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AnnualReview2017

AnnualReview2017

Contents

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Welcome Objectives and aimsAchievement and performanceProgrammes delivered in the yearFuture developmentsFinancial summaryStructure, governance and managementGet in touch

WelcomeBerkshire Youth Annual Review 2017 3

Berkshire Youth is proud of its heritage; formed in 1940, our service to young people is more essential now than it has been for generations.We hope you enjoy the report and note the exceptional work the team has achieved during one of the most difficult periods of its time.

Objectives and aimsThe objective of the Charity is to further the development and education of young people through leisure time activities, helping them grow to full maturity as individuals and members of society so that their conditions of life may be improved. The objective allows the Charity to:

– Establish, support and develop clubs for young people

– Provide a platform for work related to drugs/ alcohol abuse, crime and other social issues

– Work towards the initiation and support of relevant community projects

– Provide high quality training, personal development and activity through a network of national and local partners

– Work in partnership with other specialist agencies, to improve social inclusion and financial independence for young people

– Provide an opportunity for the implementation of local and national government initiatives and social development programmes, through the voluntary youth service

– Link up with commercial organisations in a wide range of sponsored programmes and activities for young people

Created in 1940 with the support of philanthropistsand business people of the county, Berkshire Youth has enjoyed the support of the Huntleyand Palmer, Gillette, Benyon and Iliffe familiesto name just a few who recognised the need tosupport young people, preventing them havingto depend on the state. Our programme, clubs and projects continue to provide the range ofaccessible opportunities essential for youngpeople out of school to shine, to succeedand to be the best person they can be.

Providing a safe place to go with something constructive to do is essential in building the well-rounded, motivated and engaged youngpeople who will become the skilled workforceof tomorrow. Our investors have always seenthe value in supporting the next generation,and I hope you too could be inspired by thisannual report to join us in becoming ournext generation of investors, supportersand advocates for young people.

David SewardCEO

Achievementand performance

The Trustees have remained focused on the development of ‘Inspired Facilities’, positive places for young people to go across Berkshire, and the continued support of our network of affiliated members. This has been an enormous challenge. In the absence of a national youth strategy, the delivery of youth support has relied on local priority setting by local councils, who in turn have seen an increase in demand for services set against ongoing cuts to budgets and staffing. The role of preventative and universal youth work is vital in helping to provideour young people with the best start in life, including opportunities that enhance their life chances and choices, and a network that offers support in a safe environment.

The reduction in central government grants on local authority budgets has resulted in a focus away from a universal youth offering and out of school services, which potentially puts young people at risk. Expecting schools to cover all aspects of the development of young people is unrealistic. Berkshire Youth is committed toensuring that young people have somewhere to go, with something to do, whilst remaining safe.

In the past year, Berkshire Youth has providedand supported over 64,000 hours of opportunities for the young people of Berkshire or 1,230hours per week extending across all of the6 unitary authorities.

The Berkshire Youth team have engaged directly with over 7,800 individual young people, in addition to the numbers of young people engaged in our affiliated youth clubs.

4 Berkshire Youth Annual Review 2017

Berkshire Youth has continued through the yearto develop opportunities for young people throughout of school activities and projects, expandingour direct delivery offer to local community groups and schools.

Providing evidence for the impact we have on young people during the transition into adulthood, including the development of a ‘Theory of Change’, is adding to the narrative of youth work, giving both qualitative and quantitive evidence of the progress being made by young people who attend our programmes and projects. Berkshire Youth focuses on seven core competencies to inform and support change.

1 Confidence and agencySelf-reliance, self-esteem, self-efficacy, self-belief, ability to shape your own lifeand the world around you.

2 Planning and problem solvingNavigating resources, organising, setting and achieving goals, decision making, researching, analysing, critical thinking, questioning and challenging, evaluating risk, reliability.

3 Relationships and leadershipMotivating others, valuing and contributing to team working, negotiating, establishing positive relationships, interpreting others, managing conflict, empathising.

