Apr 23-Mar 24
WhoWeAre
YMCA North Staffordshire’s youth campus is regarded as one of the best YMCA centres in the country. We remain the only YMCA to have won the Youth Matters Award for YMCA of the Year twice (2014/15 & 2019/20), and this year won Housing Project of the Year 2023 for our Community Housing Project. We also won the prestigious Queen’s Award for Enterprise: Promoting Opportunity 2021, in recognition of our “Creative Youth Minds” programme which was first established in 2015.
Our campus is used every month by over 2000 people of all ages, abilities and backgrounds, because they find support and encouragement here. We are a place where young people, families and our wider communities can get access to services and resources that will help them develop a better future for themselves and others.
Our vision is of an inclusive Christian movement, transforming communities so that all young people truly belong, contribute & thrive.
Our values are based on Christian principles turned into actions: Protect | Hope | Persevere | Trust
YMCA North Staffordshire’s dedicated staff teams deliver a variety of services across Stoke-on-Trent to support young people, their families and the wider community across the following work streams:
Housing
Family & Youth Work
Training & Education
Health & Wellbeing
Support & Advice
CEO’sWelcome
I am pleased and very proud to introduce our 2023/2024
Impact Report, showcasing the exciting work of YMCA North Staffordshire. Our work is rooted in our faith and our values: Protect; to offer sanctuary from the physical, emotional and practical storms that life will inevitably bring
Hope; to stand in solidarity with those who feel without hope. Persevere; to grow strength and maturity in young people as we stand with them through thick and thin.
Trust; we must always deliver on our promises - our yes must be yes and our no must be no.
Daniel Flynn - CEO
At the centre of this exciting report is the delivery of life chances that help those young people we serve to contribute, grow and thrive. We want to be the very best we can be, and winning the Youth Matters Housing Project of the Year Award for our Community Housing project is a fantastic validation of the quality of our housing provision, which is further validated by our progress investing £4m in building 46 new flats, Hope Court, that will open late 24 - early 25.
Our other major building development is a £2m project backed by the Youth Investment Fund to build a fantastic 21st century Youth Hub, which again opens late 24 - early 25.
Ensuring young people are the centre of the YMCA, we launched our Youth Governance and Young Trustee schemes, where young people will be supported and mentored by our existing board members. Many of those young people also volunteer internationally for the Youth Leadership programme run by YMCA England & Wales, with two young people from YMCANS speaking in Parliament at the All Party Parliamentary Group on Youth Affairs. A massively proud day when young people from Stoke-on-Trent made us all very proud.
The cost of living crisis and the pandemic have made many families lives harder across our city, and YMCANS has been trying to respond with Community Meals, warm spaces, and Thursdays have become a day when we work in partnership with many in the faith community, serving families that have been cast into crisis due to wars and violence across the world.
Our annual Christmas Hamper Campaign raises money to deliver 500 hampers to families across our city. This year we raised more money than we ever have, showing that the kindness of our city and its citizens is another reason to be proud.
We are proud to live out our values, and that YMCA is still the biggest faith based youth development agency in the world, based locally. We are people of faith who welcome all into our fellowship. Every human being is made in the image of God and is precious and has value. We are working hard to embrace the diversity and talent of all people
Finally I want to thank all the staff, volunteers, partners and young people who showed their love, compassion and care. We are a movement of hope, building life chances, and supporting young people into their futures. There is no better way to invest and return an exciting future.
God Bless, Daniel Flynn
Dashboard
In2022/23webeganajourneytoinvestinandimprove ourdatacapturing,andusingdatatodemonstrateour achievements.Thisworkhascontinuedin2023/24andwehave beguntorefinehowwecapturedataagainstourorganisationalindicators:
Events-workshops,youthclubs,activities,communityevents,etc.
Partnerships-organisationsweareactivelyworkingwithtosupport youngpeople
UniqueIndividuals-thetotalnumberofuniqueindividualswhohave accessedourservices
Footfall-thetotalnumberoftimesourserviceswereaccessed
23/24 Dashboard
7,746
2,834
105,527
Wewillbecontinuingtodevelophowwecapturedataintothecoming year,andfromApril2024wewilllaunchanewreportingmechanismfor departmentheadstoconsistentlycapturetheirdataandautomatically calculatenumbers.
