Network Annual Report 2014 - Forest Youth Workers Network

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NETWORK ANNUAL REPORT
2013 – 2014
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Charity number: 1103006
OUR MISSION : The Youth Workers' Network works with youth groups to ensure
high quality and safe provision, that offers fun, raises aspirations and improves
opportunities and outcomes for young people living in the Forest of Dean.
Youth Forum members sleeping out to raise
funds for Gloucestershire Nightstop – a charity
helping homeless young people
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The Main Place, Old Station Way, COLEFORD Glos GL16 8RH.
01594 839191
admin@forestyouthworkersnetwork.org.uk
www.forestyouthworkersnetwork.org.uk
www.forestyouthforum.org.uk
BLOG address - www.forestyouthforum.wordpress.com
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CHAIRMAN’S WELCOME
Given the Board of Trustee’s proposal being put to this year’s AGM to close the Network
charity at the end of March 2015, it is quite a painful task to look back over the last year and
thus be reminded of all the good things that we have yet again achieved through the inspiration
and commitment of our wonderful staff, Katie and Shari, and the enthusiastic young members
of our Youth Forum. I am, as ever, very grateful to each of them for their professionalism, fun
and hard work. I particularly congratulate the Youth Forum – and Katie – for their support of
homeless young people and the sleep-out in not great weather to raise funds for
Gloucestershire Nightstop.
At last year’s AGM in November 2013 members discussed the issues then raised by
Trustees around our inability to attract sufficient funding, to recruit active Trustees or secure
member / young people participation in the current economic climate and as a consequence of
the loss of much youth provision in the Forest. Members were reluctant to approve drastic
decision making at that point but acknowledged the difficult issues and sought more time. At
that point the Forest of Dean District Council expressed alarm about the prospect of the
Network – and thus the Youth Forum – closing and proposed a substantial funding package to
ensure that we continued to operate with core services for the full 2014/15 financial year. This
unexpected level of support has been very much appreciated and, on behalf of all Network
Trustees, I should like to put on record our gratitude to District and County Council Officers and
Members for their recognition of the work we have achieved and their real efforts to help us
through difficult times.
Since April this year, a revised Service Level Agreement has enabled Shari to continue to
coordinate a range of high quality training opportunities for members and young people, whilst
a grant from the Mid-Counties Cooperative has paid for trainers’ fees and expenses. Shari has
managed to maintain this programme whilst working only 6 hours a week with us. Her reduced
hours have meant that the focus on developing the Swap Shop was taken into ‘core work’, with
gentle encouragement, rather than proactive co-ordination of swaps between member groups.
Katie’s working hours were also reduced during the year but her focus has remained on
supporting the Youth Forum activities – see the full report on pages 4 - 6. She also assumed
responsibility for progressing the Network Action Team – renamed Youth Reps – a project that
was outlined last year. Although a number of young people expressed interest in the project
and particularly in contributing events for young people across the district, this initiative has
struggled to ‘take off’. Trustees have had to decide to return the unspent balance to the
Lottery’s Awards for All. Similarly troublesome, the Youth Parish Council work – aiming to
support young people in the rural areas to establish provision and activities in their local
community – has also been curtailed this year. A full report was prepared to explain the issues,
particularly in engaging adults to help enthusiastic young people in their communities, for both
funders, the District Council and the Summerfield Trust. The sad news for the Network,
though an excellent situation for Katie, is that she resigned from the Network at the end of
August in order to devote her time to the private young people’s counselling work, which has
proved to be so much in demand that she can no longer juggle this with her Network role. Katie
has been such a breath of fresh air, creative, committed and great to work with. We shall miss
her but wish the best of futures.
Whatever happens at this year’s AGM, this will be the last Annual Report from me; I shall
feel somewhat bereft. If members confirm the closure proposal after March, it will feel so sad
that we cannot continue to provide our young people in the Forest with the fun, challenges and
innovative and meaningful opportunities that give them a head start in life… but, at the same
time, we must be very proud of what we have achieved over last 13 years. I am still in touch
with many former Youth Forum members and it makes my heart swell to hear how their time
with us made a genuine difference in so many ways to their career paths and personal growth.
