free@last Annual report 2011

ANNUAL REPORT

THE STORY 2011

Welcome

to free@last’s annual report 2011.We hope you enjoy reading about another year in the life of our service to the people of Nechells, Birmingham. Please feel free to contact us for more information or if you want to support us through prayer, finance or volunteering.

Thank you.

VISION To improve the lives of the children and young people of Nechells.

MISSION free@last is committed to providing opportunities, activities, mentoring and support for children and young people in Nechells, and to further their interests by working with their families, other agencies and relevant professionals.

VALUES Giving opportunities to all young people in Nechells without distinction.

AIMS To engage children and young people in a range of developmental and progressive activities which provide opportunities for success and to broaden their horizons.

To support children and young people through life’s challenges and difficulties.

To support their families to provide the best possible environment for their children to grow, develop and flourish.

To take a multi-agency approach to improving the lives of children and young people.

OBJECTIVES Aim 1: To engage children and young people in a range of developmental and progressive activities which provide opportunities for success and to broaden their horizons.

Objectives To run weekly youth club activities.

To run weekly workshops for children to enjoy with their dads/father figures.

To organise school holiday programmes.

To encourage young people to be involved in the Duke of Edinburgh Award scheme and to help them to complete each section of the award.

To organise a range of adventure activity programmes including rock climbing, kayaking/canoeing, mountain biking and archery.

To run a sports programme that includes football, netball, table tennis and cricket.

Aim 2: To support children and young people through life’s challenges and difficulties.

Objectives To identify the issues young people face and how to overcome these issues.

To provide support, advice, guidance and signposting where appropriate for children and young people who are facing specific difficulties and challenges like, grief, homelessness, drugs, alcohol, domestic violence, bullying, education, careers, relationships, sexual health etc.

To provide appropriate staff and volunteers to mentor and support children in need.

To develop specific programmes (with other agencies where appropriate) that address issues that are not being met by other statutory or third sector organisations in Nechells.

To use the Common Assessment Framework for children who require multi-agency support.

To meet the needs of the local schools who have children at risk of exclusion, through our alternative education programme.

Aim 3: T o support children and young peoples’ families to provide the best possible environment for their children to grow, develop and flourish.

Objectives To provide one to one and group support for mums and dads to enable and equip them to support their children through their growth and development from birth to adulthood.

To provide support services for parents whose relationships are struggling/broken and having

a negative impact on their children.

To provide support, advice, guidance and signposting where appropriate for parents and other adults who are facing specific difficulties and challenges like, debt, unemployment, grief, homelessness, drugs, alcohol, domestic violence, etc.

To provide positive opportunities for parents and children to spend quality time together and develop their learning, relationships and positive memories together.

Aim 4: To take a multi-agency approach to improving the lives of children and young people.

Objectives To promote our services to both local people and other organisations.

To network effectively with other agencies and professionals working in the area in order to rationalise service provision, avoid duplication and work in partnership.

To attend multi-agency meetings and arrange 1 to 1 sessions with other professionals to explain our services.

To produce effective resources that can be given to local people, professionals and funders to promote our services.

DIRECTORS BIG REPORT CHEESE During 2011 we have seen the effects of reduced funding and support for the voluntary sector, both in terms of those who have struggled to continue services; the increased competitive nature of funding applications, tendering and commissioning processes and the youth service cuts impacting on the riots. For some these are dark times but we thank God that he has kept us faithful and has blessed us with continued success and growth.

Our success is not measured on our income or numbers of people using our service but on the difference we make in peoples’ lives; the impact of change and influence as our involvement with the lives of local children, young people and adults has been much deeper, more honest, more respectful and effective during this past year.

Our physical growth has also been evident as after 2 years of fund raising we have purchased our own building. Many, many people have recognised our passion and commitment to the people of Nechells, and value our work enough to support this purchase. We are forever grateful for your support, your generosity and above all for believing in us. Thank you.

These are still difficult times, and greater pressures and strains will hit community organisations and the people we are here to serve. We pray that God will continue to lead the way and that you will continue, or begin your journey with free@last. Thank you.

