Uncategorized

Measuring impact is not a chore to be completed for demanding funders (or not only).  It’s also vital for several other reasons.  1)  We want to know if we are actually making a difference, because this is what gets us out of bed in the morning. 2)  We want to know if we’re spending your money wisely and effectively and if we’re not, we want to change things. 3)  Because we want to make a difference to young people’s lives.  So that’s why you’ll find a one-page impact report part way through our first year of our Employment Support Project by following this link.

We love doing a great job.  And when getting the feedback proves it, then all the hard work and preparation is worthwhile.  Take a look at some of the fabulous comments from MA and BA Social Work students following our Welfare Benefits & Reform seminar in early November.

I’m so excited that our social enterprise has been shortlisted for a PwC innovation award.  If I told you that the last time I won something, was when I correctly guessed the name of the teddybear as Arthur Scargill, you’ll get a sense of just how long ago it was!  On a serious note, it’s fabulous that our hard work over the last three years has been recognised.  Not because we want a shelf full of awards, but because social entrepreneurship can be a lonely place.  Occasionally in the wee small hours, you just wonder whether you’re not barking up the wrong tree.  So, you’ll be glad to hear we’re not and other respected partners don’t think we are either.  This spurs me on to keep rolling with the highs and lows and getting established and becoming sustainable  So, I’m off to London for the awards ceremony on 15th November and will keep you posted.  There’s some tough competition!

Due to popular demand, we’re running another Tenancy & Independent Living Skills (TILS) course before Christmas.  The three-day course will start at 10am on 29th November at The Training Flat (23 Johnson Place, Norwich, NR2 2SA).  Our courses are uniquely engaging, fun, interactive and bespoke to the young people’s needs.  We cover everything starting with the knowledge and expertise in the room.  We cover bills and consequences of not paying them, budgeting, savings, debt and APR, housing options, tenancy rights and responsibilities and so much more.  We also invite existing peer tenants to share their highs and lows as well as partners from utility companies, credit unions, the housing department and more.  All eight young people receive a Tenancy Pack with details of where they will find further help, budgeting tools, a certificate, a USB containing the contents of the course and how to get back in touch with us.  Spaces on the course cost just £250 per person and there are just eight spaces available.  Please use the link to make a referral to this fantastic course.

 

A week of contrasts.  It started wet and windy and ended hot and sunny.  I started the week full of energy and fell into a ten-hour sleep on Friday night after our exertions in The Training Flat.  And the young people this week were contrasting too.  It’s easy to be nonchalant and think you’ve nothing to learn as you get older, but it’s good still to be shocked and even challenged and prodded in your professional life.  We were lucky enough to be joined by the National Citizenship Service last week.  They worked tirelessly painting The Training Flat last Friday.  It’s a great scheme and I really hope it results in more young people engaging with their local communities and in building empathy.  The young people (eleven young women and one young man) that joined us were not the same as the young people we work with.  Much has recently been said about social mobility, and here it was for all to see.  These entitled, confident and UCAS form obsessed young people brought into stark relief the gulf in our communities.  Exactly the same age as many of the young people we work with, they may as well have been from a different country, such were their different outlooks, obsessions, levels of confidence and dreams . This makes me sad.  I’m sad that society is so unequal for many young people by virtue of nothing more than where they were born.