worked with Albion Hill Residents Association, the Phoenix Residents Association, Amex Area Neighbourhood Action Forum, The Hanover, Elm Grove and Tarner Hub, and Tyson Place Residents Association to support youth voice in neighbourhood issues and deal with emerging issues, specifically in areas with high levels of council house tenancies.

TCP’s Thursday session was initially established in response to community concerns around antisocial behaviour (ASB) and teenage drug use within Tarner Park. Since the group's inception incident reports have dramatically declined. Now they are operating in the park four nights a week ASB occurrences are rare.

BYC works in partnership with PRU to provide activity sessions on a Friday morning. 13 of the young people are from council house tenancies. The head teacher described the importance of these sessions: “it provides a space where can learn how to get on with each other and to socialize, and where they get to try lots of different things, without the pressure that they normally face. This is essential if they’re to integrate back into mainstream”. BYC also continue to support Miss Represented, the Dome arts project with young women, including supporting two older young women to deliver satellite sessions in Hove Park and the Connected Hub. 53% of young women who attend Miss Rep live in council houses.

The Support and Advice drop in at the Youth Advice Centre now includes a ‘Positive Placements’ drop- in service, which is a YMCADLG project providing vulnerable young people who are NEET with a mentor from the local community, to meet up with once a week for up to a year, to support them along their journey into work.

Highlight a particular project you have delivered that demonstrates good youth work practice and evidences positive impact

B.Game is a young people's gaming group – open to all young people - who meet regularly to play games of all types, put on gaming events, meet people and make friends. It specifically attracts YP who are more socially isolated, have higher levels of social anxiety and mental health needs, and those who are on the autistic spectrum. It aims to bring these YP together, to build social networks, support and community, through the medium of gaming. At the beginning of the year, B.Game would happen monthly and had a small group of about 5-6 young people regularly attending. During B.fest (BYC’s youth arts festival), there were activities taking place through the week, which young people could just come along to. New young people heard about B.fest and came along to the gaming activities. One young person said "it's weird that I find events I like". Another said: "I get nervous meeting new people, but it’s easier when I'm playing games". Over the course of the week, the membership of the group grew. Following B.fest, about 12-15 young people made up the core B.fest group, who started to meet on a weekly basis. Young people started coming along to other youth work sessions. One young man, 17, who on first meeting said "I don’t go out of my house" is now a regular attendee at youth club and took part in a 2 day residential over the summer. The group identified that gaming enables them to build skills and knowledge and to build community, around a shared interest. The difference it makes is best summed up in a young person's words:

"I spend too much time on the screen on my own. I was really miserable before I came here today. I come down here and be sociable and I feel really good now".

Please submit a case study that outlines the difference that a Youth Work Intervention has made to the life of a young person you have worked with

A young woman (aged 16) who has learning difficulties and a profound speech impediment attends weekly. At the start, this person was withdrawn, introverted, typically didn't speak to her peers and barely spoke to staff during sessions - constantly engrossed in her phone. Regardless, she continued attending and building positive relationships with the adults and the other young people and slowly she began to talk to staff and her peers. One-to-one sessions took place with her and a female worker over the months and slowly she opened up and shared her worries and insecurities. Through building trust with the worker, the YP was able to make disclosures about her issues at home and started to make increasingly frequent allegations. TCP workers made referrals to the relevant agencies and supported her with additional one-to-one opportunities as and when needed, as well as facilitating workshops to improve day-to-day skills and provide an informed understanding of social media, consent and positive relationships. Workers have attended a range of professional meetings involving the police, social services, her college and other relevant adults in her life. Despite the issues surrounding her home life, the young woman has gained in confidence, started to join in with group activities and try new things (including healthy new foods) all of which were previously outside of her comfort zone. The group has provided a support network for her and has been instrumental in developing this young person’s social skills, confidence and self-esteem by giving her the space and time to grow accordingly. She now speaks up, joins it at all levels and has a solid friendship group, as well as knowing she has external adults in her life she can trust and consult.

Collage created for Youth Work Week 2018 about why youth work is important to young people

West Area

Lead Organisation - Hangleton and Knoll Project (HKP)

Photo montage of table tennis, Ustudios 2 music, gardening and cookery projects

How have the services in your area, over this period, included young people in the development and delivery of your and other services?

Participation is key to all of HKP Youth work delivery. During 2018-2019 ALL Young People we have worked with have been involved at various levels to have a voice and influence over, what is, their youth programme. For example, during 2018 HKP acquired the BHCC Youth Bus. Young people were central in setting up a group agreement and designing projects that could be delivered from the bus. These include arts activities, sexual health promotion and basic cooking.

HKP has worked with 35 individual Young women this year through the Young Women’s Project. This group identified that they would like to plan and run their own female music gig. This involved singing tuition, design and a performance with over 40 residents attending. These young women, all of whom are referrals from Social Care/ Camhs/ Social Prescribing/Schools teams commented on how this project had ‘given them something positive to focus on’ YW14yrs, ‘make them feel good about themselves’ YW16 and ‘singing has really helped me manage my stress and express some difficult stuff’ YW15yrs.

A significant piece of work has been the development of our Youth Volunteering Step Out Project. It has supported 21 Young People to plan and run their own community events and co deliver monthly Kidz Crew session for local 8-12yrs olds with youth workers.

We have supported 6 Health Champions to design a health questionnaire in partnership with Right Here and 3 local surgeries. This has been sent out to over 600 YP to help surgeries develop their provision with and for local young people.

We have recruited 1 new Youth Trustee during 2018, who undertook digital apprenticeship placement with HKP and wants to remain involved. There are now 3 Youth Trustees on our Board of 10.

We have supported 1 young person, with complex MH needs, to present at the Children and Young People’s Committee and the City-Wide Community Building Network Meeting. This YP states that ‘A year ago I would have not been able to talk out loud in front of people. But going to the Hangleton and Knoll Project and doing volunteering with them has increased my confidence and helped me start to have faith in myself’ YP15yrs.

HKP have supported 3 young people to take part in the Youth Grants Adur Away Day and 3 to participate in the X Party Youth Working Group. These YP simply would not attend or have a voice without Youth Work Support and this work has enabled a growth of confidence and control.

How have the services in your area, over this period, enabled young people with Protected Characteristics e.g. BAME, disabled or LGBT or with multiple disadvantages e.g. facing school exclusion, experiencing mental health issues and/or poverty to feel safer and supported?

A high percentage of young people that engage with the HKP Youth team face multiple disadvantage and are involved with social care/ CAMHS/ or attending pru and disengaged from School.

