YMCA DownsLink Group

Author: Debbie Watkins

  • How we work to keep children and young people safe from sexual exploitation

    The number of recorded incidents of online sexual abuse of children is growing. According to the National Police Chief’s Council, online cases represent 32% of child sexual abuse and exploitation.

    This is borne out by the ages and experiences of the children now being referred to our What is Sexual Exploitation (WiSE) team. The average age we work with is 12 to 20 years but we’ve seen an increase in children aged five to 10 and this is due to their access to the online world through games, social networking sites and apps.

    The risks to children and young people have also increased, with varied cases that include active perpetrators, the sharing of indecent images and international abuse. The impact on children is poor mental health and wellbeing, isolation, self-harm and the obscurity of what healthy, happy relationships and interactions look like.

    We provide trauma-informed support to children and young people who have been, or are at risk of being, sexually exploited. Our specialist workers, some of whom are former police officers, social workers and teachers, work across Sussex and Surrey.

    In 2023-2024 we supported 289 children and young people. These included complex exploitation cases which were referred to us through children’s services, health, education and the police.

    Another important part of our work is training professionals and focusing on prevention in schools.

    It’s vital for professionals working with children and young people to understand the challenges presented by the online world, how children interact and the language they use about their experiences. We want to support those who work with children and young people to increase their knowledge and confidence to spot the signs of child sexual exploitation. Our team help them create trauma-informed interventions, sharing our knowledge and resources for better contextual safeguarding.

    In March, we’ll be joining the National Child Exploitation Awareness day campaign. But in the meantime, you can read more on our important work here YMCA WiSE. If you’d like to find out more about our training for professionals and schools, please email [email protected].

  • Mayday and Bupa celebrate the achievements of our young people at YMCA’s Youth Matters Awards

    Mayday and Bupa celebrate the achievements of our young people at YMCA’s Youth Matters Awards

    We were at the national Youth Matters Awards celebrating not only incredible young people across YMCA, but also the projects and dedicated individuals who support and encourage them to thrive.

    It was a privilege to listen to stories of strength, courage and beating all the odds, and a lovely opportunity to celebrate our finalists and all the achievements of young people across the organisation. Although we didn’t win, we’re tremendously proud of our nominees.

    The night was hosted by TV presenter and personality Scarlett Moffatt, who shot to fame after appearing on Gogglebox and was later crowned Queen of the Jungle in I’m A Celebrity, Get Me Out of Here in 2016.

    But the real stars of the night were some remarkable people – young people, volunteers and colleagues – and the awards event was a chance to recognise and celebrate the invaluable work YMCAs do every day to transform lives and create brighter futures.

    We were delighted to invite some of our generous supporters – Doug B. and Linda Hearn from Mayday Group Limited and Nikki South and Sue Chambers from Bupa– and BHCC Cllr Tobias Sheard to join us and hear first-hand from the young people they are helping us to support.

    A massive well done to our young people, Nader, Georgia and Amanuel and our colleague Tobi. Here’s to you all!

    Read more about our amazing corporate partners here.

  • Corporate partners Suez and BestAtDigital transform the gardens at YMCA DownsLink Group

    Corporate partners Suez and BestAtDigital transform the gardens at YMCA DownsLink Group

    We want to say a huge thank you to two of our corporate partners SUEZ UK and BestAtDigital for their work on transforming the gardens in some of our supported housing projects.

    Suez have been working closely with our Hastings Foyer to transform the outdoor space with plants/pots and a BBQ. While BestAtDigital have been working closely with our Guildford Foyer to transform their outdoor space.

    Guildford Deputy Supported Housing Manager Jayne said: “The group were amazing, so chilled working alongside our residents and they performed a mighty task of upending self-seeded buddleia, so three rooms now have some natural daylight and it also looks great. Thanks for also saving some mint for the resident that likes to use it for tea!”

    (Pictured: the team from BestAtDigital in Guildford, followed by the Suez team in our Hastings Foyer)

    Read more about our amazing corporate partners here.

