Your Trust Annual Impact Report: April 2023 - March 2024
A Year in Review 2023-24
Introduction
I am delighted to share our annual impact report reflecting on some of the fantastic highlights of the past year (April 2023 – March 2024).
Our mission to support the local community to live active, creative, happy, and healthy lives continues to drive us forward as we strive to make a positive and lasting difference on the health and wellbeing of local residents. Through a diverse range of programmes and initiatives, we have seen remarkable progress in promoting wellbeing, fostering creativity, and enhancing the quality of life for everyone we serve.
This report highlights the tangible impacts of our efforts and celebrates the collective achievements of our dedicated team, volunteers, community members, partners and stakeholders. Together, we will continue to create a brighter, healthier future for all.
Estelle Rowe CEO of Your Trust
A Year in Numbers
1,396,339
visits to Your Trust
Over 307,700 more visits than the previous year
local residents benefitted from concessions accessed through the ‘Your Extra’ card supporting the local community
in receipt of means tested benefits, over 75 years old, aged 14-24 and in education, training or an apprenticeship, receiving Carers allowance, Foster Carers allowance, Military Veterans and those completing the Exercise Referral scheme
and the ‘Your Card’ offering discounts on selected pay as you go activities to the local community
Over 7,400 Over 2,190
hours of volunteer support for culture, events, sports and health programmes
75
people gained qualifications through the free Sport and Leisure courses, with 29 participants securing working hours with Your Trust supporting the delivery of activities and events throughout the borough
10%
of visits to Your Trust from those aged 65 and over of visits to Your Trust from those aged 16 and under
30%
We’re working hard to support as many residents in the borough to live active, creative, happy, healthy lives
23%
of leisure visits are from the top 20% most deprived areas of the borough
your community
Volunteers
Our volunteers make a valuable contribution to the work that the charity does throughout the local community.
Throughout the year over 2,190 volunteer hours supported the culture, events, sports and health programmes and activities that we deliver across the borough.
Inclusive Activities
We’re passionate about providing equal opportunities to activities across the borough. Throughout the year, we delivered a range of activities for children, young people and adults with disabilities or additional needs, many of whom have profound or multiple complex disabilities.
Over 290 participants attended sessions including chair-based yoga, inclusive cycling, inclusive dance, inclusive yoga therapy, multi-sports, sensory walks, and combined sensory walks with boat rides.
Swimming Lessons
Learning to swim is a key life skill for any child. The Your Trust Swim Academy is a clearly structured swimming and water safety programme designed by the Swimming Teachers’ Association (STA), one of the largest swim teaching and lifesaving organisations in the world and delivered by highly trained swimming teachers.
Over 4,150 pupils
were part of the Swim Academy programme throughout the year.
School Swimming Attainment
Key Stage 2 swimming and water safety lessons are hugely important as they give pupils the skills and knowledge to perform a safe self-rescue in an aquatic emergency. It is fantastic that so many pupils have progressed so well and obtained the vital swimming and water safety skills and knowledge that may one day save their life.
Throughout the academic year, the Key Stage 2 swimming and water safety programme had over 3,330 pupils from a variety of year groups ranging from year 2 to year 6 across the three Your Trust swimming pools.
85% of pupils attending school swimming lessons were able to swim unaided front and back by the end of the programme.
52% were able to swim 25m competently, confidently and proficiently by the end of the year and 50% met Key Stage 2 attainment criteria.
Sport and Leisure Career Courses
We delivered free Sport and Leisure courses for local residents aged 14 and over interested in a career in the sport and leisure industry.
75 participants gained entry level qualifications in the following:
• Community Sports Leaders Award Level 2
• Emergency First Aid
• Certificate in Safeguarding
• Certificate in Disability Awareness
Participants also benefitted from access to work experience and additional specific qualifications needed in particular areas of the sports, leisure, health and wellbeing industry.