UStudios2 is a weekly music session that rotates between Hangleton and Knoll 15-25 young people regularly attend with 48 attending over the year. This is a dedicated space, where YP, many of whom display high levels of anxiety and stress, are able to express themselves through rapping and singing all whilst receiving support from Youth Workers in an informal, relaxed environment. Issues addressed, include substance misuse, relationships, family breakdown and personal aspirations. YP are actively involved in the development of this Project and say ‘This is my weekly escape. I come here and spit bars and get stuff of my chest’ YM 16yrs and ‘The Knoll needs this, somewhere YP can come and get away from all the chaos’ YW 15yrs. This Project engages some of the most vulnerable Young people in the West and music can be a tool to gain trust in YP who are not interested in other activity. In this period we ran an Arts project, also targeted YP with MH issues to help them express themselves. This was a partnership the Library service and was attended by 10 YP of whom 82% were BHCC council tenants.

We have supported 8 YP, who are identified ‘at serious risk’ within social care into our positive activity programme and music project, a major success. These are YP where Social Work can struggle to make relationships and we work closely w SW teams. One young woman, who is ‘very concerning’ (social worker) attended, with a lot of support and encouragement from the Youth Team, our community garden project and commented on ‘It's really good here, because it's peaceful and calming and I really need that’ YW15yrs. This Young Woman is now attending HKP’s weekly young women’s group and accepting support as trust and relationship has been established.

We have carried out intensive work with a young person who is questioning their gender identity. We have supported them to identify a pronoun they want use and provided some advocacy at school around this, plus discussed interventions at school to enable this young person to remain engaged with their lessons. This YP has commented ‘If it wasn’t for the youth workers helping me, I would be in a really dark place right now’ YM 15yrs. We have supported 3 young people to apply to BHCC Youth Grants scheme for two LGBTU awareness sessions to be delivered by Allsorts to YP who attend the HKP Youth Project to address wider issues of acceptance and inclusion.

A high percentage of YP involved in our Youth Volunteering Step out Programme have SEN needs and struggle to achieve in a mainstream environment. These young people have required additional support to help them engage but have succeeded in taking a leadership role in our Kidz Crew (8-12yrs sessions) and acting as role models for younger children. By taking on these levels of responsibility, they have developed many social and personal skills and tracked their progress of learning through tailored personal passports.

I have learnt how to lead on activities for 8-12yr olds and I have enjoyed making a difference ’ YM15yrs and ‘ I didn’t have confidence to take on volunteering opportunities at school, but with the youth workers support I have really enjoyed getting involved in Step Out YW 14yrs.

Overall, 51% of Young People we have worked with have been BHCC Council Tenants. However within specific targeted sessions this figure is as high as 82% as we move from wider engaged into more intensive youth work group programmes.

HKP UStudios2 Music Project has worked with 43% YP who are BHCC Council Tenants. Through the project workers have established relationships with vulnerable young people to help them progress towards employment. We have supported 6 young men and 1 Young woman to write their CV’s and have referred an additional 6 YP to Youth Employability Service for further support and 1 into the Health and Wellbeing service for counselling.

HKP weekly Young Women’s group works with 65% who are BHCC Council Tenants. These Young women are offered an inclusive space where they can share their experience and support a positive peer network. Feedback from Social Workers include ‘ It is a relief to know that *Ruth* is coming to a safe space every week where she has something hot to eat and confides in the Youth Workers about things she needs some help with’.

Kidz Crew, which is our monthly 8-12yrs session run by local Youth Volunteers (13+) works with 69% BHCC Tenants. This project works with some of the most vulnerable in the community helping them feel included and valued. It is a free club to ensure it is accessible - as is all our targeted provision.

HKP taken an extremely active approach in supporting St Richards Church and Community Centre to tackle the anti-social behaviour they have experienced from local Young People. We have facilitated meetings between Young People involved in ASB and St Richards to help open up lines of communications, helping each other understand their concerns and needs/wants from their Community Centre. We have supported 3 young people who were involved in vandalising a room at St Richards to re-paint it and repair it and apologise to the Centre Manager. We have facilitated a meeting between Young People and Rethink Mental Health Charity) based at St Richards where YP were unfortunately verbally abusive to one of the workers. The Re- think Manager was ‘amazed’ that the Young People attended the meeting, stating ‘it is so evident that these young people have a lot of trust with the youth workers as this was key in them attending the meeting. Youth Workers facilitated the meeting excellently so young people could see where their actions had caused offence and there have been no issues since’ Re-think Manager.

Highlight a particular project you have delivered that demonstrates good youth work practice and evidences positive impact

HKP Youth Volunteering ‘Step Out’ Project is an excellent example of good youth work practice. It has worked with 21 individual YP over the past year, 70% of whom are BHCC tenants.

This Project works with YP to take up local volunteering opportunities. The YP we work with have often been ‘overlooked’ YW15yrs) from these opportunities in the School setting due to a range of factors including challenging behaviour, SEND, low self –esteem and confidence. Youth Workers are able to offer the intense support (that teachers cannot often provide) to ensure that YP can stay engaged in volunteering and that it is a meaningful experience for them.

Key opportunities have included supporting young people to plan and run local community activities in the holidays, deliver a monthly session for 8-12yr olds who live on the Knoll called ‘Kids Crew’ and support YP to voice Young people’s views at various local community and city-wide meetings, a big step for many of them.

One Young Woman who has a very challenging home life and relationship with School has become involved and through her hard work has received a certificate of excellence from the Head Teacher at Hove Park at her ‘ local activism within her local community’, a major boost for this young women’s self-esteem and confidence. This work has led to a partnership with Hove Park School this year as the School seeks closer ties with the community it serves. This has included a fundraiser run by year 9 pupils for HKP. In partnership with YP, the HKP Youth Team developed a passport to track YP’s learning; this may be developed into a digital badge over the next year.

YP involved have recently written a (successful!) Step Out 2 bid for the BHCC Youth Grants Scheme to develop this work.

HKP have secured Sussex Police and Crime Commissioner (PCC) funding (as part of a REBOOT partnership with YMCA, TDC and Audioactive) to deliver one to one coaching to YP to help them into positive activities and away from behaviour damaging to themselves and their communities. This is a full time post for West Area.

During this period, we have worked in partnership with Sussex Community Foundation Trust in Hove Park and PACA Schools to deliver intensive one to one support to vulnerable YP as identified by School nurses, linking them into the community offer. This service is delivered in the rest of the City by YPC and TDC. This is a half time post funded by public health.

The above work compliments the open access youth offer and doubles the BHCC open access investment in the youth contract, ensuring that YP most in need get additional support and the synergies provided by joined up services in their communities.