JOHN STREET (Director)

TRUSTEE REPORT Dear Friends, I wish to convey on behalf of the charity, our deep felt gratitude for all your support during the course of this past year. Although, as in previous years it has been at times extremely challenging, we are pleased to report that it has been a year of progress and achievement. Such progress and achievement has been attributable to the determined and selfless work of both the staff and our director, whose creative vision and passion has been both infectious and inspiring to all associated with the charity.

This year also represents a significant staking post for the charity, as through your un-waivering support we have been able to fully secure a centre within the heart of the Nechells community. As you are all aware we are living in very hard and uncertain times, hence we again express our gratitude for your contributions and support, but we would also ask for your continued help during the forthcoming year, as we believe that the important work of the charity will take on new relevance in assisting many within the community to be free at last from their restraints.

Best Wishes Always, WINSTON SERGENT (Chair of Trustees)

free@last’s vision is to improve the lives of the children and young people of Nechells and over the past 12 months we have worked with 179 children aged between 5 and 24. However, we do not measure our success on the number of people we work with but on the difference we make to those who invite us to be a part of their lives.

During the past 12 months we have identified and worked with many issues and difficulties that our young people face, some that are specific to them as individuals and some as wider families, but also the collective struggles of living in a poverty stricken inner city community.

We continue to address these issues by providing support and opportunities for each young person. We define support as enabling them, and their families, to understand the issues they face on a daily basis and to develop a variety of tools and techniques for reducing the frequency and severity of these difficulties. Our opportunities aim to expand peoples’ horizons, provide excitement and lasting positive memories, and bring people together to create an interdependent community.

The support of young people requires a long term commitment to their lives, and we have enabled some young people to manage their difficulties with the police and youth offending, provided support for some to discover the positives of education and employment opportunities, helped several people through homelessness, and provided a listening ear on issues around drugs, relationships, feelings and emotions.

CHILDREN & YOUNG PEOPLE Opportunities, on the other hand, can be long term, like the Duke of Edinburgh Awards Scheme, but we also see the advantage of taking up short term projects that become available through working with other organisations or receiving extra funding. This year includes starting a market stall, involvement with ‘Filter Me’ and a design project using multi-media technology.

Across the country, including our own city, there is a high level of uncertainty about the future and effectiveness of statutory Youth Services and we have already begun to prepare ourselves for the additional difficulties young people will face through the reduction in services available to them. The most striking example of our efforts is the major success of purchasing our own building, which will be developed with the assurance that it is equipped to meet the needs of our children and young people.

We carry with us an enormous hope for the future for each individual child, young person and family we encounter.

OPEN CLUBS Our traditional style youth clubs offer young people a chance to make friends, chill out have lots of fun and take part in activities.

We currently provide 4 open clubs in 2 locations in the Nechells Community During these clubs children and young people have the chance to play computer consoles, table tennis and explore their creativity through arts and crafts. The clubs are a place where they can gain information on e safety, health and relationships and other issues relevant to them.

Qualified staff are available to offer 1-2-1 support and give guidance to allow the young people of Nechells to make informed choices about their life.

PROJECT WORK free@last works hard to create a variety of different experiences giving our young people opportunities to learn new skills and expand their horizons.

Multi Media free@last worked with “Learn too Digital” to deliver 8 weeks of digital workshops.

Seventeen children and young people aged from 8-15 took part and during the project leant to take photographs, edit and manipulate them using Photoshop.

They designed posters for the Nechells Sports Centre, which were displayed to show members of the fitness gym specific exercise procedures.

Filter Me We worked with a design project called “Filter Me”, where young people from Nechells were invited to take part in the filming of an online portal designed to give young people information about cultural activities available across the city.

Four of our young people took part in a short film, which is available to watch on youtube at www.youtu.be/8YtMm3eYva.