BusinessPlan2023-2026
At YMCA North Staffordshire, we are committed to delivering against our business objectives to achieve our organisational impact. Measuring impact is vital to our continued growth, so we have applied indicators to each of our objectives to create a framework of evaluation. This helps us to:
Review activities against our mission and goals
Improve and implement changes depending on the results of the report
Build trust with funders, supporters, and beneficiaries
Cultivate a culture of learning among similar organisations
Celebrate the achievements of staff, young people and volunteers
AIM INDICATOR
1
Business Development & Income Generation
2
Unlocking the diverse gifts, talents, and abilities of the YMCA community, and be seen as an asset so that all young people, staff and volunteers can belong, contribute, and thrive
3 Learning Organisation, Growing Education, Capacity & Skills
4 Environmental Sustainability
5 Welfare & Community Partnerships
Increased income from public, private and earned income, wider partnership base, deeper skill set and bidding capacity within the association.
Young people and partners contribute to organisational cultural, business, products and services development
YMCA North Staffordshire has grown its capacity to deliver its vision mission Values products & services as our community has embraced learning and development opportunities.
We contribute to a net-zero and bio-diverse Stoke-on-Trent & North Staffordshire with social justice at our heart.
We will work alongside partners developing a collective impact approach We will help to raise voices of lived experience to help to campaign to influence and impact social policy and further political decision.
FutureFocus
1
Business Development and Income Generation
Investment in new post in the Business Development Team that focuses on fundraising and business support
Launch of the new Youth Hub
An additional 46 units of accommodation at Hope Court
2
3
Unlocking the diverse gifts, talents, and abilities of the YMCA community
Mapping partnerships so we ensure through collaboration we meet the needs of the YMCA Community
Investment in international and national residentials
Increasing the number of volunteers supporting YMCA services
Learning Organisation - Growing Capacity, Education & Skills
Encouraging more staff to undertake CPD opportunities
Strengthening relationships with academic partners
Provide more opportunities for young people to explore learning pathways
4
5
Environmental Sustainability
Capturing the contribution we make to towards the Sustainable Development Goals
Welfare and Community Partnerships
City Wide Consultation with children and young people
Working with the Collaborative Network to deliver a conference focusing on social design
Supporting the development of a city Food Partnership
KeyAchievements
Over the last 12 months, we have worked collectively to achieve our organisational impact that young people belong contribute and thrive. In addition, we continue to measure progress against our business plan, to ensure we are delivering against our organisational objectives.
Some of our key achievements over the past 12 months include:
Securing funding to build a brand new youth hub for children and young people across the city
Young people attending the All Party Parliamentary Group on Youth Affairs and speaking up for young people in parliament
Investment in new partnerships to unlock more opportunities for young people across the city
Delivering 524 hampers to struggling families over the Christmas period
Introducing a new appraisal system in response to staff feedback
Leading a city wide collaboration (YES) to address the challenges faced by young people who are not engaged in employment, education or training
Successfully securing funding to develop our volunteering programme
Seeing a footfall of over 100,000 people across our services
Working with One YMCA to train and introduce new young trustees on to our governing board
Young people visiting Canada on a fully sponsored visit as part of our wider commitment to international opportunities
Winning the Youth Matters Housing Project of the Year Award
Achieving the Real Living Wage standard
Delivering 436 training events to up-skill our staff team including safeguarding, food safety and first aid, as well as partnering with Deaflinks to offer focused Deaf Awareness and British Sign Language training
Continuing Investors in People standard and Cyber Essentials Plus
SustainableDevelopment Goals
YMCA North Staffordshire believes in a just world and sustainable planet. To achieve this we are committed to contributing towards the United Nations 17 Sustainable Development Goals. We have done this by:
Providing 100 low-income families a week with food, toiletries and other household essentials through our Local Pantry
Becoming an accredited Real Living Wage employer
Being an Investors in People accredited workplace
Providing a home to 206 young people every night
Providing 436 training events for staff & volunteers
Using solar panels to reduce our carbon footprint (we are moving from 30kva to 60kva by May 2025)
Changing all incandescent light bulbs to LED
Running a weekly drop-in session for refugees & asylum seekers to support with completion/translation of documentation etc.
Changing our photocopier to an energy efficient model that uses less than 80 watts of energy per week
Swapping to toilet rolls & paper towels made from recycled Tetra Pak cartons
Housing
Providing accommodation to young people aged 16-25, who have been at risk of, or have experienced homelessness is a key pillar of how we support Stoke-on-Trent.
We accommodated 250 young people in 2023/2024
At YMCA North Staffordshire, young people are provided with not just a roof over their heads, but also a programme of support to allow them to build their skills and confidence, in order to progress to their own independent living.