Please submit a case study that outlines the difference that a Youth Work Intervention has made to the life of a young person you have worked with

Case Study 1

The HKP Youth Team has worked with a young woman over the last year, who was experiencing severe difficulties being moved around different foster homes and who was not in education. After building a relationship with her, she felt confident to attend the weekly young women’s group. Over time this work led to the young woman consistently attending singing practice sessions in the group and performing in a community gig which she said ‘massively boosted her confidence’. Attending the weekly Young Women’s sessions have enabled her to see the Youth Office as a safe space and build relationships with the rest of the youth team. After a trip to Brighton Marina, the young woman experienced a very worrying and upsetting incident at home, but was able to come back to the youth office to seek support alone. We have seen her self-esteem grow as her angry and chaotic outbursts become less frequent and more easily controlled by her. She has begun to access other projects such as the weekly youth music Ustudios session and is beginning to nurture talents such as rapping. She has also started to lead the “good news bad news” check in at Young women’s club. She is proud to be involved in a lot of the youth sessions and says “it’s cool that I come to almost everything here now, I did nothing before.” She is now in a place where she feels able to access City provision and we have supported her into the Miss Rep project at BYC to enable her to further develop her artistic talent as an outlet for her emotions and a positive enhancement to her life.

Case Study 2

The project’s health and wellbeing worker met a 17-year-old SEND young man who struggles a great deal socially. He is extremely shy, finds it hard to speak to people and wasn’t going out at all to anything social.

This young man then started to attend the weekly HKP open access table tennis session, with his mum in attendance for support. He developed a relationship with one of HKP’s male youth workers who supported him in to identify some positive steps forward. Themes explored included exercise, educational activities and hopes for the future. After 3 months, the young man felt comfortable to attend HKP’s UStudios 2 Music Project that has 15-20 YP regularly attending, a big step forward for him to be able to be in a group. His mum has said “He doesn’t normally go out ever, it’s often just the two of us. It’s been a real boost in his confidence. Previously he has accessed other services in the city as well as speech therapy but hasn’t gained a great deal from these’. Mum has said of his time at the music project “It’s been the biggest change in him that I’ve seen.”

In the sessions, after attending for only a few weeks, Youth Workers have observed the young man speaking to other young people and youth workers. Although these may seem like small things for the young man in question they are HUGE steps for his confidence, self-esteem and independence.

North Area

Lead Organisation – Trust for Developing Communities

How have the services in your area, over this period, included young people in the development and delivery of your and other services?

Embedded Youth Participation – Young people across all of our sessions are meaningfully involved in designing their provision. This ranges from deciding the food for the following week to running a social enterprise, raising unrestricted activities funding. Examples include:

Thursday night Youth Clubs – 67 Centre and Coldean – Where programming is co-designed all year round
Moulsecoomb Skate Park – Over 300 people (majority young people) responded to our consultation around the need for a new skate park in Moulsecoomb. An intergenerational group is taking this work forwards by engaging in Moulsecoomb Hub development work and organising ‘skate jam’ events locally.
The Bevendean Activities Group – This group have their own bank account, officers elected at their AGMs and an award-winning social enterprise to raise funds for their work in addition to grant funding they apply for.

Cross-Party Working Group – Young people have been supported to join this meeting, offering insight of their lived experience of youth work provision. The aim of the meeting is to join Council Officers, Elected Members and Young People to further the agenda of Youth (Work) Services for Brighton & Hove.

Youth Led Grants Programme - 14 young people were involved in the writing and submission of applications to the Youth Led Grants Programme, successfully bringing in over £19,000 for local projects, as chosen by young people. In round one, pertaining to the reporting year, these projects included:

Enhanced Drug and Alcohol training for staffing and increased presence at all youth work sessions. As a result, nine TDC staff members have attended training by RUOK? Brighton & Hove’s Young People’s Substance Misuse Service. The TDC have been invited to provide youth work support at this year’s Green (cannabis) Pride Festival.

Summer activities – for both the young Traveller community and other, geographical areas as covered by the ‘Bevendean Activities Group’.

How have the services in your area, over this period, enabled young people

with Protected Characteristics e.g. BAME, disabled or LGBT or with

multiple disadvantages e.g. facing school exclusion, experiencing mental

health issues and/or poverty to feel safer and supported?

· Young Travellers – This highly marginalised group have been supported with two regular weekly gendered sessions in partnership with Friends, Families and Travellers (FFT).

· Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Trans young people- The TDC once more co-ordinated a Youth Work response to youth welfare at Pride festival weekend. Thirteen youth workers enabled the support of 984 teenagers across the two days to stay safe and well through informal counselling, distribution of water, food, condoms and sun cream (further details outlined below). Pride and Sussex Police reported a reduced rate of youth-related incidents this year.

· Disabled Young People – In addition to funding Extratime to work with the severely disabled, the TDC run the Look Sussex Club for blind and visually impaired young people each Wednesday from the 67 Centre in Moulsecoomb.

· Health & Wellbeing Youth Work – sees the TDC employ a Youth Worker dedicated to Health & Wellbeing of young people and using referrals through School Nurse teams to affect positive outcomes for those most at risk of social, emotional and health issues. 30 young people were supported intensively this year by TDC across our areas.

· Youth-Friendly Community Spaces – In Spring 2019, the TDC supported a group of 10 young people to produce an audit for managers of community spaces to use to improve their accessibility to young people. This work intended to reduce youth loneliness and isolation – a topic that has received national attention and cited as a cause of poor mental health. A video about the project with a link to the interactive audit is available here: https://www.trustdevcom.org.uk/what-we-do/young-people/making-community-spaces-youth-friendly/

56% of young people worked with by TDC in the last year were Council Tenants and much of the wider community work we do is supportive of Tenants and Residents Associations/Forums in areas of high Council tenure.

The TDC has sought to be responsive to emerging concerns regarding anti-social behaviour (ASB). This is particularly demonstrable in relation to the following:

· Local Action Team Meetings attendance– in Bevendean, Moulsecoomb and Patcham

· 10 Regular Youth Clubs and sessions across the North area, including:

o 67 Centre Youth Club (Thursdays) – Meeting the needs of gang affiliated young people

o Coldean Youth Group (Thursdays)

o Moulsecoomb Young Men’s Group (My G) (Thursdays)

o Look Sussex club for young people with blindness or visual impairment (Wednesdays)

o Football sessions with Traveller young men (Wednesdays)

o Young Women’s sessions for Traveller girls (Wednesdays)

o Young Women’s sessions at the 67 Centre (Tuesdays)

o 67 Centre Bike Club (Tuesdays)

o Moulsecoomb Sports Hub (Fridays)

o Detached Youth work (Mondays)

· Youth Coaches – The TDC is part of a partnership that has brought £165k to the city to engage and coach young people who are on criminal trajectories.

· Special Projects – A partnership piece of work with Sussex Police and St Giles Trust has seen TDC recruit young people at risk of ASB and criminal engagement, engaging them in focussed group work.

Figure 1- Teen preparing to race a car she had built with her peers

· Events – We supported a range of local events this year, including our own ‘Youth Sports and Activities Day’ in June.

