YMCA DownsLink Group

Author: Anthony Irtelli

  • YMCA DownsLink Group Covid-19 Update

    YMCA DownsLink Group Covid-19 Update

    [vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]At YMCA DownsLink Group our utmost priority is the safety and wellbeing of the thousands of young people we support every day. Covid-19 (Coronavirus) presents an unprecedented challenge in our lifetime but our staff and volunteers are committed to doing whatever it takes, including developing new ways of working, to ensure that we continue to provide our vital services throughout this time.

    We are working hard to ensure that our frontline services stay open and operate as normally as possible during this difficult period. Staff are being redeployed, where necessary, to ensure our supported housing projects continue to provide a safe home for our vulnerable young people. Clear contingency plans are in place to ensure the safety of all residents and staff if anyone develops symptoms of Covid-19.

    Our advice services, including counselling (YMCA Dialogue), our Youth Advice Centre (YMCA YAC) and one-to-one support for young people at risk of sexual exploitation (YMCA WiSE) will continue to operate through telephone support and video links where possible.

    In some instances, where schools remain open, our counselling services may use these as a base from which to operate. However, mainly these services will now be delivered via telephone or online. All details will be published on our website.

    Clearly, there will be increased pressure on our services, but we are committed to protecting the vulnerable young people we support through this uncertain time, a time when they may need us most.

    We would like to thank you for your continued support which enables us to make a life-changing difference to some of the most marginalised in our community.

    If you would like to receive any further information then please do email us at  [email protected].[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row]

  • Sleep Easy, Our Biggest Fundraiser, Postponed until October 2020

    Sleep Easy, Our Biggest Fundraiser, Postponed until October 2020

    With a heavy heart, we’ve taken the difficult decision to postpone, Sleep Easy, our biggest fundraising event of the year until Friday 9th October. Our four challenge events were due to take place this Friday (20th March 2020) but due to the ongoing Coronavirus outbreak, we’ve taken the difficult decision to postpone in order to protect the health and safety of our valued supporters, staff and volunteers, as well as that of the wider community.

    We realise this may cause some disappointment, but we hope that anyone already signed up will be able to reschedule to Friday 9th October 2020 instead. So far, you have raised over £15,000 to support vulnerable young people in your community and this money will be carried over to the rescheduled event. Your donations and fundraising efforts are needed more than ever during this difficult time so we would encourage you to keep going and together we will be able to smash our target in October.

    However, if you are unable to take part in the new event, or would like to offer your supporters a refund, please let us know and we can support you with this.

    Many thanks for all your support so far and apologise for any inconvenience this may cause you. If you have any questions, please contact us: [email protected]

  • YMCA Safe Space Report Reveals Real Price of Damaging Cuts to Youth Services

    YMCA Safe Space Report Reveals Real Price of Damaging Cuts to Youth Services

    Young people believe youth services are vital in battle against crime, gang culture and loneliness, as funding reaches lowest point in a generation


    As one of the biggest providers of youth services in the South East, we’re backing YMCA’s national campaign to restore the funding for youth services across the UK. The findings from YMCA England & Wales latest report, Safe Space (LINK),  make grim reading and we’re asking people to show their support by signing this petition.

    The Safe Space report reveals that one in four young people (25%) feel so afraid of gangs they are unable to spend time with friends outside of school. This comes as more than half (55%) feel that a primary purpose of youth services should be to keep young people off the streets, however only 50% of young people were able to identify any youth services near them.

    The knock-on effect was that young people (32%) raised concerns that spending time with friends outside of school was limited as they did not feel safe on the streets. They also said that fear of being a victim of crime (22%) and knife crime specifically (17%) stopped them from spending time with friends away from school. This comes as almost a fifth (18%) wanted more youth crime interventions locally.

    However, youth services are not just about preventing crime. Additional findings revealed that a third of young people (33%) have concerns about their future, with the opportunity to develop new skills (56%) and help improve confidence and self-esteem (55%) listed among the top reasons why youth services are important to them. However, the main reason highlighted was the chance to have fun and make friends (57%), something that should be fundamental to the life of every young person.

    Almost a third (29%) said they do not have an adult outside of their family who they trust to talk to about their problems, and 29% said they have nowhere to go to socialise outside of school.