T-shirt design Some of our young people took part in an arts project where they were encouraged to discuss what they liked about living in Nechells. They designed pictures that represented their feelings and these were then printed onto t-shirts and bags. It was great to see so many children make references to free@last and the youth club in their designs.

Enterprise With the financial support of the Successful Neighbourhoods Fund 6 young people from Nechells learnt the skills to run a small enterprise initiative and to experience first hand the excitement of selling their products on a retail market stall. Products created and sold included hand crafted jewellery and graphic art prints.

“Its been great fun…it keeps me busy and now I have somewhere to sell my hand crafted jewellery, its an early start but finally I can do something I love” Louise

“It involves a lot of hard work but it is exciting to debut my art work, when people buy my work it is like they are buying into my style”

Wayde

SPORTS AND ADVENTURE free@last has always offered easy access to progressive adventurous activities, and this year it has served as a powerful tool for building relationships with individuals and sharing lasting memories and experiences.

Rock climbing During the beginning of the year Monday night’s became our climbing club and 24 young people learnt how to rock climb at a local indoor climbing centre. One young person wanted to share her experiences:

“I found rock climbing very useful as I had to trust others which I did not want to do at first. I learnt that the more I trust people the higher up the climbing wall I could go as they helped and supported me. I think about that all the time when I find things difficult and want to give up. I also now know more people who live in Nechells.”

Archery We have run Archery sessions throughout the year where Nechells young people have been encouraged to attend. This year we were able to offer the use of crossbows to those young people who had progressed well with bows and arrows.

Kayaking During January and February for 10 weeks free@last attended Sutton Coldfield Canoe Club. Fifteen people aged between 8-14 years braved the cold and learnt how to kayak and canoe.

Residential The aim of this years residential was to give the users of the youth club the opportunity to shape its future. It was also a chance to see if the group would take the opportunity to learn about free@last’s purpose and to value and respect the opportunities that we offer to them. It was not our easiest residential!!

Volunteers We encourage young people to take responsibility and give them the opportunity to volunteer in the youth club and other ad hoc activities.

These volunteering opportunities are tailored to fit the young people, who choose which activities they want to get involved with and how much time they have to commit. As they grow in confidence and skills the young people are entrusted with more responsibility.

The young volunteers show others that it is possible to make a positive difference both personally and within the community.

NEET

Not in Education, Employment or Training

The free@last ‘Money for Nothing’ NEET programme has now been running for 15 months helping and supporting young people aged between 16-25 years get back into education, training or employment through both formal and informal education.

During this time we have worked with 36 young people from across the Nechells area, working more intensively with 23 of them who chose to work with us to help them search for their career goals. The charity has successfully helped 9 young people to find work and 12 young people to get back into education.

As of 25th May 2010 free@last became a recognised NOCN (National Open College Network) training centre, this has enabled the charity to develop and run NOCN courses for our young people. free@last has created its ‘Money for Nothing’ programme and we have delivered the 10 week training course to 9 young people. We are currently in the process of developing the courses we deliver in response to the needs of the young people, these will include ‘Baby care’ and a ‘Design’ project. All the

training courses we deliver are aimed at increasing the employability and career opportunities of the young people.

Counselling, mentoring, budgeting advice and one to one support are available throughout the entire course to ensure that the young people have the best possible chance to achieve meaningful long term employment, education or training in a career that they have chosen for themselves.

With the two year project due to be completed in April 2012, we have started our outreach work, aimed at helping those young people who haven’t already accessed the service. The outreach centres are at The POD and Bloomsbury Library and offer both CV and Interview classes to help act as a conduit for the main project. These will run for the remaining 6 months of the programme.

Greater Opportunities for Dads and Children We are in the 3rd year of delivering dads and children family learning activities thanks to funding from the Big Lottery.

It’s true to say that these workshops are vastly different in structure to the targeted support Dads Do It Too! has delivered in the past. Dads don’t need to be struggling with their role as a father and they don’t have to turn up with a specific problem to join our workshops.

All they need is a desire to spend time with their child or children. As dads have previously said these workshops “take the hassle out of organising things to do”… and it’s this hassle free element that has once again seen dads ask to extend their time with us.