Figure 2 - Some attendees of our Sports Day with their MP

Employment readiness - the combined (all-service) results of self-reported progress on an outcome star, demonstrate that young people felt an 18% improvement in their skill levels through the youth work they received.

Highlight a particular project you have delivered that demonstrates good youth work practice and evidences positive

Working together with the TDC’s Community Development Worker in Moulsecoomb, youth workers have been actively pursuing the development of a new skate park for the estate.

Anecdotal need for a skate facility has been present since the TDC began working in the area in 2012, but in recent formal consultation with young people to inform their Neighbourhood Action Plan, this need emerged strongly; The TDC committed to produce a feasibility study.

Following the establishment of an intergenerational steering group, young people were consulted as part of the Moulsecoomb Youth Sports and Activities Day (meeting 55 young people) and at a ‘Skate Jam’ (meeting 33 young people) we organised with the Council’s Skate Park Development Officer, Ricardo Magee Atxukarro.

A subsequent online consultation demonstrated overwhelming support for a new skate park in the area. The results were discussed with the intergenerational steering committee.

In early 2019, the TDC supported the group to apply to both the Youth-Led Grants Programme and to the Chalk Cliff Trust – not for a new park, but for more skate jam events and the opportunity for local young people to work with youth workers and professional carpenters to build temporary, moveable skate ramps for the area. Unfortunately, both bids were unsuccessful.

Despite funding set-backs and ambiguity about support through the Moulsecoomb Hub development programme, the process that the young people in the steering group have been on is one that has taught them that their community cares what they think and will support them in affecting positive change locally.

Figure 3 - Members of the intergen steering group with Council skate workers and their MP

Please submit a case study that outlines the difference that a Youth Work Intervention has made to the life of a young person you have worked with

‘Nathan’ is a white British, 14 year old young man who lives in Moulsecoomb. He is a regular attendee at a weekly youth club at the 67 Centre in Moulsecoomb. Nathan readily admits he struggles with school and as a result attends an alternative education school. He has been identified as having some emotional and behavioural difficulties, which at times have been difficult to manage in the youth club.

Youth Workers struggled to see what Nathan was getting out of the youth club. He had no trust in the workers and although had friends, did not seem that close to anyone. He only really seemed to come in to get food. He was mixing with other young people that were involved in Anti-Social Behaviour around Moulsecoomb, including at the Leisure Centre where police had been called because of abuse towards staff and customers.

As a team, we undertook training on working with challenging behaviour and decided to change our approach towards the regular behaviour. As the youth work staff became more prepared and skilled at working with challenging behaviour we noticed that the atmosphere in the youth club improved. We started to see a noticeable, positive change in in Nathan. He started coming to sessions early and talking to staff about his interests. He started contributing ideas in regards to food he wanted to cook in the session. When other young people were disruptive he did not get involved and even complained about it, noting that he would once have been the instigator. Nathan has since co-written a successful £5,000 bid to the Youth Led Grants Programme to start his own young men’s group. His relationships at home and school have improved, which he credits to our community work with him.

East Area

Lead Organisation – Trust for Developing Communities

How have the services in your area, over this period, included young people in the development and delivery of your and other services?

Embedded Youth Participation – Young people across all of our sessions have been meaningfully involved in designing aspects of their provision. This ranges from deciding the food for the following week to writing bids for increased funding. Sessions where this work happens includes:

· Whitehawk Youth Caféwhere #iwill Social Action funding has enabled young people to assume responsibility for running the café.

· Woodingdean Youth Centre has been supporting young people to challenge rules and policies, both at youth club and at Longhill School.

· Our Future City, a new programme where young people from the Whitehawk area have been supported to create a social action project in order to influence services and provision in their community.

Cross-Party Working Group – Young people have been supported to join this meeting, offering insight and the benefit of their lived experience of youth work provision. The aim of the meeting is to join Council Officers, Elected Members and Young People to further the agenda of Youth (Work) Services for Brighton & Hove.

Youth Led Grants Programme - Nine young people were involved in the writing and submission of applications to the Youth Led Grants Programme from the East of the City, successfully bringing in £8,500 for local projects, as chosen by young people. In round one, pertaining to the reporting year, these projects included:

· Enhanced Drug and Alcohol training for staffing and increased presence at all youth work sessions. As a result, nine TDC staff members have attended training by RUOK? Brighton & Hove’s Young People’s Substance Misuse Service. This improved offer to young people has already started to demonstrate benefits and the TDC have been invited to provide youth work support at this year’s Green (cannabis) Pride Festival.

· Whitehawk Music Hub– Providing youth work support to enable the project to be more youth-led.

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The TDC is an organisation that has a central mission around the active and purposeful inclusion of all citizens. We, as a city, cannot thrive whilst some are marginalised and suffering. Some of the ways that we have explicitly manifested these goals are in the following projects:

· Lesbian, Gay and bisexual young people - The TDC once more co-ordinated a Youth Work response to youth welfare at Pride festival weekend. 13 youth workers enabled the support of 984 teenagers across the two days to stay safe and well through informal counselling, distribution of water, food, condoms and sun cream (further details outlined below). Pride and Sussex Police reported a reduced rate of youth-related incidents this year. We use the weeks building up to Pride festival to do work across all sessions on inclusivity, respect and tolerance.

· Disabled Young People– The TDC financially supports the work of Extratime for work with more severely disabled children and young people. This work has taken place this year at Woodingdean Youth Centre.

· Health & Wellbeing Youth Work – sees the TDC employ a Youth Worker dedicated to Health & Wellbeing of young people and using referrals through School Nurse teams to affect positive outcomes for those most at risk of social, emotional and health issues. 30 young people were supported intensively this year by TDC across our areas.

· Youth-Friendly Community Spaces – In Spring 2019, the TDC supported a group of 10 young people to produce an audit for managers of community spaces to use to improve their accessibility to young people. This work intended to reduce youth loneliness and isolation – a topic that has received national attention and cited as a cause of poor mental health. A video about the project with a link to the interactive audit is available here: https://www.trustdevcom.org.uk/what-we-do/young-people/making-community-spaces-youth-friendly/

56% of young people worked with by TDC in the last year were Council Tenants and much of the wider community work we do is in the supporting of Tenants and Residents Associations/Forums in areas of high Council tenure.

The TDC has sought to be responsive to emerging concerns regarding anti-social behaviour (ASB). This is particularly demonstrable in relation to the following:

· ‘Housing cluster’ and ‘Safe & Sound’ meetings for East area at the Whitehawk Hub – Information sharing, especially issues from Council Tenants regarding ASB hotspots.

· Street-based youth work - focussedin these areas/times to build relationships with in-need young people and feed them into positive youth offers.

