October Newsletter from Cumbria Youth Alliance

Welcome to the Cumbria Youth Alliance (CYA) news round-up

In this issue...

AGM Fedback Focus on Eden More awards for our amazing! young people Simple Quality Protects Drop Zone Youth Project 'Highly Commended' Harnessing our collective responsibilities Share Foundation Programme Article from CYP Now 'County lines' landmark case Fundraising EXTRA Members News

Welcome to our October Newsletter September was a great month here at Cumbria Youth Alliance as the month culminated in our 20th Annual General Meeting held at Shap Memorial Hall on 29th of September 2018.

We were joined by 78 individuals from a wide variety of organisations who came together with us to celebrate the successes of young people who work directly with the team at Cumbria Youth Alliance.

We were joined by a host of different agencies and were fortunate to have John McIlwraith the Executive Director of People from Cumbria County Council as our guest of honour.

Our Trustee board were all re-elected and we move forward into 2018/2019 ably led by our Chair Mark Hurley, Our vice Chair Mike Seaton and our Treasurer Tony Hindmoor and supported by Trustees Kirsteen Laidlaw Martin Ladds, Yvonne Lambert and Sean Robinson. It has been a difficult and challenging year -especially around generating income to keep our projects going but despite the odds we have improved our income by around ÂŁ50,000 and are on target for another increase in 2018/2019.

It can be all to easy to forget just why we are here doing this job when we are knee deep in paperwork for the European Union and are juggling undertaking funding bids to keep ourselves afloat with day to day service delivery.

We are there for one reason -to help young people in Cumbria achieve their full potential regardless of their starting point in life. We share a common belief that all young people have great potential they just need to be in the right place with the right level of support to enable them to fulfil that potential. We pride ourselves in being able to work alongside young people as they make their own journeys towards adulthood.

It can be humbling to see the wonderful young people achieve success. Many have faced significant difficulties and many have complex barriers in their short lives. Yet despite all the hurdles they have had to overcome they have achieved amazing things often surprising themselves along the way. All our work is asset based and we focus on how we capitalise on what the young person is already good at to help overcome the barriers and help achievement with the things that they are not so good at.

Outcomes Star is used as our assessment methodology and the results of the assessment from Outcomes Star used to develop a comprehensive asset based training and development plan that is unique to each young people using our services.

For more our own AGM see our photos later in this newsletter.

Cath Clarke, October 2018 Member of the Institute of Fundraising

2

Focus on Eden Thanks to funding from Cumbria County Council, Penrith Town Council and Cumbria Community Foundation we are rolling out our Dreamscheme programme in Eden.

Dreamscheme is a programme where a group young people come together to plan a something that will benefit other members of their community. Community can mean geographical community or community of interest. This is usually referred to nowadays as social action. The young people work as a team to develop a small business plan and budget and plan how the project is going to be carried out then they pitch their idea to a small panel of local dragons. The dragons then approve a grant to get them going on their project or work with them to change elements of the project so it can be funded and go forward. Young people then work together as a team to carry out the project and for every hour they spend on the project they gather points. These points then equate to rewards for the young people as a group. It could be a trip out - it could be a new piece of equipment for their centre or it could be some sports equipment - the young people decide what they want for their rewards. The programme encourages young people to learn a host of new skills by stealth. They learn how to work in a group, how to improve their communication, how to plan and cost a programme of work and how to pitch their ideas to a panel of local dragons.

The first person in Eden to receive their cheque to get a group of young people engaged in Dreamscheme was Rachel Milburn of CHOFFS Brough.

(Pictured left) Rachel received the grant to enable the young people to get going on their Dreamscheme programme from Director of People from Cumbria County Council John McIlwraith at our AGM held in Shap.

Do you run a youth club in Eden? would you like us to come and talk to you about how your young people can get engaged in Dreamscheme?

Ring Juan on 01900603131 or email him juan@cya.org.uk Another notable achievement worthy of mention in Eden: Euphoric Circus achieved their Gold Award from Simple Quality Protects for their work with young people. Simple Quality Protects is a starter quality mark for organisations working with children and young people and carries national accreditation.

3

More awards for our amazing! young people Here are just a few photographs of the amazing young people we have been directly supporting during the year. Many have achieved amazing things despite the odds. Some achieved Duke of Edinburgh Awards, while others took part in a summer activities programme where they excelled.

(Pictured above) People from Whitehaven Foyer working on our First Steps to Employment Programme.

(Pictured above) Here is a photo of young people who are taking part in Duke of Edinburgh Awards from South Workington Youth Partnership who have overcome significant difficulties to take part in the programme.

4

Simple Quality Protects Working with Children and Young People - free help to gain nationally recognised quality mark at Bronze, Silver, Gold or even Platinum.

Organisations working with Children and Young people have additional responsibilities to take into consideration when working towards any quality assurance accreditation. In tandem with working through the generic SQP quality assurance Cumbria Youth Alliance will support organisations to work through the standards and help you gain accreditation around your safeguarding and working with children and young people.

It can boost your funding bids as funders will recognise you operate in a safe environment and are committed to offering a quality service. It will boost team morale at they will know they are offering children, young people and families a quality service.