  • World Homeless Day and World Mental Health Day

    World Homeless Day and World Mental Health Day

    Today (10 October) is both World Homeless Day and World Mental Health Day.

    World Homeless Day draws attention to the needs of people experiencing homelessness, while World Mental Health Day is a day for mental health education, awareness and advocacy against social stigma. The two issues are deeply connected as poor mental health can be both a cause and a consequence of homelessness.

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

    Youth homelessness is on the rise, increasing by 12% in the last year in the South East of England. At YMCA DownsLink Group, we offer so much more than simply a bed: we provide access to education, training, employment, advice on dealing with finances, budgeting, personal relationships, nutrition and cooking, community involvement and more. Our aim is to enable young people to live independently.

    Last year, 1,094 young people were given a safe place to call home with us.

     

    Today also marks World Mental Health Day. At YMCA DownsLink Group we know that mental health and homelessness are closely linked.

    Out of the 1,064 young people who stayed with us last year, 625 of them had recorded mental health needs. This is figure is up nearly 20% from the previous year.

    Centrepoint reports that young people that had slept rough were more likely to experience mental health issues, formal mental health diagnoses, and alcohol and drug needs than young people who had not. They reported that 68.4% of those with experience of rough sleeping had mental health issues, compared to 51% of young people who had not slept rough.

    At YMCA DownsLink Group 5,000 young people were provided with counselling support last year. One of those young people was Mollie:

     

    “The therapy I had helped to unpack and make sense of my brain. We spoke about things in a logical way rather than being a jumble of thoughts, as it had previously felt like. It helped me to overcome the problems I was facing and changed the way that I think and speak to myself.” – Mollie

     

    Read more stories from young people here. 

     

    *Data from Centrepoint data bank and NHS England, 2023.

  • We’re FINALISTS in the Youth Matters Awards 2024!

    We’re FINALISTS in the Youth Matters Awards 2024!

    We are thrilled that we have four finalists in the national YMCA Youth Matters Awards 2024!

     

    • Amanuel Mezgebe – Young Achiever of the Year
    • Georgia Westbury–Young Campaigner of the Year
    • Nader Bahr and Tobi Roberts– Young Leader of the Year

    To find out more about our incredible nominees, click here.

    We would also like to thank you for voting and supporting all our nominees this year. YMCA England and Wales announced that there were 14,000 public votes over the past few weeks. And it is great to see so many different YMCAs represented across the award categories.

    The finalists will attend a prestigious awards ceremony in London on Friday 15 November where the winners of each category will be announced. Twelve coveted awards will be up for grabs across a range of categories, epitomising the incredible work being done to transform lives and enrich communities daily.

    Watch the video below to see last year’s highlights, or read our article about the night here.

    We will of course keep you updated with how they get on this year. It goes without saying though – they’re all winners in our eyes.

  • A special visit from YMCA India

    A special visit from YMCA India

    We had the pleasure of welcoming members of YMCA India recently, to talk about the work we do and to learn about the work they carry out in their respective regions across India.

     

    YMCA India delegates visiting Reed HouseOur CEO Emily Brock met with Joydeep Rayan Raychaudhuri, the Regional Secretary for the Northern India Region of YMCAs; Sabinay Behera, the General Secretary of YMCA Balasore; and Rev. Sudhansu Naik, the General Secretary of YMCA Bhubaneswar.

    Like us, both YMCA Balasore and YMCA Bhubaneswar focus heavily on working with young people. They talked about how they work with the German YMCA to help educate children living in slums by offering tailored computer training for the young people living there. They also spoke about the peace programmes they have set up with YMCA of Hong Kong to try to prevent inter-faith crime and violence.

    Young people make up 60% of the population in India and our visitors explained how important it was for them to help these young people access education and employment, so that they can build a secure future.

    It was fascinating to learn how YMCA India operates and the differences and similarities that we share. With each YMCA focusing on what their community needs, it is sometimes easy to forget that we are part of a global federation, all striving to support people within the community we serve.

    This meeting brought to light the enormity of the YMCA movement and how important the work of each federation is around the world.