· Saltdean & Rottingdean Youth Club - When anti-social behaviour spiked in Saltdean and Rottingdean this year, the TDC were invited to join the Local Action Team to hear residents’ concerns. An immediate response of street-based youth work sessions preceded support for the establishment of a new weekly youth club on Friday nights at Saltdean Football club, reaching up to 62 young people per week.

· Special Projects– A partnership piece of work with Sussex Police and St Giles Trust has seen TDC recruit young people at risk of ASB and criminal engagement to build and race a kit car. This targeted activity is intended to divert these young people away from criminality using positive, focused group work.

Car Racing

Figure 1 - Teen preparing to test drive the kit car she and others had built

· REBOOT Youth Coaches– The TDC is part of a partnership that has brought £165k to the city to engage and coach young people who are on criminal trajectories. This is as a response to needs presented by the community and the Police.

Highlight a particular project you have delivered that demonstrates good youth work practice and evidences positive impact

Youth-Friendly Community Spaces - Informed by mounting evidence of need on the subject of youth loneliness nationally, including reports from:

· UK Youth - https://www.ukyouth.org/2018/08/09/aplacetobelong/

· BBC & Wellcome Trust - https://www.bbc.co.uk/mediacentre/latestnews/2018/loneliest-age-group-radio-4

· Action for Children - https://www.actionforchildren.org.uk/media/9724/action_for_children_it_starts_with_hello_report__november_2017_lowres.pdf

…the TDC sought resource to take local young people on an exploratory journey into their own understanding of loneliness and how physical spaces in communities can be enhanced to become places that are welcoming and inclusive of their needs.

The group had weekly sessions, using arts activities to explore the theme of loneliness for young people. They then worked on criteria to inform an audit that could be used to help managers of community spaces improve their centres for young people. The group presented at the Community Buildings Network and visited five spaces across the city, working with centre managers to look at aspects to be celebrated and where improvements could be made.

The final interactive audit is available to download here: https://www.trustdevcom.org.uk/what-we-do/young-people/making-community-spaces-youth-friendly/

The 8-minute film documenting the process is available here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=358&v=InW6CWVevUI

The film captures some of the group’s thinking on the subject of youth loneliness and demonstrates impact upon them for having been involved. One very happy story from the project was a young woman who presented to the (adult) Community Buildings Network. She was scheduled to do a GCSE exam the next day but had made up her mind that she wasn’t going to do it. Following the presentation, she disclosed that she was given the courage to do her exam, ‘”cos if I can do that [present to adults], I can do a poxy exam!”.

Figure 2 - Group Presenting to the Community Buildings Network

Please submit a case study that outlines the difference that a Youth Work Intervention has made to the life of a young person you have worked with

M.S is a 14-year-old young woman, who was struggling with anxiety that was causing her to be off school. She had not attended school for over a year and was not receiving home education. M.S was in emergency accommodation out of the City with her mum and younger siblings due to domestic violence at home. Although keen to go to school, she had many worries about leaving mum and feeling sick.

Following a referral to the TDC Health & Wellbeing Youth Worker, weekly meetings helped M.S. to explore triggers of her anxiety, identifying physical symptoms, looked at strategies for helping her cope when she is away from mum or at other times when she felt herself becoming anxious.

Once the family could move back to Brighton, a meeting was arranged with BACA and it was agreed that M.S could come back on a part-time timetable. However, M.S. was extremely anxious at the idea of going straight into lessons, especially being a year behind in her studies.

The Youth Worker:

· Contacted the school, M.S’s social worker, school nurse, attendance officer, child protection lead, and year-head to arrange a meeting to try to implement more support for M.S’ school transition.

· Worked with M.S on assertiveness and being able to express what she really means.

· Met with M.S to discuss what she wanted the other agencies to know about her barriers to attending class.

· Met M.S. weekly on a Tuesday for an hour as part of her new timetable.

MS has still has trouble re-engaging at school. These are in part due to unmet needs in her mother. Links with schoolmates are now being bridged outside of school through connecting M.S. to community-based youth clubs.

Equalities - LGBTQ

Lead Organisation – Allsorts

How have the services in your area, over this period, included young people in the development and delivery of your and other services?

We deliver a six monthly survey and wellbeing diary to all young people who attend our groups. This is a significant opportunity for young people to have space to share their opinions, thoughts and feelings about Allsorts specific services. This also enables us to hear and appreciate incredible insights into how Allsorts benefits them.

In the under 16’s group TAG we ran a small group consultation session about what they would like to do in the next six months. We had a very successful session and the key ideas included; making a resource about ‘coming out’ specific for the under 16’s age range as well as planning and taking part in a sports day and taking part in drama workshops.

Sam Beal and a member of staff form the Community Safety Team attended TAG to do a consultation session to gather the opinions of our LGBTU young people on the Council’s Pronouns Campaign for National Trans Day of Visibility. The outcome was that the young people informed the decision making process resulting in different slogans which the young people suggested being used on stickers next year.

Across all of our groups we encourage and actively engage in both formal and informal consultation about what activities they would like to do. This includes activities that they might want to deliver themselves, organisations that they would like us to connect with or in house delivery from the Allsorts staff team. This is particularly in regards to what matters to them most as LGBTU young people.

We’ve recently introduced a quarterly ‘clinic’ run by our Youth Presidents which gives our young people an opportunity to tell the Youth Presidents anything that they would fed back to the chair of trustees & one of the co-directors.

As part of our commitment to supporting young people with their health and wellbeing we invite specific workers to attend our groups as well as delivering our own designed and tailored workshops catering for the specific needs of our young people. At our weekly 16-25 youth group, we have had;

• Monthly visits from THT to carry out STI testing & general information about sexual health

• Visits from a team of community nurses who are there to discuss general health. They recently ran a smoking cessation session

• Monthly visits from Rise and delivery of workshops related to consent and healthy relationships

Allsorts has delivered activities and one-to-one support which has included:

• Support around exam stress and strategies to manage this.

• Support around living on a student budget and trying to have a balanced health aware diet.

• Managing and adapting to socialising/alcohol consumption/ good sleep hygiene and potential peer pressure.

At TAG (our 11-15 group) we have had visits from:

• A Life Coach who runs a Young Person’s Life Coaching Service in Brighton and Hove. This session focussed on stress management and goal setting with a focus on managing the pressures of school.

• The LGBT worker from RU Ok? delivered a workshop focussing on age appropriate safety and education around drugs and alcohol

• A LGBT inclusive sports session focussing on the benefits of exercise and the opportunity to try boxing in a safe and inclusive environment.

• As an organisation we have led activities that includes:

• Group games, team building and the value of being ‘active’

• Group discussions about managing pressures and stress from school e.g. the importance of good sleep hygiene, balanced diet, taking time out for fun and seeking support if needed. The same issues have been an area of support in one-to-one sessions.