    Youth services offer a vital lifeline within local communities, providing young people with support, advice, and intervention, and yet as funding continues to decline, more and more young people find themselves alone and without anywhere safe to go. Research released by YMCA earlier this year uncovered a 70% real-terms decline in funding across England and Wales since 2010.

     Our CEO, Chas Walker is deeply concerned about the findings and commented:

    “While young people are forced to bear the brunt of drastic and increased cuts, they are expected to do so quietly and without consequence. These findings show that what they are crying out for are the very things youth services are specifically designed to provide. Every young person deserves a safe space, a trusted adult and the opportunity to enjoy being young. Young people are telling us what they need – in their own words – and in order to support them now and in the future, they must be listened to and acted upon.”

    To help make sure the voices of young people are heard, we’re asking you to help make them the central focus of government action by signing this petition and raising the issue with your local MP. By reinvesting in youth services funding and introducing a national youth services strategy, local authorities would be able to deliver necessary youth services to meet the needs of young people in the community.

    We believe that together, we can ensure that these services, which provide a sense of belonging and keep young people safe, do not become a thing of the past.

  • Preventing youth homelessness

    Preventing youth homelessness

    Youth homelessness is increasingly visible in every town and city in the UK. At YMCA DownsLink Group we have seen a rapid increase in demand during the pandemic, with a 61% increase in young people presenting as homeless compared to the same time last year.  It is our mission to work towards preventing youth homelessness.

    Walk along any UK high street and you will see the evidence of rough sleeping. Why? Significant changes to housing benefit, alongside the staggering rise in house prices and rents, means homes, particularly in the South East, are increasingly unaffordable. For young people, it’s even worse. 1 in 5 homeless people in the UK are aged 16-24. In the UK, recent research estimates that over 103,000 young people are homeless or at risk of homelessness.* These figures only include young people who have asked their local council for help, so the true figure is likely to be much higher.

    The main causes of youth homelessness are varied and complex, but, one issue that has a major impact is family breakdown. Around six in ten young people who come to YMCA YAC (Youth Advice Centre) say they had to leave home because of serious arguments with their parents, or step-parents, and have been told to leave. Others may have faced a situation where it is no longer safe to stay. The frightening reality for many young people is suddenly having nowhere to call home. For a while, they ‘sofa surf’ with friends or family, but ‘favours’ can quickly run out until they find themselves with nowhere else to go.

    Teenage years can be tricky for everyone but imagine going through them without a family to fall back on, or a safe place to live? The knock-on effect of not having a stable home, at this crucial time, can be serious and long-lasting. In the worst cases, becoming homeless at a young age leads to a cycle of deprivation which is very difficult to break. The cycle may start with missing school and exams, which in turn affects training and education, leading to lack of self-esteem and mental health issues, which makes finding and keeping employment hard, leading to poverty and so on. For some drink and drugs provides an escape which makes the cycle even harder to break.

    Effective, early intervention is essential. That’s where the YMCA steps in. Our primary aim is to prevent any young person from becoming homeless in the first place. Our work preventing youth homelessness starts with our Youth Advice Centre (YAC);  it is at the front line for young people facing homelessness. Our flagship centre is in Brighton & Hove, but we want to open one in all the towns we work in. Money from fundraising activities will help us do this. YAC offers support and advice to young people who are homeless or threatened with homelessness, which includes; assessing needs, securing accommodation in the private rented sector and referrals to specialist housing schemes such as ‘Empty Homes’ and ‘Supported Accommodation’. But, more importantly, it also offers support and advice in many other areas, including family mediation. Last year, 61 families in Brighton took part in our family mediation programme, and of those, 48 stayed together, preventing 48 young people from becoming homeless.

    Care Leavers at High Risk of Youth Homelessness

    A group of young people who are particularly at risk of homelessness are care leavers. They often have little choice but to deal with the challenges and responsibilities of living independently at a young age. For some, traumatic experiences in their early years can make them especially vulnerable. Almost 30% of the young people living in our supported housing fall into this category. We provide a vital stepping stone for those young people who aren’t ready to live alone. As well as a safe place to live, our ‘More Than a Room’ programme aims to develop ‘resilience’ in our young residents, so, however difficult their start in life, they can go on and live successful, independent lives. The difference we make is clear; in 2019, over 70% of the young people living in our supported accommodation moved on positively to independent living.