29 participants who completed the course secured working hours with Your Trust supporting the delivery of activities and events throughout the borough.
Gymnastics
Hollingworth Lake Disability Days
Your Trust manage and operate Hollingworth Country Park, Visitor Centre and Water Activity Centre, offering recreational facilities and organised activities including walking, orienteering, cycling, climbing, archery and sailing. We also deliver a range of outdoor and nature education programmes accessed by local schools and community groups, traditional craft and nature events, and health and wellbeing focused activities such as walking and mindfulness.
Over 5,850 people took part in organised activities at Hollingworth Lake Adventure and Water Activity Centre including stand up paddle boards, mini electric boats, pedalos and rowing boats.
322 people took part in organised activities for children, young people and adults with disabilities or additional needs including accessible water sports, Drascombe sailing, Hansa 303 dinghies and rafted canoeing.
Over 475 pupils attended Gymnastics courses throughout the year, and over 510 attended Gymnastics holiday camps through the school holidays.
Through gymnastics, children and young people develop fundamental movement skills to become fitter, stronger, more confident and co-ordinated. There are many benefits including improved balance, flexibility, core skills hand to eye co-ordination, and developing important social skills like teamwork, self-confidence, trusting in others, and how to share by taking turns.
Working alongside the gymnastics governing body, British Gymnastics, the gymnastics programme is designed for all abilities for children from the age of 2 years old.
Community Classes
We want as many people as possible to be active and healthy and alongside activities that are available at Your Trust venues, we also offer a range of activities in community centres, village halls, parks and other multi-use community facilities across the borough. We want to encourage people to be healthy as well as having fun and making new friends.
Throughout the year, 1,240 community sessions took place across the borough with over 13,832 participants attending sessions including Dancercise, Nature Walks, Zumba Basic, Fun Dance, No Strings Badminton, Yoga, Pilates and Best of the 50’s & 60’s.
Holiday Activity and Food (HAF)
Since 2021, following successful pilots the Department for Education has funded local authorities to deliver the Holiday Activities and Food (HAF) Programme during Easter, Summer and Christmas school holidays.
Working in partnership with Rochdale Borough Council, Your Trust co-ordinate the HAF programme across Heywood, Middleton, Rochdale and Pennines.
Throughout the year, over 7,060 vulnerable children and children eligible for benefits related
Short Breaks
free school meals from across the borough accessed the program.
Partners from Rochdale Borough Council Early Help teams and local schools referred eligible families onto the programmes. 37,332 hot and cold healthy meals were provided at different parts of the day.
There were 81 locations and 53 delivery partners. Venues included Your Trust venues, schools, community centres, parks and open spaces, sports clubs, nurseries and childminders.
Throughout the school holidays, we are commissioned through Rochdale Borough Council Short Breaks to provide physical activity and sports sessions for children with a mild to moderate disability.
Children and young people accessed 490 opportunities such as gymnastics, swimming, team building, archery, golf, multi-sports, cycling, tennis, boccia and water activities.
The programme is delivered in a fun and safe environment by understanding staff. Activities are selected and programmed from the feedback we receive via the children and young people who access our provision.
The success of this programme has been built on the strong partnerships with schools and their SENCos (Special Educational Needs Co-ordinators), Rochdale Borough Council social workers, early help teams and GPs.
Holiday Club
Over 1,270 children and young people attended Your Holiday Club at Middleton Arena, offering a fun and active option for families in need of childcare during the school holidays.
Delivered in a fun and safe environment by qualified staff, activities vary each term and included arts, crafts, swimming, cycling, archery, tennis, cricket, water activities, gymnastics, multi-sports and kids cinema.
Children Engaged by Touchstones Programme
Over 11,800 children and young people engaged with Touchstones through a variety of events, activities and school sessions.
These included the Explore: Urban Nature project in partnership with the Natural History Museum (London), a wide range of collections-inspired workshops and activities at a number of events including Pride in the Park, Feel Good Family Picnics, Broadfield Mela and a Community Day at Falinge Park High School, and a range of activities through the Creative Learning team.