As we run groups and one-to-one support from a centralised location in Brighton, we are easily accessible from all areas of Brighton and Hove enabling young people to connect with others outside of their localised communities.

We have a group agreement, which enables young people to feel safe and supported in our youth groups and gives a clear expectation of behaviour whilst they are attending sessions. Although we have a small number of young people who are exhibiting anti-social behaviour, the group agreement is in place to not only help young people feel safe, but also challenges any anti-social behaviour in the groups. Staff are able to model effectively how to positively challenge anti-social behaviour whilst giving strategies and guidance to those who experience those behaviours in their communities.

Within our groups, we provide volunteering opportunities to improve young people’s readiness for employment, which includes Peer Role Models and Peer Educators. During the last six months we have had four young people volunteer at our under 16’s group TAG as Peer Role Models. The experience of being a Peer Role Model is something that in the present or in the future can be used to support job applications and help with employment opportunities or future volunteering opportunities, as well as building on skills such as creating activities and being a positive role-model. In addition, young people who engage in Peer Education are building their confidence, learning time management, improving public speaking skills and contributing to planning workshops to deliver in school settings.

As well as providing direct volunteering opportunities for young people, we have strengthened our links with representatives from BHCC apprenticeship schemes, we sign post young people to the service as options for their career development as, and when this is appropriate. We continue to remind young people of the fantastic opportunities that the organisations can provide with helping young people get into work.

Highlight a particular project you have delivered that demonstrates good youth work practice and evidences positive impact

For LGBT History month, we had several projects running throughout February in groups across the project. We made an LGBT Timeline to illustrate the significant events that have occurred in the past 20 years including legislation, culturally important milestones, such as TV or film representation of LGBT people, and coming out as LGBT.

This was an affirming piece of work and important for all of our young people. Young people participated in workshops and shared what from the timeline helped them to validate their identity. Young people fed back that they feel that there is a lack of LGBT representation in their worlds on a daily basis so the activities were significant in addressing this. Making an LGBT time line was also affirming to the young people because it was used at as an interactive display at the Brighton Museum LGBT History month open day.

We also had an art project to celebrate LGBT history month- this was across all of the groups. Young people made 3D decorations in the colours of the rainbow flag. Many young people got involved; it was particularly successful as it reached out to young people who do not usually get involved with art projects.

Please submit a case study that outlines the difference that a Youth Work Intervention has made to the life of a young person you have worked with

In September, R (Year 7) received one-to-one support in school to have space and support to come out to himself and others as gay. At the time of one-to-one support, R and his family had social services involvement; we have recently found out that social services are no longer involved. R has accessed the under 16’s group on a regular basis and whilst he has some additional needs due to having ADHD, he has settled in really well. R has made strong connections with several of the young people at TAG and with the workers. R spoke to a worker about how he had felt confident enough to ask ‘a boy out’. When R started attending the under 16’s group he presented as shy and nervous, he now comes across as confident in himself, eager to communicate with his peers and gets involved with the activities. R at times needs additional support with his behaviour and is good at seeking this out. We provide activities that R can use to manage his behaviour such as one-to-one time outside or art activities that he can settle into. R is a well-respected and valued young person in the group and all of the staff and young people benefit hugely from his happy outgoing enthusiastic personality and energy.

Equalities – Disabilities

Lead Organisation – Extratime

How have the services in your area, over this period, included young people in the development and delivery of your and other services?

We consult with both young people (YP) and parent/carers on a regular basis to ensure their views are at the heart of the club’s day to day activities and Extratime’s operational and strategic plans.

Thumbs up from R, who loves the sessions at Monster Studios where the Youth Club try their hand at drumming, guitar, and playing lead singer at the mic. This means YP are supported to take ownership and have a level of control of their youth club by making decisions and contributing to activities and planning. For some YP, communication can be challenging, but with appropriate support and the use of alternative communication methods as such as PECS and Makaton, all YP people have a voice in their clubs and schemes and the development ofservices in the city.

We consult regularly with parent carers and other key stakeholder who represent the views of YP. In October 2018 we commissioned an independent stakeholder consultation. Results from an online survey (194 parent carers) and a series of in-depth telephone interviews to capture the views of ‘harder to reach’ families (17) have informed Extratime’s forward plans. They are also contributing to the development of the broader ‘extended day’ as part of the reorganisation of the specialist school ‘hubs’ in the city.

Young people and their parent carers are also at the centre of our plans to develop Extratime’s new home at Portslade Village Centre. This includes repairs and essential maintenance to bring the Centre up to the appropriate legal H&S standards. With generous support from the council, local charities, companies and volunteers, Extratime is also investing in improvements to the Centre to support YP with SEND to feel valued in their new youth centre. Over the coming months the YP will be working with ‘Same Sky’ and ‘Carousel’ to express themselves though artwork to decorate the Centre.

Members of the Youth Club, J and R, making healthy food choices and handling money at the supermarket. Young people with SEND often face multiple disadvantages e.g. school exclusion / refusal, mental health issues. A recent report from B&H Disability register demonstrates; 55% of families of CYP with SEND live in or on the margins of poverty. 38% said their caring role means they can’t work and 33% have had to take less senior roles or reduce their hours. 15% of parent carers skip meals as they couldn’t afford to feed the whole family. (Amaze, September 2018)

Based on this data we are working towards increasing inclusion for YP with mild learning disabilities (LD), including formal volunteer opportunities for YP with SEND and subsidising user fees.

Extratime Youth Club is a city-wide project and as independent travel is not possible for the majority of participants transport support is provided.

Due to their learning disabilities, complex health conditions and autism, most YP at Extratime need high levels of specialist care and support to participate in youth activities.

Extratime offers a rare opportunity for them to have fun with others their age in a safe and supported mainstream setting away from school or parents.

Young people with SEND tell us they feel isolated, lonely, often bullied and sometimes depressed, anxious, and using self-harming behaviour to cope and express their feelings. Without support, they can’t just ‘hang out’ with others their age. This is backed up by national and local research (NHS, 2018, Amaze, 2016).

The youth club supports YPs to overcome feelings of difference, stigma and anxiety by creating a sense of community, helping them feel more connected to each other within club and the wider Extratime community. Their sense of belonging and familiarity of the structured routine develop new confidence to participate in group activities. The importance of diversity, equality and tolerance is reinforced in this safe environment where individuals are celebrated for what they can achieve, and not judged for what they can’t.

Participating in group check-in, physical, creative and cookery activities alongside unstructured time to ‘hang-out’ each week builds their confidence and self-esteem. This facilitates development of stronger social and interpersonal skills, and greater Self-awareness, agency, confidence.

This club is unique in Brighton & Hove, and highly valued by young people and their families.

