YMCA DLG Strategy Development Document

Youth Minded Community Approach: Strategy Development 2017-18

INTRO In April 2016 we launched our 2020 Vision: Youth Minded Community Approach. The recent staff survey showed that the new strategy has been well received by staff; that you liked the mission strap line youth minded community approach, and that belong, contribute & thrive resonated strongly with the work of our YMCA. The Board, Executive and Leadership Team met at the end of March to review progress on the strategy and from that work agreed 16 objectives to further support the development of our strategy for the year ahead. We felt it was important to share this information with you, get your feedback and be accountable in terms of delivering on the objectives. If you have any thoughts and comments on our strategy please email strategy@ymcadlg.org Chas Walker, CEO May 2017

Strategy development objectives for 2017-18

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Jacob’s story, YMCA Positive Placements Jacob is one of our residents in West Sussex. He joined the Mid Sussex YMCA Positive Placements Mentoring Project.

He has worked really hard to pursue his career goals and is one of the first young people in West Sussex to start working with us. He is now a Grounds Maintenance Apprentice. The opportunity combines gardening work for us with study towards an NVQ L2 Horticulture at Plumpton College in Lewes.

I’m really excited about my apprenticeship. It’s a great opportunity which will open doors to my future career.

I’m looking forward to learning new skills and being part of the facilities team.

Jacob

”

HELPING YOUNG PEOPLE BELONG

HELPING YOUNG PEOPLE ACHIEVE

If we are to continue to help young people feel they can belong we have some important work to do in better balancing the resourcing of our front line services with the needs of young people in our local communities. This needs to be done within the constraints of the current funding environment.

If young people like Jacob are to thrive and contribute positively in their local community then we need to continue to invest in and develop our learning & employability services.

OBJECTIVE 2 - To invest in the development of a strong employability, education & engagement offer for young people

OBJECTIVE 1 - To better balance the resourcing requirements of our front line services with the current and emerging needs of young people in our local communities We will set and achieve a balanced budget for 2017-18 limiting any further reductions on frontline resources We will invest in local services through the new localised leadership structure We will be more open in our communication, involving staff in shaping the future of our YMCA

MISSION

We will balance existing investment in our alternative education services with the resources required to develop our employability offer to our residents and young people in our local communities We will map the employability requirements of our residents and local young people and secure accreditation on appropriate employment and skills frameworks We will develop further our softer engagement offer for residents through YMCA Positive Placements and volunteering options

KEEPING CHILDREN AND YOUNG PEOPLE SAFE

SUPPORTING WELLBEING IN YOUNG LIVES

One of the most touching compliments we received last year was the message from a parent thanking YMCA Safe Space for keeping her son safe after things went wrong for him on a night out in Brighton, read it below.

It was really positive to drive forwards the national #IAMWHOLE campaign raising awareness of the important issue of mental health stigma and how this prevents young people from seeking help.

OBJECTIVE 3 - To increase our investment in keeping young people safe We will invest further in the creation of a dedicated safeguarding role to continue to strengthen our response to managing safeguarding risk and responsibilities

MISSION

We will seek and prioritise funding opportunities that develop the impact of our children and young people work

My son was out in Brighton on Saturday night and became intoxicated to the point of not being able to look after himself. A friend took him into YMCA Safe Space.

I got a call from a YMCA Safe Space worker at about 2am. She was so calm and reassuring. She gave me time to collect myself and process the situation. She allowed me to talk to her.

I drove 45 minutes to collect my son. They kept him safe and treated him with dignity and respect. The worker greeted me with a warm hug which said “everything will be ok.” I truly felt moved by the kindness and selflessness of the team there.

Dealing with drunken vomiting people would be my worst nightmare so the fact that these people choose to do this is a real testament to their character. They are like angels on earth.

I dread to think what may have happened to my son had YMCA Safe Space not been available. I will be making a donation to help with your wonderful work. Please pass on my immense gratitude to everyone involved in looking after my son on Saturday. He was a very lucky boy.

OBJECTIVE 4 - Increase the reach & impact of our Wellbeing & Therapeutic Services We will implement & establish our new community counselling & wellbeing services We will invest in the marketing and development of our schools counselling offer We will build on #IAMWHOLE and develop a related fundraising campaign

DEVELOPING A BALANCED GROWTH STRATEGY

DERIVING BEST VALUE FROM OUR PHYSICAL ASSETS

It was a good result that we were able to exceed our budget last year and that we have been able to set a positive budget position for the coming year.

Looking to the future we need to continue working on reducing our reliance on local government and public funds. Working more closely with the wider community will be important to achieving this.

Ensuring we have the right buildings and the right quality of buildings is essential to the success of our 2020 Vision.