“The children can’t wait till Wednesday night’s club…I don’t know how they (Dads Do It Too!) come up with all the ideas”.

We know from experience that these workshops are exciting and fun, the dads and children both tell us, as does the continued commitment from our volunteers. At the same time however dads and children are developing relationships that will benefit them long into the future. On a weekly basis we see dads guide, inform and praise their children and in some workshops, particularly those using multi-media and

I.T., we see the children guide, inform and praise their dads. This also makes it easier to try new things, or revisit old ones “I’d not ridden a bike for over 20 years” one dad proudly said, adding, “I think I did quite well.”

Once again we have seen a variety of outcomes for dads and children, shared memories of creating music, the joint success of completing our bike course, the pride of winning at table tennis or a newly developed sense of respect from spending time together.

We do however face the ongoing problem that although opportunities and benefits may be high recruitment is still low. In order to attract more dads and their children we are increasing our workshops from 3 per week to 8, giving more choice and availability. This will also provide more opportunities for current and future dads to work with us as volunteers.

CHILDREN’S CENTRES Alongside our activities, workshops and residentials Dads Do It Too! continues to deliver a range of one-to-one support.

We continue to receive referrals from Flying Start, particularly for dads requiring support around custody and access. The past year has also seen us continue our work with Bloomsbury Children’s Centre, having helped them develop their parents programme we are now co-facilitating dads and children’s workshops within their family support setting.

An update on our workshops

Better Bikes

Once again we have taken our bike workshops out to schools in Nechells.

Both St Clements and St Matthews Schools in Nechells have benefited from these workshops during term times.

We’ve also increased the amount of riding on each workshop focusing more on the dads and children’s cycling skills and all important road safety.

Create and Compete Our arts, crafts and gaming workshops have continued throughout the year at Nechells Regeneration Project. These workshops continue to bring a competitive streak to arts and crafts with dads and children urging each other on at anything from model making to table tennis. We’ve seen quite an age range in the children attending the workshops this year, with the youngest being 3 and the eldest 13.

Dads Go Digital Keeping up to date and in line with current trends our digital photography and music workshops have been re-shaped to include animation and short film making. Staff and volunteers have had great fun in practicing their animation skills, and we soon hope to post some of our hard work on our website.

“It’s a lot easier to be myself in a service aimed at dads” “These workshops have allowed Dads Do It Too! to draw on free@last’s vast experience of activity based services and modify them for parent and child learning.”

FAMILY RESIDENTIAL ”KEY BIRMINGHAM”

“Crossing the barriers together breaking down the walls of difference as one. People of colour, people of faith, people of life – sharing our journey and memories together. The reality of Key Birmingham.”

Amongst the many activities provided by free@last “the family residential” has become a regular highlight of the year.

This year saw us provide the residential in our role as a member of Key Birmingham.

“Key Birmingham is a consortium made up of several voluntary and community organisations with a shared set of values. Key Birmingham’s mission is to build up and empower young people, children and families.”

Staff and 12 families headed off to Quinta Christian Conference Centre on Wednesday 1st June for 3 days of family fun, challenges, good food and even sun.

Key Birmingham has a mission to enable people to access new opportunities and open new ‘doors’, and its vision to provide families and young people with meaningful experiences and relationships was much in evidence over this week.

Feedback from the families highlighted just how successful the residential was in bringing together different families from across Birmingham to share experiences and ideas about how to enjoy family life together.

“To get families from various areas and ethnic backgrounds interacting in such a positive way together is fantastic.”

A range of activities took place during the residential, including kayaking, archery, group cooking, hunting for fire wood and a team building exercise that turned into an impromptu game of football with a 7 ft ball.

“People of difference together united - purposeful, as one family in peace. Some people think this is the stuff of dreams but Key Birmingham makes it a reality .”

Roll on next year!!