I am proud also that we have been a backbone to the Forest youth sector for the past decade,
helping to ensure that youth work in the Forest has been delivered safely and to high quality
and with a support network for new staff and volunteers. It is a new era now and I wish you all
the very best.
Jane Jarman, Chairman
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…….. IMPROVING OPPORTUNITIES
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NETWORK ACHIEVEMENTS
- TRAINING 2013-2014
This has been another successful year for the Network’s training programme for youth workers.
We have continued to provide the staple offerings of Food Safety, Safeguarding and First Aid
training, which are always valuable to voluntary youth groups in particular. We have also had
training on a range of new, interesting and challenging topics including Self-Harm, Eating
Disorders, Funding, Mental Health, and E-Safety. As always, we have regularly consulted with
member groups, and given them the option to request what training they would like. This year
we instigated a new policy of charging for non-attendance proportionally to the overall cost of
the particular course, as opposed to the flat rate of £5 for attendance. This has helped to
improve the overall attendance rate to 97%, from 82% the previous year. Thank you to
everyone who has made the extra effort to attend, or notify us with some advance warning if
they find they are unable to make it. A total of 124 training places were taken in the period
from November 2013 to July 2014, which represented a total of 72 individuals.
Sadly we had very poor attendance at our Campaign workshop for young people in December
2013, which led to a lull in the young person’s training provision, and some soul-searching
about how to provide opportunities that young people will choose to take up. It may be that this
issue with attendance reflects a general struggle which most of us are experiencing in this
area. There was some hope that if the Youth Reps (previously NAT) project took off, the older
young people there could benefit from these training opportunities, and help to recruit other
young people to take part too. Sadly the Youth Reps project was not to be. We are open to
suggestion as to how to best reach local young people with our workshops; one option we are
currently pursuing is bringing short workshops directly to member groups, for them to host and
if possible open up to other young people from elsewhere too.
This has been a quiet year for the Swap Shop, although the training programme has enabled
some groups to offer their training and / or premises in return for points, which has in turn
enabled us to stretch our training budget further.
The Gloucestershire Community Foundation grant for training stretched further than we could
have hoped, and we were grateful to them for allowing us an extended period in order to spend
it. We are still covering some tutor costs through the grant from Mid-Counties Co-op, from last
year. This year we have been grateful to the FoDDC for their flexibility in allowing us to transfer
our Service Level Agreement across, to support the training programme. The SLA has some
enhanced reporting requirements, which has meant that we have started approaching trainees
for extra feedback, approximately a month after they have attended a training session. We
appreciate trainees’ willingness to give us this information, and it has been both interesting and
encouraging to hear about the ongoing benefits our training sessions have provided.
Thank you to everyone who has attended or otherwise contributed to this successful
programme.
Some feedback from trainees:
 “Explored a lot of topics that I had not thought about”
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“Learnt new techniques and gained greater understanding”
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“Lots of knowledge and awareness, information given that was relevant and valuable. Good
practical activities too.”
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“The course was pitched well and informative without taking too long”
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“It was delivered in a easy to understand way and with a great deal of humour.”
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“Learnt a lot”
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“Brilliant course! Very informative!”
…….. IMPROVING OPPORTUNITIES
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YOUTH FORUM ACHIEVEMENTS IN 2013 - 2014
SOCIAL EVENTS & PHOTOGRAPHY COMPETITION
The Youth Forum, supported by Katie and Graham, has continued to meet fortnightly
throughout the year. Members have held two seasonal social events and also shared
volunteering experiences with other young people:
 Youth Forum Christmas Social: Forum members went together to Pizza Express in
Monmouth to celebrate their hard work through the year 2013.
 Asha Centre and Hope visit: Forum members met at the Asha Centre, Flaxley, with
volunteers from Asha Centre, the Grange Village and members of Hope Support Services.
Team building games were played and our respective work was presented to one another.
 Summer picnic and rounders: Forum members went to Wenchford for a summer picnic
and rounders to celebrate their hard work and break for the summer 2014.