4 CreativityImagining alternative ways of doing things, applying learning in new contexts, enterprising, innovating, remaining open to new ideas.

5 Resilience and determinationSelf-disciplined, self-management, self-motivated, concentrating, having a sense of purpose, persistent, self-controlled.

6 Managing feelingsReviewing, self-awareness, reflecting, self-regulating, self-accepting.

7 CommunicationExplaining, expressing, presenting, listening, questioning, and using different ways of communication.

Each of our projects and programmes considers these seven core competencies during planning and delivery.

Berkshire Youth Annual Review 2017 5

In 2016we engageddirectly with7,800 youngpeople


Fusion – a project in Bracknell,engaging young people incommunity projects

The Fusion project, working with Bracknell Forest Homes Limited, continues to go from strength to strength. The project works toengage young people in community activity which provides them with the skill set needed to plan a social action project, including developing all seven competencies. These competencies help tomeasure the development of the young people.

The social action projects undertaken provide oppportunities for adults in the community to recognise the young people and the contribution they make to society. Over 200 young people have been active during the year on this project.

Bounce Back – mental healthawareness programme

One in four people on average experience a mental health problem, with the majority of these beginning in childhood. A report by the Chief Medical Officer in 2014 found that 50 per cent of adult mental health problems start before the age of 15 and 75 per cent before the age of 18. Our mental health awareness programme hasworked with 141 young people this year, all of whom gained in confidence about knowing where to get help and how to identify the early signs of anxiety and stress. Our Bounce Back programme worked with the young people to identify local support, empowered young people to care for each other and, through activities andgroup work, increased their awareness of mental health and how to support each other.

After school sportscoaching programme

This year, Berkshire Youth has enabled 4,988 young people to have access to after schoolactivities with the support of Greenham Common Trust, through 572 sessions. The team haveprovided sessions for Tag Rugby, Handball,Hockey, Basketball, Racket Skills, Ball Games, Multi Skills and Gymnastics.

SPLAT – sports and leisureactivities programme

Our Sports and Leisure Activities Team have supported over 1,600 young people to get active, to take part in sport and physical activity after school, at the weekends and during holiday times. Some of our sessions operate at youth club sessions run by our member clubs.

Youth Leadership Academy

Across the County of Berkshire 108 volunteers have received training through our Leadership Academy, with the support of the Wates and Stevenson Trust. Our team have worked hard to recruit, train and support volunteer youthleaders, increasing the capacity of communities to support young people to engage in positiveactivities and personal development.

Training

The training team have had a very busy year delivering our First Aid, Safeguarding, Motorwise, Managing Difficult Behaviour and Youth Club Staff Development courses. The team havedelivered and supported residential training at least once a month, providing a real opportunity for young people to spend time away fromhome, to learn a new skill and take backpractical tools for youth work to their own clubs.

Programmes delivered in the year


Over 1,600young peoplesupported toget activeby SPLAT

The Wayz – Inspired youth facilityin Bracknell

This Inspired Facility goes from strength to strength, thanks to the vision and support of Bracknell Forest Council, which has continuedto fund the youth worker post. The centre has provided real evidence that quality intervention and prevention create huge savings in the long term, not only in financial terms but also in young lives that flourish rather than being damaged.

The Zone – youth project inGreat Hollands estate, Bracknell

Berkshire Youth runs this project which provides support to over 400 young people across three nights of the week, including provision of aholiday scheme on the estate.

The Britwell – youth andcommunity centre in Slough

Another Inspired Facility, the Britwell centre, helps over 500 young people each week, manyof whom are disadvantaged, by providing them with opportunities to develop in a safe andfriendly environment. The centre provides a range of activities from sports to music and film production as well as computer skills. Berkshire Youth has continued to support the development of the centre, ensuring robust management and governance and support in fundraising.

Fit 4 Youth – youth fitness programme

With the increasing problems of childhood obesity and inactivity in families, the Fit 4 Youth programmeis working in partnership across Berkshire toengage families, schools and communities to lookat healthier lives and strategies for getting active.