Debt & Welfare Benefit Advice & Support

Thanks to the Severn Trent Trust Fund and Lloyds TSB Foundation we have continued to provide a specialist service that helps local people with their debt and benefit enquiries. Our experience shows us that a supportive, understanding and approachable service is needed to enable people with financial difficulties to feel relaxed and comfortable speaking about these, often taboo, subjects.

We provide a positive influence to our clients in their money management and benefits entitlement awareness.

Over the past year we have dealt with 550 benefit and debt cases with a financial value of £2 million. To date we have

been 100% successful in helping clients in claiming their benefit, dealing with their debts and managing their money. Since the project began in 2008 we have dealt with 1262 benefit and debt cases valuing £6 million.

The above figures reflect not only the struggles of a global recession but of the economic difficulties of living in one of our inner city communities. This is a much needed service which has become part of our core work and will continue to enable many children, young people and families to improve their standards of living through improved economic circumstances.

organisations who deliver parenting support has meant that dads have become less of a priority than mum’s or children. With these funding restrictions and limited marketing of this business it has been a very quiet year for our training business. Take a look at our website www.dadsdoittoo.co.uk

Businesses There is a constant pressure for voluntary organisations to raise their own money through social enterprise, rather than being completely dependant on trust funding or commissioning. free@last have always enjoyed the relationships it has with funders and continues to develop these, but we also recognise our responsibilities in helping to alleviate the strain and pressure on diminishing resources that are needed by so many others.

Running businesses is never an easy path to follow and our 2 existing companies – Freax Limited and FAL Training Limited, are no exception. FAL Training provides support and training for workers and managers who wish to develop and deliver services for fathers. Between 2005 - 2010 this was our most successful business but we have seen the decline in services to fathers as Government and managerial decisions to cut funding for

Freax is currently our most successful business, employing 3 instructors and an administrator, and reaching a turnover of £73k last year. As an adventurous activity company based in Birmingham we have had to be very creative in developing our products and services. Our ability to be mobile means that we reduce the costs for schools, businesses and other organisations as we go to their venues to deliver activities. With a wide range of archery & crossbows, our own mobile climbing wall, our team challenges and bike courses we have worked with schools from Birmingham, Wolverhampton, Stoke-on-Trent and West London. Our delivery of Prince’s Trust Residentials has increased by 50% as they recognise our skills in working with their young people;

and our family based residentials are becoming renown for cutting edge practice. Freax has definitely become an exciting alternative for adventurous activity provision in the West Midlands – and further afield. Take a look at our video website www.freax.co.uk to see for yourself.

Over the past 12 months we have worked with the following: St Thomas More Catholic School, (Wolverhampton) | Bridgtown Primary, (Cannock) | Chesterton Secondary, (Stoke) | Ravenscourt Prep School, (Hammersmith) | Quinta, (Oswestry) and from Birmingham: Prince’s Trust | Cromwell Primary | Bordesley Green Primary | Fairfax Academy | Heartlands Academy | Prince Albert Primary | St Clement’s Primary | St Matthews Primary | St Vincent’s Primary | YMCA | Probation (T2A) | Safer B’ham Partnership (IOM) | Eastside HLB | St George’s College and free@last.

FREAX CANOE CLUB ‘BROOKVALE LAKE’

A local neighbourhood police sergent, Si Hensley, has spent the last year tirelessly trying to breathe life into the Stockland Green area of Birmingham, in an attempt to improve facilities and services for young people and families, thus reducing crime brought on by boredom, disadvantage and hopelessness. free@last and Freax have embraced Si’s vision and through working together we have been enabled to start a canoe club, offering pay & play sessions and membership opportunities.

We have found that adults have shown just as much interest in this activity as children have, with many dads getting on the water with their children and paddling together, whilst mum’s enjoy taking the photo’s from the dry bank side. This intergenerational activity provides opportunities for grandparents to bring their grandchildren and share a new experience, as well as provide positive activities for parents to engage with their children, whether they are the main carers or only see them at weekends.