    Mental Health

    Another significant factor in the cause of youth homelessness is the rise in mental health issues. We work extensively to help all young people by offering specialist support through counselling services (YMCA Dialogue) both in the community and via schools. Last year we provided 3,500 children, young people and families with therapy. In addition, around 68% of the young people living in our supported accommodation suffer from mental health difficulties. Some of the money raised by Sleep Easy will also go towards funding these services. In some cases, this means counselling with a qualified therapist. However, for others, it will be much more about helping them learn skills, that many of us take for granted, for how to ‘cope’ better with daily challenges. This often starts with building a trusted relationship with a project worker; an adult in their life who won’t let them down. This may be something they haven’t experienced before. This is a crucial element on the journey to resilience and isn’t a quick process. But over time, they begin to realise that this person will support them wholeheartedly, whilst holding boundaries around their behaviour so that they start to feel ‘safe’ both in the world and within.

    Poppy, a resident in our supported housing, explains it better than us:

    “You get a project worker when you move in, but I’ve got really bad trust issues. I don’t really trust a lot of people in my life. I trusted my mum and she let me down. So, it was hard for me to talk to my project worker, but we had a few sessions together and I was like, yeah, I like this woman, I like her a lot…just knowing that she was there made me feel safer. She became a person that I could rely on.”

    Gang Crime

    Young people may also be affected by gang-related problems and in some cases, it becomes too dangerous to stay in their local area. They become homeless as moving away isolates them from their existing support network of friends or family.

    Unaccompanied Asylum Seekers

    Another group disproportionately at risk of youth homelessness are refugees. This includes young people who have come to the UK as unaccompanied minors, fleeing violence or persecution in their own country. Many refugees who reach Britain will have endured a hazardous and often dangerous journey that began with an escape from their own country. Their only belongings may be limited to the clothes they stand up in. Our work in Guildford to help and support these vulnerable young people has achieved national recognition.

    Very often unaccompanied asylum-seeking children arrive in Surrey at a service station (M25 Jct 9) and are taken, by the police, to a police station. This in itself can be traumatic, as their experience of people in uniform whilst on their journey, may have been horrific. As they are found in Surrey they become the responsibility of Surrey County Council.  The council will call YMCA Guildford Foyer requesting a bed for a newly arrived asylum-seeking child. If one is available, we do all that we can to welcome them, including accessing a translation service, to ensure they understand everything about their new home, who we are and what to expect from us. This can happen at 2pm on a Thursday or 2am on a Sunday morning. We have a range of welcome packs, usually donated by the community.

    One of the greatest strengths of our work with this group is that we enrol them at Guildford College within days of arrival to ensure they feel part of the community and can continue their studies. We also give them access to the range of training and support on offer as part of our ‘More Than a Room’ programme.  This is alongside speaking to the Home office about their arrival, taking them to the doctors, dentists and opticians. Often all they really need to do is sleep.

    Once they trust and respect the team at YMCA, and begin to take the opportunities open to them, we see these young people flourish.  Many develop the skills needed to move on successfully and ultimately, to belong, contribute, and thrive in their new community.

    Support us in preventing youth homelessness and giving young people a brighter future

     

    You can help us in our mission of preventing youth homelessness and in transforming young lives by becoming a ROOM SPONSOR in your local community. More Info HERE.

     

     

    *Centrepoint Databank Information

  • New night shelter and accommodation set to open before Christmas

    New night shelter and accommodation set to open before Christmas

    In the last 10 years, homelessness has increased significantly across the UK; last year, 320,000 people were recorded as homeless in Britain, a rise of 13,000, or 4%, on previous year’s figures and equivalent to 36 new people becoming homeless every day. Brighton is particularly affected by this issue and has some of the highest rough sleeping indices in the Country.  People sleeping rough die younger, are more likely to get ill, and are more vulnerable to becoming victims of violence than those in the general population

    In Brighton and Hove the YMCA has long been Involved in supporting Brighton and Hove City Council’s Rough Sleeping Strategy and its aim of ending rough sleeping in the city. Building on the legacy of Galvanise, a campaign aimed at ending street homelessness in Brighton and Hove, over the last few months we have been working with Brighton and Hove City Council, the Diocese of Chichester and the Churches Night Shelter to find a way to utilise St Patrick’s Church to meet the needs of some of the City’s most vulnerable residents.  St Patrick’s has a long association with the alleviation of homelessness in Brighton and Hove, and for many years provided hostel accommodation for former rough sleepers and single homeless people.  The hostel closed in June this year and since then both the hostel and the church have been largely unused.