It's all FREE! Ring Juan on 01900603131 or email him juan@cya.org.uk

5

Drop Zone Youth Project 'Highly Commended' Cath Corkill and Sue Johnson receiving the award for highly commended in the category of SMALL CHARITY, BIG IMPACT, on behalf of DROP ZONE YOUTH PROJECTS, at the North West Charity Awards held at The Principal Hotel Manchester on Friday 12th October. Drop Zone Youth Projects provide projects across the Barrow Borough area to raise the aspirations and achievements of young people.

6

Harnessing our collective responsibilities

By Jenny Coles - Jenny Coles, is DCS at Hertfordshire County Council and chair of the ADCS families, communities and young people policy committee. This blog first appeared on the ADCS website Highlighting the impact of neglect on young people is clearly presented in Ofsted's Growing up neglected: a multi-agency response to older children. I was taken by some of the opportunities missed in harnessing the insight and expertise of some of our partner agencies, as well as the need to better support the training and skills development of our frontline staff working with teenagers. The latest joint targeted area inspection thematic report offers an overview of findings from six local authority area inspections. One of the headlines was that older children facing neglect can often go ‘unseen' as signs of neglect are not as easy to identify as with younger children. This is partly because a practitioner's focus can be on the presenting behaviour such as anti-social activity and other challenging behaviours, rather than understanding the reasons behind a young person's actions. Another headline was that better joined-up working from local agencies is needed to identify neglect sooner.

When it comes to safeguarding children, all local agencies hold the same ambition, high standards and determination to protect them. Our different responsibilities mean that each of us has a unique insight into a child's life. Harnessing all of this knowledge and any other opportunities to prevent problems is key to tackling these issues early. We must also not lose sight of the fact that teenagers are entitled to care and protection from neglect just as much as younger children. The report raises plenty of important issues and I found the reference to the growing body of evidence regarding a trauma informed approach very helpful. However, I was particularly taken with the messages around the role of health services. As the report points out, identifying neglect in older children can be more difficult and therefore requires a more co-ordinated approach. The importance of GPs, dentists and other health colleagues in identifying, addressing and reporting neglect were noted with some excellent examples of tenacious practice by individual practitioners such as school nurses. Making sure that frontline practitioners who interact directly with young people and their families have the skills to respond and the confidence to share key information with each other goes such a long way. This is especially important in spotting signs of neglect. Multi-agency training in responding to older young people and sharing the good practice developing in some areas is essential so that we have every chance of supporting all children in a family.

Health is an increasingly complex landscape and as we begin to put in place our new multiagency safeguarding arrangements there is an opportunity to reset local relationships and ways of working. This report offers some food for thought in this process, like how we meaningfully engage with a range of partners in preventing neglect of older young people as well as addressing the impact of neglect. For me it is about championing the rights of young people to feel and be cared for as well as finding the best way to co-ordinate our efforts with other agencies within the broader safeguarding context. There is no doubt that positive work is taking place as many staff across multiple agencies do what they can to identify and tackle neglect, however, we must continue to develop our practice to address the needs of young people of secondary school age. There will be new challenges and opportunities in the future with the replacement of local safeguarding children boards, but one thing will remain the same, tackling neglect in families will make a crucial difference to outcomes for young people.

7

Share Foundation Programme

This programme was set up by an organisation called the Share Foundation. It’s a national organisation set up by a gentleman who was himself a Barnardos boy who understands the struggle many young people have to make a successful transition into independent living and adulthood. The programme offers access to on line learning modules designed to give them the best possible opportunity to gain the skills they will need to make that successful transition. They are nationally approved by a range of awarding bodies and completed with a local mentor to help and support the learning process. Cumbria as a local authority has signed up to this scheme and a named point of contact has been chosen within Cumbria County Council.

Currently young people leave care at 18 with £200 in their Junior ISA. This programme gives them the opportunity to “earn whilst you learn” and if all modules are completed this £200 can be topped up by £1500 to a total of £1700.

That is enough for a deposit for a flat , driving lessons, or helps to get established in further or higher education. Some young people may just do one or two modules but they still get the money for the modules they have completed.

The Stepladder of Achievement programme will provide both life skills and financial resources in order to enhance the capability and prospects of young people in care, who are likely to have experienced an unpredictable education. Our aim is to break the cycle of deprivation by enabling these young people to look forward to a normal adult life, by helping them to reverse this instability and enhance their employability prospects.

Here in Cumbria the scheme is supported by Cumbria Youth Alliance who provide help and assistance at all stages from help with registration to completion and next steps planning/ mentoring. All our staff are experienced in working with young people and are enhanced DBS /Safeguarding trained with procedures to meet Schedule 11 guidelines. Male and Female mentors are available to meet individual needs.

Referrals can come to Cumbria Youth Alliance from Foster Parents, Care Homes, Social Work teams or other referral agencies. Young People can also refer themselves. We meet up in the first instance with a CCC staff member or trusted adult along with the young person so everybody is aware of what the programme encompasses and what support and help is in place to support the young learner.