We offer three levels of supported accommodation:
Edinburgh House
High-Level Support
81 Rooms
Grace Crescent
Mid-Level Support
36 Flats
We also provide up to 6 places for Supported Lodgings.
Community Housing
Low-Level Support
43 Shared Houses
During 2023/24 our housing provision faced challenges to respond to changes - we saw an increase in the number of people housed from the refugee and asylum seeker ommunity, saw the ages of the young people we work with decrease and saw more people with needs around neurodiversity. To support these young people we have adapted our offer; we have employed a new Activity Worker with a focus on supporting the BAME community, staff have f support they provide around more sonal hygiene) and we have held staff versity.
of young people moved on to independent living 70%
able to to move out and set up her own home with her partner and their beautiful son Myles!
We have seen Tino blossom from an anxious young lady into a strong woman and mother - Sandra & Deb
We were delighted that our Community Housing Project was awarded the Housing Project of the Year Award at the Youth Matters Awards 2023.
A huge congratulations and well done to the whole team for all their hard work!
Health&Wellbeing
SportsandActivityCentre
and we are proud to work with a variety of alternative education providers, SEN and SEND schools to provide sporting activities to young people.
19 alternative education, SEN and SEND schools worked with
The Health Zone is ran in partnership with the NHS to help decrease the number of ambulances called out to our campus and has been very successful since launch.
Hospitality
l u
566 visits to the Health Zone Activity Centre footfall in 23/24 was a huge 84,080
As 2023/2024 saw the commencement of two large pieces of capital refurbishment on site, we were forced to temporarily close one of our conferencing suites to create a temporary Art Room for young people.
However, we are still able to offer our 16-seater board room and our fantastic Sky Room (with panoramic city-wide views) for community use.
b We also launched an after school sports club for young people aged 5-12 to promote physical activity in young people who don’t normally engage in sport.
After School Club sessions had a footfall of 816, with a total of 88 unique young people attending y can chat with our ve around their health er.
Family&YouthWork
YMCA North Staffordshire is dedicated to serving the community of Stoke-on-Trent and as part of this we deliver several programmes supporting young people to engage in positive activities.
YMCA G
YMCA Go! delivers community youth work to 10-16 year olds across the city. In 2023/2024 we ran 6 weekly youth clubs in Hanley, Blurton, Northwood, West End, ST6 and Kidsgrove. Young people can
83% of young people increased their confidence through YMCA Go!
327 sessions delivered, with a footfall of 2,550 people
engage in a variety of fun activities to develop their skills, including arts and crafts, sports, music, cooking and more.
We are passionate about supporting young people throughout the year and we have worked with a variety of partners to develop our school holiday activity programme, such as Holiday Activity Fund
(HAF) and the SPACE programme. During the holidays we also offer a variety of trips to give young people the opportunity to visit new places and sample new activities they may never have tried before.
100% of young people said they were more confident facing their fears
g The year also allowed the organisation to appoin a specialist volunteer co-ordinator, to support residents into volunteering opportunities.
We have had the pleasure of volunteering with a variety of local organisations, supporting our community by carrying out weekly projects.
One of our longstanding commitments has been young people engage in hands-on animal care work experience. Another strong partnership we have built has been with WalkTalkAction, a group passionate about helping people navigate mental health struggles. Our young people help out at a tea and toast morning and support a weekly nature walk around Longton Park.
Family&YouthWork
Family Work
Supporting families, as well as young people, is something that YMCA North Staffordshire is proud to be involved with. During 2023/2024 we delivered the following programmes to provide family support:
Improving Children and Family Arrangements (ICFA)
A 12 week course of interventions designed to support parents to amicably resolve differences around child arrangements following separation.
Parenting Together for Children (PTFC)
A support programme helping parents up skill with a dedicated e-learning programme and an online facilitated group session.
YMCA Go! Family Support
YMCA Go! also provided a dedicated Family Worker to support families in the community. This year we launched virtual e-books to enable families to access advice whenever its needed.
YMCA North Staffordshire has a full programme of activities to support residents to grow and discover their passions. Young people had an incredible year benefiting from a huge host of activities including; British Ceramics Biennial Project, cooking projects with FEASTED, a Creative Young Leaders programme.
4/5 satisfaction score from ICFA service users
411 e-learning courses completed
Support has been invaluable... helping us through a very difficult time. - family supported through YMCA Go!
We also launched our Creative Carousel arts programme, featuring woodworking sessions and a Theatre Club with Claybody Theatre and New Vic Borderlines.