    We are now proposing to reopen the hostel, to provide short-term homes for single homeless people, and a night shelter for up to 15 homeless people. The service is being commissioned by Brighton and Hove City Council and will be run by ourselves and the Churches Night Shelter, a coalition of local churches who have many years experience of providing night shelters across the city in rotating venues. The expectation is that the night shelter service will open in late November and the hostel will open in January 2020.

    How will the service be managed?

    • There will be three paid members of staff on duty all night, every night.
    • There will be no lone-working in any part of the service.
    • The service will benefit from volunteer and community support, which is at the heart of the ethos of St Patrick’s and the YMCA. To find out more about volunteer opportunities please email: [email protected]
    • All staff & volunteers will receive extensive training as part of their induction.
    • All residents of the hostel and those staying at the night shelter will be thoroughly risk-assessed before they are accepted.
    • The hostel and night shelter will operate 365 days a year, for an initial period of two years.

    Who will be responsible for the service/should we contact if we have concerns? 

    YMCA Downlink Group is the lead provider for the service and we’re pleased to be working with the Churches Night Shelter and the City Council to deliver important services to some of the most marginalised people in our Community of Brighton & Hove. You will find more about our work here: (https://staging.ymcadlg.org/what-we-do/accommodation/). If you have a specific query you can email us at [email protected]

    CEO Chas Walker said:

    YMCA DownsLink Group have provided social housing and charitable services in Brighton and Hove for 100 years and we have strong partnership links to the wider homelessness sector. St Patrick’s has an important history as a place of Christian worship and as a humanitarian resource in the City for single homeless people – our hope is that the YMCA and the Churches Night Shelter Project can write a new chapter of the story for St Patrick’s, inspired by faith-based values and commitment to supporting the most marginalised in our community.

  • YMCA Guildford Foyer celebrates win at national Youth Matters Awards!

    YMCA Guildford Foyer celebrates win at national Youth Matters Awards!

    Staff, volunteers, and residents from YMCA Guildford Foyer, part of YMCA Downslink Group, are celebrating after being named cream of the crop at the YMCA Youth Matters awards ceremony held on Friday 8 November.

    YMCA Guildford Foyer won the prestigious title of Diversity Award at the Youth Matters Awards 2019 for their Unaccompanied Asylum-Seeking Children (UASC) project.

    The YMCA Diversity Award recognises YMCAs that have actively encouraged and/or promoted diversity across either age, race, gender, sexual orientation, religion or disability.

    YMCA Guildford Foyer triumphed over strong competition from other projects across England and Wales during shortlisting, a public vote and a final decision by judges. It was praised for its achievements in securing housing for unaccompanied asylum-seeking children and helping them to integrate into society and feel safe. Over the last two years, the project has supported more than 45 UASC, bringing families back together, working with solicitors to achieve asylum claims and developing independent living skills.

    Paul Napthine, Head of Operations at Guildford commented:

    “We are overjoyed and excited to have won such a significant award and be recognised for our work championing diversity at our YMCA and supporting some incredible young people transform their own lives.

    “Thank you to everyone in the community who supported us; we couldn’t have won without you, it really shows that this group of young people has been accepted into Guildford’s community. We look forward to seeing YMCA Guildford Foyer get even better.”

    Youth Matters is YMCA’s national awards programme and has been an integral part of the charity’s calendar since 2009. Awards honouring the exceptional work and practice of YMCAs across England included Young Campaigner of the Year, Young Volunteer of the Year and Best Project of the Year.

    The Youth Matters Awards were given out in a glittering ceremony at the exclusive central London venue, 8 Northumberland Avenue, which was hosted by acclaimed broadcaster and TV presenter Nihal Arthanayake.

    Congratulations and well done to YMCA Guildford Foyer and to all our amazing winners and finalists! We’re looking forward to more incredible life-changing projects over the coming year.