“Extratime is the best run club we have come across and our daughter C loves it….I don't worry at all when she is there. Lovely staff.” - Parent Carer, March 2019

Extratime has continued to work with YP schools and colleges to ensure we understand their individual needs, including accessing EHCPs, Behaviour and Communication Plans. This ensures a smooth transition between school/college and club and the team are aligned with other professionals to best support and encourage the young people. The Youth Club is especially important for young people with SEND going through transition from children’s to adult services as it provides a consistent space during a challenging period of change.

Cookery sessions at Extratime help young people with SEND to build valuable healthy lifestyles, kitchen skills and interpersonal skills

Without support JM, who has complex needs and uses a wheelchair, is unable participate in sport other young men his age

Council house tenancies data is not included here but the B&H Disability database shows 27% of households with a child with SEND live in council tenancies and over one third of households with SEND young people live in social housing.

All YP at Extratime are supported to develop their self-confidence, self-esteem and life skills. The club gently challenges YP with SEND to develop their potential, at whichever level is appropriate. These skills support their development, including pathways to volunteering and employment for some. YP with more severe LD and / or complex needs are unlikely to enter employment, so this work is important to support their transition from school / college to adult services.

Given the high numbers of young people with SEND accessing mainstream provision across the Youth Grants Programme (342 individuals), we are working with our youth service partners to increase inclusion for more YP with SEND, creating volunteer opportunities and subsidising user fees.

Activities at the club help develop YP education and empower them to make choices about living a healthier lifestyle. This includes cookery where YP have become more confident in healthy behaviours, understanding and participating in food preparation, using kitchen appliances and handling money.

Inclusive sport-based activities continue to be popular and fun. Football, basketball, table tennis, dancing, ball games and Boccia help support healthier lifestyles, Albion in the Community (AITC) and Brighton Golf ran workshops throughout the year. Participating in sports promotes positive interpersonal skills, including teamwork and communication.

“Football was so fun, I know her (AITC worker) she tells me I have done a good job, it makes me happy”- Young Person after AITC workshop

Highlight a particular project you have delivered that demonstrates good youth work practice and evidences positive impact

At Extratime, the strengths and interests of each young person underpins all of our work. Their individual and complex needs mean that a person-centred approach is vital to support each young person to meet their own potential at their own pace. For young people with severe anxiety due to autism, this means taking time to understand them, communicating in a way that’s right for them (including signing, PACS for non-verbal young people) and understanding challenging behaviour as a communication method.

A has been attending Extratime’s youth club two years. He enjoys the mixing with his peers and staff and has grown into a sociable young man. As A has reached puberty, his behaviour and the control he has over his behaviour has become more challenging, both at school and more predominantly at home. He is incredibly anxious, repeatedly asking questions or getting stuck on things he wants to say. At home his severe anxiety can lead to physical outbursts.

The team work with A to create in an environment which is consistent and calm. He knows what to expect and knows what he can and cannot do. Extratime provides a safe space for without sudden changes or things which will cause him distress. This means A enjoys coming to youth club: he loves sports, cooking, the various workshops (especially AITC) and also playing board games. He loves interacting with the staff and young people. Recently he has supported a new young person to settle into the club, playing sports with him and teaching him games such as Operation and Monopoly.

Youth club also provides his parent carers with a much needed break from their demanding caring responsibilities, providing them with the confidence that A is safe. It is crucial for their well-being that A has this time with Extratime where he can socialise and be happy.

“Saved my mental health” – Parent carer, March 2019

Please submit a case study that outlines the difference that a Youth Work Intervention has made to the life of a young person you have worked with

AW has been coming to youth club for two years. She has learning disability, autism and emotional and behavioural difficulties. This includes presenting with depression, self-harm and an eating disorder. Over the last two years she has built strong and trusted relationships with the Youth Workers at club and feels secure in sharing when she has self-harmed. She knows she will not be judged but will be able to talk openly about her feelings and anxiety, helping her manage these in more positive ways. We work closely withAW’s family to have appropriate support strategies in place to ensure her wellbeing is protected and supported.

Equalities – BME

Lead Organisation – BMEYPP

How have the services in your area, over this period, included young people in the development and delivery of your and other services?

The BMEYPP operates the BME Youth Champions Project. Champions are young people aged 16 to 25, who volunteer on project activities and who organise activities and events. During this period young people have volunteered at the BME youth drop in sessions.

Young people have designed the Positive Images Project and the activities are all based on young people’s ideas. As a result we have applied for additional funding with the young people. Their activity ideas are: to produce a booklet about the lives of BME young people in Brighton and Hove, carrying out interviews with positive role models in the BME communities, produce posters and postcards showing positive role models in BME communities, they will also plan a launch event later in the following year.

They BME Youth Champions have led debates, discussions and workshops in writing poetry and prose, identity paintings, and collages, leading discussions as well as the activities themselves.

During the holidays the young people have organised trips. They decided on trips they wanted to do at the drop in sessions, and some young people have booked tickets, and travel supported by the workers.

The BMEYPP provides safe and supportive BME only spaces where young people are free to be themselves and discuss any issues that are important to them. This has included discussions regarding identity development, comparisons between different cultures and how they are perceived in the media and wider communities, how they feel they are treated differently due to their race and cultural identities, stereotypes, their responses to radicalisation and the impacts on them as young people.

We have been working with a young woman who is on the autistic spectrum and who is high functioning, but whose behaviour has been challenging for young people and staff. Staff have had numerous conversations with individual and groups of young people regarding the nature of difference and special educational needs, and how this impacts on people (without outing her and her situation). In most cases this has enabled young people to be and show more understanding. The staff observed that there are other young people who may have special educational needs, such as high functioning autism and ADHD but have not been identified by other professionals such as school teachers, and fear that their issues are being defined as ‘bad behaviour’

We have been working with a number of young people, mainly young men, who are experiencing ongoing difficulties at school. We have been providing space where the young people can share their experiences with workers and each other. This has enabled us to share techniques for dealing with difficulties, particularly involving relationships with teachers and with their peers, and dealing with anger and residual feelings that the young people have had.

Many of the young people experience a range of issues that affect their mental health and well-being, racism, racist incidents and bullying leave young people feeling isolated and affects their confidence and self-esteem. Parental pressures, particularly in relation to academic aspirations and achievements puts pressures on young people to study hard and sometimes subjects that are not interested in, increases their experiences of stress and anxiety. We have been able to be a sounding board for young people, and pass on advice on strategies for example having frank discussions with parents, using relaxation techniques to deal with stress and anxiety. Proving opportunities for young people to develop positive self-esteem through positive Black Histories activities. Young people have told us that one of the things they like about coming to the BMEYPP is that they no longer feel that they are alone. We think this is because they meet and discuss with others common issues.