Over 71,540 people attended a programme of theatre and live events at Middleton Arena and Heywood Civic Centre to see a variety of professional touring and in-house produced performances including drama, dance, music, comedy and annual pantomimes as well as live theatre broadcasts, film screenings and productions staged by local community groups.
30% of those attending live inside the borough.
Middleton Arena and Heywood Pantomimes
Attendance at both the Middleton Arena and Heywood Civic Centre pantomimes increased again this year.
Middleton Arena’s Jack & The Beanstalk built on the success of the previous year with a 16% increase in ticket sales.
The Heywood panto, Snow White, returned to Heywood Sports Village due to Heywood Civic Centre being temporarily closed for a major capital redevelopment project. Over 10,300 tickets were sold; an increase of 7% on the previous year.
your culture
The Dining Room
Touchstones recruited a cohort of 20 Community Curators from Rochdale to work on The Dining Room project – a major new co-curation project which will see the former museum space transformed into an evolving collections display. Exploring our local collections via the lens of food, we’ll discover stories of our shared heritage that are currently missing from our collections, as well as celebrating the everyday objects that have an important place in our lives.
The paid roles were recruited from an open call and through our partners Awakening Minds, Theatre in Flow, Rochdale Boroughwide Housing, and the Association of Ukrainians Great Britain: Rochdale Branch.
The Community Curators will also work with artists Kyam, Aliyah Hussain and Ibukun Baldwin on creating three very special commissions which will animate the new dining room and museum space when Touchstones re-opens in 2025.
Earth Day
Touchstones Creative Learning team worked with Community Arts North West to deliver workshops in primary schools ahead of Earth Day, working with artist Dani Lovett to create 3D sculptures of UK endangered species using waste materials.
Following on from the success of last year’s Earth Day, this year’s theme was Rethink Waste. The workshops and celebration event focused on how we can reduce waste, featuring exhibitions of the art work created by children alongside performances and activities, all aimed at working together for a greener, brighter world.
The Touchstones Tapes
In September the very first podcast series ‘The Touchstones Tapes’ was launched. Touchstones teamed up with Audio Always, a pioneering podcast production company, to produce a brand new podcast series where art and heritage comes to life, with inspiring stories told by a variety of people who are part of our community.
Each episode takes a deep dive into our work with communities, artists, and collections and amplifies the voices of those who tirelessly contribute to the wellbeing of their communities. Delving into the essence of art, culture and community, the series engages in heartfelt conversations with individuals who stand at the forefront of community initiatives. Their dedication, stories and remarkable efforts are captured in episodes that explore the remarkable tapestry of human connection and creativity.
As the doors of the physical Touchstones building have temporarily closed for a major capital redevelopment project, The Touchstones Tapes podcast serves as a virtual gateway, enabling listeners to immerse themselves in Rochdale’s cultural and artistic heritage.
From amazing youth workers who aim to better the opportunities for our young people, to artists who curate cultural events that spark unity, the podcast presents a comprehensive panorama of how all these factors profoundly impact our community.
Throughout the year,
over 1,250
local residents attended Your Trust Specialist Health and Wellbeing activities and programmes
Over 700
referrals were made through the Exercise Referral programme with 526 people triaged into Your Trust activities
Over 80
local residents attended a Falls Prevention course with 91% of participants reporting an overall improvement in their wellbeing, and 96% of participants having an improvement in strength and balance
Specialist Health & Wellbeing
Over 100
local residents attended a Cardiac Rehabilitation class
Throughout the year, the Specialist Health and Wellbeing Team continued to work closely with Public Health partners, providers and commissioners to support the delivery of a number of specialist health and wellbeing programmes supporting local residents who are living with long term health conditions, or are at risk of long term health conditions. All activities are designed to help people get back into exercise at their own pace and in a safe environment, and to improve flexibility, balance and the strength of joints, muscles and bones.