Berkshire Youth is delighted with the success of the programme, which is designed to build on the seven core competencies, and also to identify and address the barriers to active healthy lives. Building on this success, we hope to encourage funders and commissioners to invest long term in this informal programme. This year we worked with 264 young people and their families.

Supporting community projects

We have continued to support communityprojects across the county, helping them tosecure funds, recruiting and managing stafffor partners, ensuring the sustainability ofprojects and reporting to town, parish andcommunity groups.

Futuredevelopments

Strategy and prioritiesThrough local community engagement and an active programme of personal development,we can support young people to become activecitizens, fully engaged in social action.

To achieve these aims we have created a bold strategy to develop and extend our offering andimpact over the next three years and beyond.

In doing so we aim to become the ‘go to’organisation in Berkshire on youth supportand youth service, enabling us to be THE voiceof young people in the area.

We will be proactive in our pursuit of this agenda, actively seeking out and creating opportunities for transformative change in communities,so they can take responsibility for their own young people.

Over the next three years our objectives are to:

– Continue and expand ‘Inspired Facilities’

– Provide a structured activities programme which enables young people to experience new activities and address healthy lifestyle choices

– Develop a transitional offering for young people, through school and into adolescence

– Develop a volunteering framework which engages young people and community members in supporting a relevant and appropriate offering to local young people

– Expand our network of youth clubs and activities to include a greater range of offerings for young people

– Through appropriate training opportunities, provide communities with the tools to support quality youth work

– Promote the work of Berkshire Youth to commercial and corporate partners


Berkshire Youth is in a great position to support localcommunities, to develop an offering for young people byengaging themselves in positive activities, enabling personal development and helping to prevent negative outcomes.

We havetrained over108 youngpeople asYouth Leaders

To deliver our ambitious strategy we need to diversify and extend our funding base. This means bothexploring new sources of funding and securing increased or longer-term funding from existing funders.Our aim, over three years, is to putin place a sustainable and diverse funding base that enables us toincrease our impact, includingincreasing the proportion of ourfunding that is unrestricted.

Fundraising prioritiesThe description of our development priorities presented above identifies a range of funding options for each priority (or group of priorities). Within these we have identified four fundraisingpriorities into which we will inject additional effort (and in some cases resource) over thenext three years. These are:

1 Bid writing (for grants and/or contracts from a wide range of sources) including the statutory sector, trusts and foundations, Big Lottery, Housing Associations etc.

2 Establishing philanthropic giving in Berkshire for youth support services by developing networks through our President, Patron, Trustees, staff and others connected to Berkshire Youth.

3 Developing corporate/business funding (in cash and in kind) of various forms including sponsorship, donations, use of facilities, volunteering etc, building on the networks referred to above.

4 Developing and launching a capital appeal.

In addition, we will explore, as a mediumterm option, the feasibility of social financed payment-by-results programmes for ourHealthy Lifestyles offer, starting with in-principlediscussions with local authorities and the NHS.

Development of traded/paid-for services(whether paid for by participants, clubs, schools or businesses) will be undertaken in an organic way, seeking out and capitalising on opportunitiesas they present themselves and extending our offer incrementally without taking significant risks (e.g. making significant investment) until the market potential and price points are more clearly understood.


FinancialsummaryDuring 2017 expenses exceeded income by £20,032 (2016: £125,972) resulting in a fall in total funds held by the Charity.

The Trustees noted that the annual loss of £20,032 was close to the annual cost of ourunderfunded SPLAT programme. This programme(Sports and Leisure Activities Team) delivers very popular activities to youth clubs throughoutthe county and is a important part of the work undertaken by the Charity. So, despite the losson this activity (£19,531), the Trustees haveconfirmed that this offer will continue for2017/18 and specific sponsorship sought.

Reserves policy Reserves held by the Charity are currently £354,176 (2016: £373,428). Reserves represent restricted and unrestricted funds and are held in accordance with Charity Commission Guidelines.