OBJECTIVE 5 - To set a balanced budget for 2017-18 We will set a budget that balances financial pressure on our income sources with pressure on our front line services

RESOURCE

We will manage the budget to ensure we meet our internal cash reserves policy and our bank covenant requirements We will devolve levels of budget responsibility within our management structures

OBJECTIVE 6 - To improve the quality of our buildings We will complete the redevelopment of Midwey House in Guildford and launch the building in October as the YMCA Guildford Foyer We will improve the quality of accommodation and wider community access to the YMCA Crawley Foyer We will agree a plan for improving YMCA Horsham We will continue to pursue the option of a Y Cube development in Brighton

We will develop our fundraising strategies and increase our fundraising activity

YMCA DLG

Actual 2016/17

Budget 2017/18 2016/17

Income

10,952,706

11,154,267

Expenditure

(10,814,941)

(10,980,944)

Surplus - before interest and depreciation

137,765

173,323

Notes: Depreciation is a non-cash cost, that does not impact the organisation’s reserves Cash flow includes capital grants and planned upgrades on Guildford & Crawley Foyers Surpluses are important to support planned investment in our properties and ensure we maintain sufficient reserves

INVESTING IN OUR STAFF

IMPROVING EFFICIENCIES IN OUR ORGANISATION

Through our staff survey we are able to understand and act on the views of our staff.

In challenging financial times it is important we are as efficient as we can be in the use of our YMCA’s resources.

OBJECTIVE 7 – Continue to invest in, value and develop our people

We will commit to a consolidated pay increase. This will be implemented in September 2017 We will launch our Wellbeing at Work Policy We will maximise the opportunities for training and development of all staff

RESOURCE

OBJECTIVE 8 - To recruit a new Director of Finance & Resources We will invest in a new Director of Finance & Resources to reduce our reliance on external consultants and to give us the capacity to be a more efficient organisation We will develop our approach and systems for achieving better value for money

EMPOWERING LOCAL YMCA SERVICES

ENCOURAGING YOUNG PEOPLE TO PARTICIPATE

This is central to our vision of a Youth Minded Community Approach.

At a time when there is so much change in our society we have an important role to champion the voice of young people.

OBJECTIVE 9 – To devolve a greater level of decision making to local services

OBJECTIVE 10 – Strengthen the voice of young people

PARTICIPATION We will support local area and service decision making through the new leadership team arrangements

We will strengthen our youth governance by recruiting a trustee to our Board specifically to champion important issues for young people We will develop the role of our Young People’s Board

We will continue the roll out of our localised YMCA brand architecture

We will ensure young people have an external voice on important issues that affect them

ENGAGING WITH LOCAL COMMUNITIES

ADOPTING A LEAD ROLE IN THE YMCA FEDERATION

One of the most encouraging aspects of last year was to see the continued impact volunteers have on our work.

The new YMCA Federation strategy supports and encourages our work with our neighbouring YMCAs.

OBJECTIVE 11 – To increase the number of volunteers supporting our work

OBJECTIVE 12 – Collaborative working with other local YMCAs

We will expand the role of YMCA Positive Placements and support wider volunteering opportunities across the organisation We will seek further funding to expand the work of our YMCA Chaplaincy services

PARTICIPATION

We will build on our partnership work with Eastbourne and Wealden YMCA and Hastings YMCA to support the development of a collaborative YMCA offer across East Sussex

MEASURING OUR IMPACT & TELLING OUR STORY It is clear that the energy we are putting into telling our story is working and gaining us far greater exposure. This has been helped by our social media presence and Snapshot.

OBJECTIVE 13 – To build on the strong foundations of last year’s work in this area

QUALITY

OBJECTIVE 14 - To develop our YMCA vision by identifying a set of values that resonate with our ethos & mission, staff, young people and stakeholders We will consult with staff and young people in helping us identify values that resonate well with what people value about our organisation and its culture We will consider important feedback from the staff survey about how we communicate the Christian and inclusive foundation of the YMCA

We will launch our new impact measures toolkit and share the results across the organisation We will build on last year’s #IAMWHOLE campaign We will participate in community events such as Brighton Pride We will build on our fundraising successes particularly our YMCA Sleep Easy event

BUILDING STRONG LEADERSHIP & GOVERNANCE

MANAGING RISK EFFECTIVELY

We will continue to develop our leadership and governance structure.

Consulting the wider organisation on the development of our risk register has been instrumental to the success of this work.

OBJECTIVE 15 – To strengthen the leadership & governance of our YMCA

QUALITY

OBJECTIVE 16 – To continue to balance risk and mission

We will recruit a new Director of Finance & Resources to our Executive Team

We will regularly review our organisational risk register involving staff at all levels of our organisation

We will invest in the leadership development of our Heads of Services

We will review the long term costs of maintaining all our building assets

We will review the governance of our organisation We will recruit additional trustees with safeguarding and youth experience

If you have any thoughts and comments on our strategy please email strategy@ymcadlg.org, and I look forward to reading and responding.