Since starting a regular canoe club on Wednesday evenings and Saturday mornings we have seen a tremendous response to this new service available for local residents. In just 2 months we have had over 100 children, young people and adults paddling on the water. Some of these have returned for more sessions whilst others have enjoyed a first time experience and will inevitably return when the water is warmer!

The canoe club is definitely a proven need, with many local residents informing us of their joy at seeing the lake used for water sports once again. A cross generational, multi ethnic, healthy, active and fun provision has, and continues to be, a real hit with local residents and professionals alike. The demand for this will inevitably increase as the opportunity for progression through the canoe and kayak skills awards is introduced; as word of mouth spreads information about the club; and as the spring and summer return in 2012.

ours@last!!

On 26th September 2009 we launched our building campaign to meet the growth of our services for the children and young people of Nechells, and exactly 2 years later on 26th September 2011 we were handed the keys to our own building.

The Norton Foundation first showed their support of our work with a grant of £100,000, followed by £20,000 from the Trusthouse Charitable Foundation and £25,000 from the Clothworkers Foundation. With further grants from The Bryant Trust, The Bernard Piggott Trust, The Rowlands Trust, The Douglas Turner Trust, George Henry Collins Trust, GJW Turner Trust and Grantham Yorke Trust, and donations from many individuals we reached our purchase price and have bought our own building.

We now begin the process of refurbishing this building into a purpose driven youth centre that meets the needs of the children in our community, therefore increasing the access and amount of opportunities available in our neighbourhood.

THE NORTON CENTRE Our existing services will be developed to meet more needs of the children in our area, particularly those with complex, multiple issues. It may take another 2 years but we will soon have a facility for local people to call their own and to be proud of.

If you would like to be involved with the development of our building please get in touch with John Street.

FINANCE Income Grant Making Trusts £183977 Statutory Funds £45787 General & Gift Aid Donations £9206 Building Fund £19778 Bank Interest £74 Freax Donation £6688 TOTAL £265510

Expenditure Salaries & N.I.

£164992

Project Costs

£48316

General Running Costs Professional Fees TOTAL

£37313 £6711 £257332

free@last Supporters Our thanks go to the following for their support during 2010/2011 Barrow Cadbury Trust Four Acre Trust

Bloomsbury Children’s Centre Nechells POD

The Tudor Trust

Be Birmingham Future Jobs Fund

Big Lottery Fund

Be Birmingham Social Enterprise Fund

George Fentham Trust

Be Birmingham Successful Neighbourhoods Fund

Lloyds TSB Foundation

Cromwell School, Nechells

Children In Need

St. Vincent’s School, Nechells

The Norton Foundation

Heartlands Academy, Nechells

The Clothworkers Foundation

St. Matthew’s School, Nechells

The Trusthouse Charitable Foundation The Rowlands Trust Douglas Turner Trust GJW Turner Trust Grantham Yorke Trust George Henry Collins Trust Bernard Piggott Trust The Bryant Trust Nechells Regeneration Project Flying Start, Birmingham

Nechells Junior and Infant School, Nechells St. Joseph’s Church, Nechells Key Birmingham

and all the individual friends and supporters of free@last Thank You

THE TEAM Director John Street Youth Work Abi Delaney Alex Young Moznur Rahman Lin Street Dawn Russell Luke Street Families Work Stuart Radburn Craig O’Dell Karen Statham Joy Jesson Neil Horan Lin Street

Administrator Jan Street Advice & Guidance Yousef Behfar Freax Adam Male Craig O’Dell Shelima Begum Luke Male Rachel Harding Design Wayde Raphael Trustees Winston Sergent – Chair Andre Wilkinson – Treasurer Jacquie Sergent – Secretary Anne Ebdon Sarah Simmons Ricardo Atlan

“I have come that you may have life, and have it to the full” John 10:10 Registered Charity number: 1101078 Private Limited Company number: 4723576

2 Cattells Grove Nechells Birmingham B7 5RA

( :0121 327 5959 7 :0121 327 8959 * :free@last1.org.uk www.freeatlast.st www.freax.co.uk www.dadsdoittoo.co.uk