Total visits to Your Trust leisure centres
Over 80
local residents attended a Functional Fitness course with 91% of participants having an improvement in strength and balance on
and 86% of those attending reporting an
Mentally Healthy Schools
Your Trust has been working in partnership with the Young Persons Mental Health Support Team for almost 5 years, delivering multiple programmes to support children and young people with their mental health and wellbeing and create a better understanding of how they can manage situations, feelings and emotions.
It consists of wellbeing workshops, yoga, mindfulness, breath awareness exercises and positive affirmations.
The wellbeing topics cover the five ways of wellbeing, friendships, food and mood, dealing with emotions and how activity helps mental wellbeing.
Over 2,770 pupils took part in the Mindful Movements sessions totalling over 23,160 attendances throughout the academic year.
Nutrition, Exercise and Wellbeing
The Specialist Health and Wellbeing Team continued to deliver the Tier 2 Weight Management programme with over 200 local residents benefitting from the 12 week programmes throughout the year.
The programme provides specialist information, motivation and support to encourage participants to lose weight, set achievable goals, make healthier food choices, exercise to help with weight loss and learn skills to prevent weight gain.
Participants receive a 12 week Your Trust gym membership to encourage them to be more active for the long-term.
To aid this, they gain support and motivation from the health and fitness team.
All participants reported an increase in physical activity levels and overall wellbeing, and increasing their daily consumption of fruit and vegetables.
Throughout the year, the team had over
#Thrive is for children and young people aged up to 19 years. It is delivered together with Pennine Care NHS Foundation Trust and Youth In Mind.
At times, most people need a little extra support. #Thrive has lots of different types of support; offering advice to improve general lifestyle, counselling sessions, online courses or access to other types of support such as sport, drama, music or art.
3,590 contacts with children and young people, with over 1,679 attending regular #Thrive activities.
Your Trust continues delivery of Sport England’s Local Delivery Pilot
Your Trust has been the main delivery partner of Sport England’s Local Delivery Pilot on behalf of the borough.
Rochdale were one of twelve local delivery pilots chosen by Sport England to test innovative approaches that could help local communities to move more in their everyday lives to help improve people’s health and wellbeing.
Working with Public Health and Action Together, a number of initiatives have been delivered across the borough including;
• Song and dance workshops for those aged 40-60 with, or at risk of, long term health conditions
• Self-defence courses
• Outdoor music, dance and mindfulness sessions
• Healthy meals and walking groups
• Community Growing Together project converting some waste land into a community space for physical activities creating a place to grow vegetables that can be used for healthy eating
• Teaching British Sign Language through play and interaction with nature and the outdoors, including themed treasure hunts
• Delivery of learn to cycle sessions in the outdoors, including accessible bikes adapted to people’s individual needs
• Purchase of a children’s climbing frame which will enable children to move more and support sensory integration
Launch of Active Travel Rochdale Adventure activities licensing
Your Trust are the main delivery partner of the Active Travel programme across the borough. Working in partnership with Rochdale Borough Council, Transport for Greater Manchester and The Endurance Hub, the goal is to make active travel the preferred choice for as many short trips as possible.
Working alongside other boroughs in Greater Manchester, if residents throughout Rochdale borough walk, wheel and cycle more, it will benefit our health and wellbeing, improve air quality and reduce congestion.
Each year in Greater Manchester we make millions of journeys by car that could either be walked or cycled instead;
• 200 million car journeys shorter than one kilometre, the equivalent of a 15-minute walk or a four-minute bike ride
• 800 million car journeys are under 5 kilometres, which is a 20-minute bike ride
Throughout the borough, we have launched a number of Active Travel activities to support walking, wheeling and cycling, including Bike Rides guided by fully qualified ride leaders, Learn to Ride courses, Walks, Bike Libraries, Family Bike Rides and Picnics, Introduction to Orienteering sessions and Snail Trail Toddler Walks.