These reserves enable the Charity to continue as a going concern and currently represent nine months of expenditure. (Note, good practice guidelines from the Charity Commission suggest six to twelve months’ reserves.)

The current aim of the Trustees is to maintain our resources at the highest level in order to retain our ability to provide activities and support for the young people of the county. The Charity is therefore continually looking for new donations, legacies and sources of funding to enable this important work to continue.


How wespent ourmoney inthe last year

Expenditure on Charitable Activities in 2017The Charity supported young people throughout the county by delivering a range of 26 projects and activites. The total expenditure was £489,938 with the main focus summarised as follows:

Activities(Leisure, sport, healthy lifestyle)

Training and development(Leadership and learning opportunities)

Clubs(Providing support to youth clubs)

Support and governance costs

£209,294(42.7%)

£151,590(30.9%)

£91,464(18.7%)

£37,590(7.7%)


Governing documentThe Charity is controlled by its governing document,a deed of trust, and constitutes a limited company, limited by guarantee, as defined by the Companies Act 2006, reviewed and updated 2017.

Organisation structureBerkshire Youth is a registered charity and a limited company; as such the Trustees are also Directorsand where we use the term Director it also implies Trustee. It currently has six Directors, who meet quarterly and are responsible for the strategicdirection and policies of the Charity. The Directors come from a range of professional backgrounds relevant to the work of the Charity. The Secretary and Honorary Treasurer sit on the committee, but have no voting rights.

A scheme of delegation is in place and day to day responsibility for provision of services rests with the Chief Executive Officer along with theOperations Director and Financial Administrator.

The Chief Executive Officer is responsible for ensuring that the Charity delivers the services specified and that key performance indicatorsare met. The Operations Director hasresponsibility for the day to day management of the team and oversight of contracts, ensuring staff have regular supervision and access to training which will enhance skills and working practice in line with good practices.

Remuneration of key personnelThe Directors are responsible for setting the pay and remuneration of key management personnel.Remuneration is set once certain factors are considered. These factors include market rates of pay and benchmarks against other charities.

Recruitment and appointment of DirectorsThe Directors of the company are also charity trustees for the purpose of the charity law.They are elected for three years, after whichthey must be re-elected at the Annual General Meeting. All Directors of Berkshire Youth give their time voluntarily and receive no benefitsfrom the Charity.

The focus of the work of Berkshire Youth is on young people, and the Directors represent members of the community who can support andinfluence the objectives of the Charity.Berkshire Youth works to identify representation from young peopleon the board of the Charity.

Directors’ induction and trainingDirectors of Berkshire Youth are assigned to a member of the staff team to understand the day to day delivery of services. New Directors areprovided with an induction book, job description and relevant governing documents alongsidethe ‘essential trustee’ booklets provided bythe Charity Commission. Additional traininghas been undertaken through Almond TreeStrategic Consulting.

Risk managementThe Directors have identified and regularly review the risks to which the Charity is exposed. Aspart of this process, the Directors have in placeappropriate controls to provide reasonableassurance against fraud and error.

The Directors have clear policies outlining their expectations for service delivery. The policies include risk assessment of all activities to ensure the safeguarding of the young people, employees and Directors, including the Patron, Presidentand Vice Presidents.

Structure, governance and management

berkshireyouth.co.uk

AnnualReview2017

AnnualReview2017

Berkshire Youth would be delighted to work with you aswe continue to develop new opportunities for young people. We are keen to build relationships with local companies,to engage with local young people, and to manage volunteer engagement. If you can support in donating time, moneyor resources for the development of Berkshire Youth, our projects, and the young people we serve, please get in touch.

Registered Charity Number 1106341. Company Number 4493501Designed by cream-design.co.uk, proud to support Berkshire Youth

Get in touch

Watlington House44 Watlington StreetReading, Berkshire RG1 4RJ

T 0118 909 0927E [email protected]

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