461 sessions delivered, with a footfall of 2,633 people
Canada Residential
The activities team have also worked hard to develop partnerships to support young people’s health needs, featuring drop in sessions delivered by the NHS around mental health, the Community Drugs and Alcohol Team, Sexual Health Team and Dove Bereavement services.
Thanks to our partnership with the incredible Faunus Herbs, we were so privileged to be able to engage in a residential visiting Canada. Young people were able to experience life on a rural herbal farm and also got to visit Niagra Falls and Toronto.
Training&Education
SkillsHub
Our onsite training and education programme supports young people to access the right education and training opportunities, to enable them to achieve employment. We work with a variety of partners to provide a comprehensive offer, with sessions such as; Employability with Genius Within Confidence Building
Young Leaders Training
162 young people accessed training around confidence building and life & 40 young people supported to gain employment
Train the Trainer NHS training
Art for Wellbeing
Creative Youth Trai
Weekly Job Club.
All charities are aware of the importance of volunteers to enable their work. In 2023 we were able to employ a dedicated Volunteer Co-ordinator to help us provide a variety of volunteering opportunities to the community.
Volunteers with YMCA North Staffordshire are given the opportunity to engage with a variety of training to help enhance their own skills and CVs, including Equality & Diversity, Safeguarding and First Aid.
YMCA North Staffordshire was also delighted to relaunch the YES Programme, where a consortium of organisations support young people Not in Education, Employment or Training, with a final goal of finding sustainable employment. The project will be delivered in partnership with Landau, Stoke City Football Club, the Youth Offending Team and the National Literacy Trust.
Our aim is for 83 young people to achieve employment
66 volunteers supported YMCA North Staffordshire
Training&Education
PSHEWorkshops
Part of our outreach work into the community has included the development of a package of PSHE Workshops we are able to deliver in schools. This year saw the launch of these workshops and we hope to deliver in more schools in future.
1151 young people attended our workshops across 5 schools
The sessions have run like clockwork and were super organised. All our students were fully engaged and got a lot from them. We are also impressed at Amy and James’ presence in the rooms – students respected them totally.
- Fiona Dutton, Pastoral Lead at Painsley Catholic Callege
This year we launched two new NCS programmes; Open-to-All a Targeted - supporting young people with life skills, employability social action. Young people engaged in a variety of exciting activ including public speaking workshops, first aid qualifications, and our runs, as well as planning and deliver al action projects to benefit the community.
Sessions delivered to 713 young people
Our new Social Action projects have had an amazing response Their flexible approach means that they always provide a fantastic service to the young people in our academy!
- Kerry Hulme, Assistant Head Teacher at Clayton Hall Academy
YouthAmbassadors&YouthGovernance
We are proud to be part of the Youth Ambassador network with YMCA England & Wales, giving young staff members the opportunity to work with and meet other representatives from YMCAs across the world and push for change in issues that affect young people. Our Youth Governance initiative also launched, increasing the say young people have in all levels of our organisation. One member, Eden, also had the opportunity to speak about issues facing young people at the All Party Parliamentary Group;
Engaging the youth in politics is not merely an act of generosity; it's an investment in the future. - Eden
YoungBoardMembers
We were delighted to engage with the Get On Board programme through One YMCA. The programme supports young people aged 18-30 to become YMCA Trustees. Two young people are currently training to become members of our Board, and will be mentored by existing board members to help equip them with the skills they need. This is part of our mission to involve young people in every layer of decision making within the organisation.
Support&Advice
ChristianSpiritualDevelopment
YMCA North Staffordshire has an on-site Chaplain, able to provide spiritual support and guidance to both young people and staff on site whenever it is needed. Young people are given the opportunity to take part in a variety of activities, such as trips to Mount St. Bernard Abbey, a Cistercian Monastery which is home to over 30 monks, as part of our long-standing partnership with Mon
CommunityMeals
On the first Friday of every month, the YMCA North Staffordshire campus opens its doors and invites anyone from the community to join us and enjoy a free meal together. It was a fantastic year for our
CSD activities had a footfall of 1015
community meals as they continued to become an established part of the community calendar, following a break during the pandemic. Local organisations, charities and businesses help make these fantastic events happen, as every month we welcome a different guest host.
HamperCampaign
Every Christmas, YMCA North Staffordshire sets a target to deliver 500 Hampers to struggling families in the city. These hampers contain a variety of items, from essentials
such as toiletries, blankets, and books & activities for children, to more luxury items like chocolates, biscuits and crackers.