At each drop in session and events that we offer a cooking a cultural dish activity. As well as enabling the young people to explore cultures, it enables some young people to eat a meal. This is very important to some of our members who have been in temporary accommodation or those who are sofa surfing or vulnerable to homelessness.

Highlight a particular project you have delivered that demonstrates good youth work practice and evidences positive impact

Positive Images Project

During a youth drop in session, we engaged young people in a discussion about the government’s Building a Stronger Britain Strategy and outcomes. We discussed ways in which ‘Fewer people holding attitudes, beliefs and feelings that opposed shared values’ and also how we could increase their ‘sense of belonging and civic participation’ in Brighton and Hove. Young people brainstormed different ideas for activities, and then prioritised to what they felt was achievable. These ideas were used to form the Positive Images Project. Young people want to make a book sharing their experiences of living in Brighton and Hove, and to organise a launch event with a multi-cultural fashion show, food and readings from their book. The project will be involved in all aspects of producing the book, including various expressive writing and arts workshops to produce pieces, interviewing techniques workshop and carryout interviews with peers and role models in the community, photography workshop. They will also plan and deliver the launch event.

Youth Work Practice

· Educational – young people will learn new skills; learn through expressing themselves and reflection, learning soft skills such as working together in a team, communication skills. Champions will also learn leadership skills through running workshops. Young people will gain knowledge and awareness of the lives of others through interviews with role models and ways in which they achieve their own goals.

· Participative – young people have been involved in the development of the project since its inception, and continue to make decisions through the project, timetabling workshops and are currently planning interviews.

· Anti-Discriminatory – the project is designed to give a voice to BME young people from different backgrounds who do not usually have a platform. We are aiming to include young people from diverse communities and with diverse lived experiences.

Voluntary – All young people have chosen to take part in the project

Please submit a case study that outlines the difference that a Youth Work Intervention has made to the life of a young person you have worked with

H is 13 years old, of dual heritage. She is an only child, lives with her mum and has very limited contact with her father who lives in London. Her mother does not work, and there are financial pressures in the household. She has been regularly attending the drop in sessions for the past three years. At first it seemed she fitted in well, was liked and seen as a joker in the group. She spoke openly and frankly about experiences at school, being bullied, having racist comments directed at her, teachers not listening to her, but she would usually end up being punished. On occasions her behaviour appeared ‘odd’ and other members complained about her actions, staff challenged her about her behaviour, but no sooner had she been spoken to, she would carry on as before and the message did not seem to get through. Her behaviour became more erratic, she seemed to have ‘melt downs’ where she would end up screaming, shouting and in tears. However she did continue to come to the sessions each week, so we felt that she enjoyed coming to the sessions which was confirmed by her mother. During a cinema trip worker observed her behaviour and demeanour and we felt that maybe there was more going on for this young woman than we first thought. We did research about her behaviour and felt that she may be on the autistic spectrum or suffering ADHD. We arranged to meet with her mother, who confirmed that H was indeed on the autistic spectrum and had an EHCP in place at school. She had not informed us of this because she wanted her daughter to be treated as ‘normal’. She did not want the project to tell other members about her daughter’s condition, although the information was shared within the staff team meeting.

H has a good relationship with one of the staff team who spoke to H and asked her how we could support her to take part in the sessions easier, where she could feel safe (and how we could keep other young people safe) and enjoy her experiences at the BMEYPP. We have put a plan in place where a member of staff are responsible for checking in with H at the start of the session, that they spend most of the session supporting her during activities. She is encouraged to state how she is feeling and if she starts to feel any form of stress or distress during the session and we make arrangements for her to be picked up earlier if she wants or feels she needs to.

As well as working with H and her mum, we have also spoken to members at the Drop in regarding issues of diversity and difference, particularly in relation to people with learning disabilities. Some young people have responded well and have shown a more sympathetic approach when dealing with H and other members at the sessions.

As well as this the staff team have prioritised training for staff in dealing with different aspects of working with young people with learning and physical disabilities.

Appendix

Youth Grants Programme 2017 – 2020

Service Area

Providers

Summary of activities, projects and support

Budget

2017/18 (1/2 year)

Budget

2018/19 and 2019/

2020

Hangleton, Portslade and West Hove

The Hangleton & Knoll Project (lead)

YMCA (partner)

· Family Mediation

· Group work activities/programmes / project work

· Detached youth work

· Open access sessions

· Safe spaces

· Healthy relationships and lifestyle work

· Peer support

· Participation

· Young Leaders programme

· Pathways to education/ accreditation

· Volunteering opportunities

· Targeted individual work

· Mediation and Housing advice

· Counselling

· Activity based therapies

£39,500

£79,000

Whitehawk and The Deans

The Trust for Developing Communities (lead)

The Deans Youth Project

Impact Initiatives

(partners)

· Open-access youth clubs

· Detached youth work

· New and challenging activities

· Sports

· User led activities

· Work with young people with disabilities

· Targeted work

· Project work

· Drop-ins

£30,500

£61,000

Service Area	Providers	Summary of activities, projects and support	Budget 2017/18 (1/2 year)	Budget 2018/19 and 2019/ 2020
Moulsecoomb & Patcham	The Trust for Developing Communities (lead) Impact Initiatives, Albion in the Community Extratime, Friends, Families and Travellers, Bevendean Activities Group (partners)	· Detached youth work · Open-access youth clubs · New and challenging activities · Special needs clubs · High participation activities · Sports · BME work · Individual targeted work	£44,000	£88,000
Central Hove and Brighton	Brighton Youth Centre (lead) Young Peoples Centre, Tarner Project, Youth Advice Centre (partners)	· Detached youth work · Open-access youth clubs · Participation and project- based work · Special needs support · Sports · Targeted work · Girls group · Young Carers sessions · Weekday drop-in advice service · Activity and youth work session (PRU students) · Adopted Young People’s Group · Specialist health work · Casework, inc brief interventions and group work around risk · Arts Workshops and events (gigs) · B.Fest	£49,500	£99,000
Equalities: LGBTU	Allsorts Youth Project Ltd	· Group work · Individual support · Staff liaison · Joint projects · Training	£9,500	£19,000

Service Area	Providers	Provision	Budget 2017/18 (1/2 year)	Budget 2018/19 and 2019/ 2020
Equalities: BME	Black and Minority Ethnic Young People’s Project	· Weekly drop-in · BME youth engagement · BME Youth Champions · Leadership programme · Holidays and summer activities · Black History Month · Sports development project · BME Communities Collaboration Project · Schools work	£9,500	£19,000
Equalities: Disabilities	Extratime	· Arts, sports and cultural activities · Participation · Drop-in	£9,500	£19,000
Aspire		· Contribution to the recording system for voluntary sector projects	£8,000	£16,000
		Total	£200,000	£400,000