Two Forum members – Emily Goy and Poppy Godden – were also interviewed on Radio 4’s
‘Open Country’, (broadcast on 11 September). The programme explores the lives of people in
the Forest of Dean and their feelings towards the landscape and culture of the area.
Snap Photography competition: Forum
members devised a photography
competition for young people. Two age
categories were established, as well as an
open theme. Young People emailed their
photos in to the Youth Forum, and
winning images were printed onto large
weather-proof boards for a touring
exhibition.
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Snap Exhibition launch: Winning
photographers and their family and friends
were invited to an early evening exhibition
launch hosted by the Forum members at
Cinderford Artspace.
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Snap tour: Ten winning photographs (see back
page) have been exhibited to the public at the
following places- Cinderford Artspace; The
Forester windows; Speech House Activities
Festival; Wye Valley River Festival; Woolaston
Fayre and Redbrook Fete.
…….. IMPROVING OPPORTUNITIES
Forum members at
the SNAP private view
evening, Artspace.
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YOUTH FORUM ACHIEVEMENTS:
CONSULTATIONS, LEARNING & CHARITY CAMPAIGNING
Consultations:
Healthwatch Consultation: A member of the Healthwatch Team attended a Youth Forum
meeting to gather feedback about new documentation being developed and also to hear views
about improvements needed to the Health Service from young people’s perspective.
Heritage Consultation: A member of the team preparing a major Heritage Lottery bid
consulted Forum members on issues related to their Forest heritage – for example: how they
felt about living in the Forest of Dean, what they valued about the cultural heritage, and how
they saw it being best celebrated in the future.
NHS Commissioning consultation: A local GP and Clinical Commissioning Group staff
member joined a Forum meeting to explain the commissioning process and to seek young
people’s views on accessing health provision and services and how this might be improved.
Training and learning:
Gloucestershire Nightstop presentation: Forum members were visited by Gloucestershire
Nightstop who held a session explaining how the service works, inspiring discussion and
showing a film.
Effective Photograph Judging workshop: Sally and Roli from Cinderford Artspace came
along to support Youth Forum members in planning how they might judge The Snap entries.
Important factors in a “good photo” were discussed and judging criteria decided.
Dementia Friends: Youth Forum members were given a session on Dementia Awareness,
followed by a quiz and were finally made into “Dementia Friends” as part of a wider government
scheme.
Campaign and Charity work:
Involvement with Forest Food Bank:
Youth Forum members decided to end
their involvement with the Forest Food
Bank, after having supported this chosen
charity for 12 months. They wrote a letter
of thanks to the Food Bank, with some
helpful feedback about better supporting
and encouraging young volunteers.
SOS Sleep-out to fundraise for Glos
Nightstop: In order to raise awareness of
the plight of homeless young people in the
Forest, Forum members organised a
sponsored tent-less sleep-out and raised
money for Gloucestershire Nightstop. A
fire was kept all night, faces were painted,
and lots of money was raised by 13
dedicated individuals.
…….. IMPROVING OPPORTUNITIES
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YOUTH FORUM ACHIEVEMENTS:
YOUTH ACTIVITIES FUND
The Youth Forum manages the £45000 YAF fund on behalf of the Forest of Dean District Council
and Gloucestershire County Council, to ensure that young people are fully involved in the decision
making for this programme, which rewards applications written by young people for local activities.
Allocations December 2013: A total sum of £41,303 was requested by 15 groups. The Youth
Forum allocated £25,853 to 12 of those groups, with grants including £150 for college students to
help run a fundraising event, and the maximum of 5,000 for the overall running of a voluntary
youth club.
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ALLOCATIONS September 2014
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NAME OF GROUP
Young Carers
Purpose of grant
A 20 week project towards an arts award; including circus,
fine art, pottery and animation.
Music and dance project
40 arts workshops, with different activities and exhibition at
the end
For team equipment, transport and a trip to a stadium.
Training & exam fees to enable 12 young people to gain
level 1 coaching qualification
Funding transport, venue hire and weekly activities of Bream
Devils integrated youth club.
Weekly sessions, young people hosting 2 professional
theatre shows and working towards Arts Award
Monthly activities in support of young people going through
a family health crisis.