Functional Fitness celebrated its tenth year
With nearly 50 courses delivered throughout its time, Functional Fitness has supported more than 940 residents who may be suffering with long term health conditions, by helping to improve their fitness.
Functional Fitness courses are delivered free within Your Trust venues, including Heywood Sports Village, Littleborough Sports Centre, Middleton Arena, and Rochdale Leisure Centre, and have previously been delivered in community venues across the borough, with sessions hosted in Castleton, Bowlee and Deeplish, and with Kashmir Youth Project (KYP).
Through exercise, each course is specifically aimed at improving the health and wellbeing of residents living with long term health conditions, specifically looking to help
strengthen joints and muscles and improve balance and mobility.
The demand for the courses has seen a significant rise in recent years due to its positive impact in the community.
Since the initiative began in 2014, the free-toaccess courses have been recognised amongst industry leaders and experts. The programme has been acknowledged as best practice by the BHF National Centre of Physical Action and Health, as well as secondary prevention on the Role of Physical Activity in the prevention of management of long term conditions.
Using the Sports England Moves measure improvement tool, each Functional Fitness course saves £5,212 NHS treatment costs on
Hollingworth Lake Adventure and Water Activity Centre once again passed the Adventure Activities Licensing Scheme from the Health and Safety Executive.
The aim of the scheme is give assurance that good safety management practice is being followed so that people can experience enjoyable activities on the water safely.
diabetes, colorectal cancer, dementia, and hip fractures, with an estimated NHS treatment savings across the ten years of £244,000.
Health and Safety Audits
Your Trust recognises that Health and Safety is central to all that the organisation does and is integral to ongoing organisational success.
Health and Safety sits at the heart of the organisation and aims to provide our staff, customers, visitors, contractors and partners with facilities and activities that are safe, secure and welcoming.
As part of our Health and Safety strategy, we undertake independent audits that will identify any risks, with our aim being to achieve a total score of above 85%.
Results of the audits that took place through the year are:
Gender Pay Gap
The gender pay gap is an equality measure that shows the difference in average earnings between women and men. It is calculated as the difference between average hourly earnings of men and women as a proportion of men’s average hourly earnings (excluding overtime).
For the last financial year, we have a negative % gender pay gap of -3.8% which means that on average our female employees are earning slightly more than our male employees.
Real Living Wage
On 1 April 2023, Your Trust became a Real Living Wage employer and applied the Real Living Wage to all employed staff, regardless of their age, role or the number of hours they work.
The Real Living Wage is the only UK wage rate that is voluntarily paid by over 12,000 UK organisations to mirror the effects of inflation and general everyday essentials price increases.
Diversity in the Workplace
10.24% of Your Trust employees reflect the diverse community in the borough
We’re actively building a diverse team and want to create an inclusive environment where everyone can contribute their best work and develop to their full potential. We celebrate our differences and recognise the importance of our team reflecting the community we serve.
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Your
Support
Makes All The Difference
We rely on the generosity and support of the community and our partners to enhance the health, physical and cultural wellbeing of the local community in Rochdale, both now and in the future.
Thank you to everyone that has supported our work. All surplus revenue goes back into keeping Rochdale’s leisure and cultural venues open for all to enjoy.
Thanks For Hiring Us
Hiring one of our venues for your family celebration, wedding, event, business meeting or corporate team building helps to support our work with the local community.
the charity
Thanks for Volunteering
Our volunteers make a valuable contribution to the work that the charity does throughout the local communities in the borough. No matter what amount of time or skills you have to offer, you can make a real difference.
Our local Friends Groups raise money and gather volunteers to support the work of the charity.
Thanks for Taking Part
Purchasing a membership, buying tickets for an event or joining another activity is one of the most effective ways people support the work we do as it generates income that is invested back into the local community.