This year, thanks to the extremely generous support of the community, we were overjoyed to be able to deliver 524 Hampers!
Support&Advice
StokeNorthBigLocal
Funded by the Big Local Trust to support the communities of Fegg Hayes, Great Chell and Chell Heath, SNBL is made up of residents, resident groups
The project supports a variety of fantastic community initiatives including foodbanks, money advice, growing fields and the creation of a local skate park.
Your Local Pantry is a UK-wide initiative designed to provide a sustainable solution to food poverty.
Members are able to access a variety of essentials, mainly food and toiletries, for a small weekly fee.
300 local people attended the Easter Carnival
We are proud to host a Pantry on site to support the community during the cost-of-living crisis.
5542 food parcels were distributed bers during 2023/24
The Your Local Pantry 2023 Impact Report states: “Analysis found that the value of a ‘typical’ basket of goods at a Pantry varies, with the average cost being £26 Co-Op prices. This means that the typical saving for members is around £21 for each Pantry visit (ranging between £13 and as high as £30 each week, depending on basket contents)”
Sanctus
W h l t d ith Sanctus to provide weekly and asylum seeker community rop in sessions offer food nappies to families, support umentation and ESOL classes.
2,724 Sanctus food parcels distributed
This year we were able to partner with British Ceramics Biennial to create Tactile workshops for Sanctus attendees, where they were able to create a variety of ceramics.
istmas presents gifted to children through Sanctus Support
These services can only happen thanks to the support of the fantastic volunteers who help us to run them.
Partnerships
Much of the crucial work we do to support young people and the wider community would not be possible without the support of our fantastic partners.
This year saw the start of two exciting new partnerships with local organisations.
CottageDelight
Cottage Delight is a local business specialising in food production. This year we have begun a partnership based on our shared values of supporting young people and the community.
Young people from YMCA North Staffordshire have
had the opportunity to visit Cottage Delight, learning more about what they do, how a production business operates and even sampling some of the delicious food they produce. Eventually we will look to give young people from YMCA North Staffordshire the
ortunity to engage in work experience with Cottage Delight, to gain luable exposure to the world of work.
ottage Delight have also been generous enough to support us with gular donations of food to our Food Pantry and were a fantastic porter of our Hamper Campaign.
rsityConferencingandEvents
The team at Keele University’s Conferencing and Events team has been a great support to YMCA North Staffordshire. Young people were able to visit the stunning Keele Hall and receive a tour, learning about how the Conferencing and Events team works to support the university as a whole - the visit has lead to one young person even getting a job with the team.
In addition the team has continued to support YMCANS, raising money and collecting donations for our Pantry and the Hamper Campaign, and volunteered to help wrap a huge amount of Christmas presents for our young people.
Every year residents and staff are given the opportunity to celebrate the past year with Christmas Prom, and this year Keele kindly offered Keele Hall at a reduced rate.
FinancialSummary
Income
Housing & Support | £3,690,049
Youth Activity Hub | £34,025
YES | £86,416
Employment & Training | £6,799
Family Services | £99,773
Youth & Community Activities | £501,113
Sports Centre | £191,758
Food Services | £208,915
Other Income | £227,174
Total Income | £5,046,022
Expenses
Housing & Support | £1,910,809
Hope Court | £4,322
Youth Activity Hub | £34,025
YES | £60,626
Family Services | £73,989
Youth & Community Activities | £399,561
Sports Centre | £248,249
Food Services | £144,788
Other Expenses | £97,390
Organisational Overheads | £1,703,862
Total Expenditure | £4,677,621
For more detailed information around our financial information please visit the Charity Commission for England and Wales - https://register-ofcharities.charitycommission.gov.uk/charity-search/-/charitydetails/4002500/accounts-and-annual-returns
Christian Spiritual Development activity footfall 1,015
ActivityCentre footfall
40 young people supported to gain employment
8,266 food parcels distributed via Your Local Pantry & Sanctus
556 Health Zone visitors
524
Christmas Hampers distributed to struggling families
84,080 young people housed 250 1,151 volunteers supported YMCANS 66
young people attended PSHE workshops delivered by YMCANS
activity sessions delivered to young people 788
411 of young people moved on to independent living 70% to everyone who supported us this year. We could not continue to do the work that we do without the amazing partnerships we have made, and the generous donations, funding, and hours of constant support that we receive. Thank You
family work e-learning courses completed
www.ymcans.org.uk hello@ymcans.org.uk 01782 222376
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