Ybase Magazine, summer 2009

Y-Base Magazine created for you, by you Winter 09

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Inside Buddying Footie Africa Comes Home Stats Invaders

Thanks to Dartford YMCA for this amazing front cover image

Designed and produced by YMCA England in partnership with the National Tenant Forum.

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Editor’s message

Hi, my name is Peter and I liv e at Southen though I have d YMC only been the re for a short tim A. Even have helped m e get more inv e, the staff olved in the Y M CA. Before comin g to the Y, I w a s for an intervie living at home w for a Prince an ’s Trust program d I went suggested I fi ll in me. department a an application form for the They nd I was invite housing d to move int YMCA. I have o the since joined in with lots of activities and I have also join Tenant Forum w h e re I got the op ed the National Youth Editor portunity to b of Y-Base Ma staff I would ecome the g a z in e . Without the not have had h elp of YMCA the chance to friends in the improve myse YMCA. lf and make Enjoy the mag azine and if yo uh Sally Draper fr om YMCA Eng ave any comments please email land at sally.d raper@englan d.ymca.org.uk .

Peter Page, Yo uth

Editor

Welcome to the second edition of Y-Base, the magazine created by and for young people living in YMCA England accommodation.

This issue sees the debut of our first Youth Editor, Peter Page from Southend YMCA, and features articles written by residents from Mansfield, Darlington and Southend YMCAs. And don’t forget to check out Stats Invaders, which gives you the low down on our housing performance.

We’re always looking for young people who are brimming with ideas. So why not show the world your artistic side by becoming a contributor to Y-Base Magazine? We need all things creative – from photos and articles to paintings, graffiti and doodles. So what are you waiting for? Get involved.

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A helping hand Moving into a YMCA for the first time can be a bit scary. But residents at Mansfield YMCA have set up a buddying system to help new people feel at home. Here, Leonie and Suzanne explain more.

When people move into Mansfield YMCA, staff show them around and do ‘the formal stuff’ (paperwork, rules, health and safety etc). Our role as Buddies is much more fun.

We make a point of meeting the new folks when they move in; knocking on their door and offering to show them around from a resident’s point of view. We also introduce them to everyone so they can put names to faces. This makes new people feel more at ease and it’s wicked giving them the low down on the staff.

Buddying

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We show them the kitchen and explain how the cookers work, when the Sunday lunch sessions are run and which staff are the best cooks. We talk about the education side of things, explain how that’s part of our agreement when we move in and how staff will make sure we do something educational.

Pointing out the activities sheet and the noticeboards lets them see what’s happening – there are lots of fun activities to take part in such as youth sessions, football, budgeting (that helps us spread our money a bit further!) and the computer sessions in the evenings when we can look for jobs, find flats or just play games.

Everyone needs to know about the area they’re living in so we talk about that too: where to get cheap groceries, which are the best clubs, the safe and unsafe areas and lots of general info.

We think our buddying is going well because it helps make new residents feel welcome and at home. We’d like to think if ever we moved to another YMCA people would do the same for us.

Leonie and Suzanne , Mansfield YMCA Buddies Why not try this at your YMCA? If you already have a budding programme at your YMCA, let us know what you think of it.

Email: sally.draper@england.ymca.org.uk.

Editor’s note: Leonie and Suzanne have now moved on from Mansfield YMCA. We would like to wish them the very best for the future.

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Community Project

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Brin Ho In May, residents from Darlington YMCA rolled up their sleeves and got stuck into a community project for the Wildlife Trust.

To explain more, here is Jonathon New who took part in the project.

On Friday 15 May we helped the Tees Valley Wildlife Trust at Margrove Heritage Centre to develop its African themed garden by building roundhouses. Only a handful of young people went, probably because of the weather because it didn’t stop raining. When we arrived we had a look at what we’d got ourselves into and put on our personal protective equipment which made us look very sexy!

We left the building and walked down to where the roundhouse was and my friends and I got stuck straight in with the graft.

Even though at first we couldn’t understand what the two guys from Eritrea in

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Community Project

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ging Africa ome Africa were saying we picked it up very quickly. We had a quick lunch, and then went straight back to work, but this time we had to lift the roof out, flip it over and put it on properly. For this the whole group got involved, even though you could tell they didn’t want to because of the rain!

We stayed with the roundhouse until 2.50pm collecting wood and chopping the branches off with a billhook (which I nearly chopped my leg off with!). Then we went home. We were wet through and cold but we didn’t care as we’d had a great day and would like to return sometime. Thanks everyone for coming and making the day so fabulous. Cheers.

Jonathan New

Has your YMCA teamed up with local projects in the community?

Tell us about your experience by emailing sally.draper@england.ymca.org.uk.

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Footy, footy, footy - oi, oi, oi!

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Best foot forward – the Ambleside Wanderers In April this year a group of young people got together at Southend YMCA and formed a football team called the Ambleside Wanderers.

The team was formed by a young person who lives at Southend YMCA and they train every Friday afternoon. They play in the local conference division in Southend and recently took part in a tournament for a local charity where they made the quarter finals.

The team captain, Shane Page, has formed two teams since living at the YMCA. He is also thinking of starting a girls’ team.

One Southend YMCA resident said, “I think it’s great that we have got together for fun and exercise. Having the football team has really helped us gain team-building skills and self confidence. I hope other YMCAs have the opportunity to start their own sports teams, not just for exercise, but to help build friendships and take part in the local community”.

Peter Page, Southend YMCA The Ambleside Wanderers play every Tuesday evening. If any other YMCA teams would like to play against Southend, please contact Peter via email at peterpage20@hotmail.com.

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Message board

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How we’re doing

Repairs Overall, 95% of housing repairs were completed within the set timeframes, and 96% of residents that fed back on repairs were satisfied with the work. Response rates also increased on the last quarter, making the feedback more meaningful..

Rent and service charges Between January and March, we focused on getting feedback from residents about value for money of rent and service charges. A quarter of residents responded which is actually pretty good! Of those who responded, three-quarters are satisfied that they get value for money and 8 out of 10 are satisfied with the service charge.

Complaints We aim for 100% of those who make a complaint to be satisfied with the procedure we have in place to handle such situations. Between January and March 2009 we met this target. We also aim for 80% of those making a complaint to be satisfied for the outcome of this – and in the last quarter, this figure stood at 97%. While this is great, we’re still doing all we can to increase satisfaction further…

In 2009/10, we are placing much more emphasis on consulting residents regarding the way we do things at the YMCA. We understand it can be time consuming filling in forms like this but the only way we can make sure we are providing the sort of service you want is by asking you! This means you will probably be asked to fill in feedback forms for different things such as when you have a repair done, when you get involved in resident forums and other groups, if you make a complaint or when you move on from the YMCA. Please help us by taking a few minutes to complete the forms – and if you need help, ask!