25 young people to take part in week long film making
course and show a premiere
Towards outside activities, including overhauling their
garden area, growing food and creating sculptures.
To overhaul their garden area to create safe outdoor space
for the youth café.
To run accredited citizenship qualifications and volunteering
opportunities
gardening tools for young volunteers to help older people
manage their gardens
Activity and running costs for 8 sessions per term in support
of young carers.
Crossroads Autism
Project
project costs
Arts Award Artspace
CANDI
Creative Mindz
Ellwood Football Club
FoD Gymnastics
Forest Pulse
Found in the Forest
Hope Support Services
Lydney Community
Centre
Lydney Youth Café
Newent Chill Out Zone
The Gaff
Upcycling Project
…….. IMPROVING OPPORTUNITIES
ALLOCATED
£2,440
£1,300
£2,300
£1,500
£1,000
£3,800
£3,700
£2,671
£1,100
£2,140
£2,140
£2,140
£1,573
£2,800
£1,000
TREASURER’S REPORT
AUDITED ACCOUNTS 2013 – 2014
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Forest of Dean Youth Workers' Network
Balance Sheet as at the 31st March 2014
£
£
Balance brought
forward at 1.4.13
20,395.24
Expenditure
Income
24,049.31
Balance carried
forward at 31.4.14
Current Account
Deposit Account
Sub Total
Total
44,444.55
30,412.56
733.63
13,298.36
14031.99
14031.99
Total
44,444.55
Statement of Income and Expenditure
for the year ending 31st March 2014
Income
Grants
Interest
Activities
FoDDC Service
Level Agreement
Training
Other
Sub Total
Balance of
expenditure over
Total
£
Expenditure
16,111.00
8.58
22.21
7,000.00
828.70
78.82
24,049.31
£
Core Costs
Youth Forum
Swap Shop
Parish Project
Training
NAT Project
Salaries
HRMC
4,181.83
2,258.54
6.80
543.28
2,723.70
542.23
17,897.76
2,258.42
Total
30,412.56
6363.25
30,412.56
…….. IMPROVING OPPORTUNITIES
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TREASURER’S REPORT
AUDITED ACCOUNTS continued
Cash Reconciliation for the year ending 31st March 2014
£
Bank Accounts at
Bank Accounts at
1.4.13
31.3.14
£
Current Account
506.19
Current Account
3,221.38
Deposit Account
19,889.05
13,298.36
Sub Total
20,395.24
Income (+)
Sub Total
24,049.31
44,444.55
Deposit Account
Sub
Total
less un-presented
Cheques
Expenditure (-)
30,412.56
Total
14,031.99
Total
14,031.99
Un-presented Cheques at 31st March 2014
Cheque Number
Payee
422
Salvation Army
539
Indogo Project
541
GAVCA
Coleford Area
543
Partnership
545
K Pritchard
546
Giles
548
K Pritchard
549
HMRC
550
M Duncan
37.50
440.60
17.55
42.48
708.53
649.65
103.89
320.05
167.50
2,487.75
Total
General Funds at the 31st March
2014
Balance carried forward
914.32
2,508.13
3,697.77
1,000.00
8,120.22
14031.99
Less restricted funds
Total
…….. IMPROVING OPPORTUNITIES
2487.75
£
Restricted Funds at the 31st March 2014
Forest Youth Forum
Training Project
NAT
Redundancy Fund
8
16,519.74
8,120.22
5911.77
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WINNERS OF THE YOUTH FORUM’S SNAP COMPETITION
NETWORK EXECUTIVE
GROUP MEMBERS
2013 - 2014:
Rev Sarah Bick,
Jane Jarman
(Chair);
Sally Gibson;
Gareth Ovens;
Graham Spearman
(Treasurer);
Lorna Russell.
Cllr Jane Horne
is our FoDDC
representative.
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NETWORK STAFF
2013 – 2014
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Development Worker Katie Pritchard
Project Worker –
Shari Vandervelde
PAYROLL
CONSULTANT
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Margaret Duncan
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…….. IMPROVING OPPORTUNITIES
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