We help the young person get registered on line and then provide regular face to face contact to keep them motivated and earning /learning. Funding is in place for up to 30 young learners but if demand outstrips this Share Foundation will carry out additional fundraising activity to allow additional participation.

8

Eligibility:  Young People from anywhere in Cumbria aged 15-17  Must have been in care for over a year  Young people with a junior ISA  In foster care  In a Children’s Home  Independently living /hostels /foyers etc  Young people who are Cumbrian but placed outside the County -eligible but mentoring would be done remotely but they are eligible  Young people placed here in Cumbria but from another County are currently not eligible but a case can be made to the Share Foundation on a case by case referral  You can stop at any point you like - if you only want to do module 1 and 2 then stop then you can but if you want to do all the modules again you can -there is help from Cumbria Youth Alliance at every step of the way -but they must be undertaken in order - to do module 2 you must undertake module 1

Stepladder of Achievement Step

Description

Provider/s

Assessment Method

Payment to JISA

1

Literacy

ForSkills endorsed

by National Literacy Trust

£150

2

Numeracy

For Skills endorsed

by National Numeracy

3

Making my money work (Financial Capability 1) Planning for the future

Based on 15-17 website workbook ForSkills The Share Foundation Share Radio and The Open University (OU) The Children’s Society and other mentoring organisations

On-line learning materials and assessment to improve performance, broadly similar in demand to a grade C GCSE On-line learning materials and assessment to improve performance, broadly similar in demand to a grade C GCSE On-line learning materials and assessment Text statement submitted and evaluated by an on-line volunteer Broadcast version of an 8 week course with on-line test and recognised OU accreditation Securing employment, education or training

£250

4 5

Managing my money (Financial Capability 2)

6

Mentoring *

£150

£200

£350

£400

Contact Cath Clarke or Gary Frazer at Cumbria Youth Alliance 01900- 603131 or email cath@cya.org.uk or gary@cya.org.uk

9

Article from CYP Now Improving the availability of after school youth work programmes could protect young people from serious violence, according to a Labour MP leading an inquiry into youth violence.

Youth work support after school could help reduce the risk of young people getting involved in violent incidents, an MP has said. Picture: Robin Hammond Speaking in a House of Commons debate on youth violence, Vicky Foxcroft, Labour MP for

Lewisham Deptford, said that evidence given to the Youth Violence Commission shows that knife attacks are most common on weekdays in the period after school finishes and before parents come home from work.

Foxcroft, who chairs the cross-party commission, is urging ministers to consider boosting support for after-school youth work as a way of keeping young people safe following a recent rise in violent crime.

In addition, she wants the government to publish official data showing the times when knife attacks are most likely, to help better plan efforts to tackle youth violence.

Foxcroft said: "Youth workers, teachers and police officers told the commission that the most dangerous time for knife attacks involving young people is between 3pm and 6pm, but the Office for National Statistics, the Metropolitan police, the Mayor's Office for Policing and Crime, city hall's London Datastore, London ambulance dispatch data, the Centre for Crime and Justice Studies and the House of Commons Library were unable to get us data on the times at which knife attacks take place.  Feature: A public health approach to youth violence  Funding Focus: Early Intervention Youth Fund "When professionals in the field are consistently raising concerns about after-school attacks and grooming, why is this data not published?"

Addressing youth minister Tracey Crouch, who attended the debate, Foxcroft added: "Will the minister commit to obtaining the data and publishing it? Does she agree that after-school youth work and activities could help to keep young people safe?"

Crouch said that finding out the times of the day when young people are most vulnerable to knife crime "are valid and important questions to ask".

"I will make sure that colleague who may be responsible will provide her with answers," she said.

Earlier this month, the government announced it will provide £200m of funding for youth organisations in violent crime "hotspots". This is in addition to the £22m provided to youth groups through the

Early Intervention Youth Fund.

10

During the debate Foxcroft also raised concerns around the youth sector's funding system, saying that it is forcing local youth charities to compete against each other for funds, rather than collaborate.

This competitive funding climate also means that large organisations are more likely to have the infrastructure and resources to successfully win grants and contracts, she says. In addition, funding is often too short term.

"Funding challenges have made the sector super-competitive," said Foxcroft.

"Local charities with similar aims have little incentive to collaborate because they are all bidding for the same pots of money.

"Large organisations with professional bid writers are much more likely to get funding than small charities, even if those charities are doing good work on the ground."

Crouch admitted that "funding and services are fragmented and siloed" adding that the Civil Society

Strategy, published in August, commits the government to a review of the statutory duty for council youth services.

"If, following that review, the guidance needs to be strengthened, we will do so," Crouch said.

"We need the public, private, social and faith sectors to work much more closely at a community level."

11

'County lines' landmark case

By Joe Lepper A drug dealer has been jailed for 14 years in the first successful prosecution under legislation to tackle "county lines" crime, in which gangs exploit vulnerable children to establish drug networks.

The conviction of Birmingham man Zakaria Mohammed is the first time a conviction has been secured for child trafficking offences related to county lines under the Modern Slavery Act (2015).

The legislation introduced tougher sentences for those who traffick children and exploit them for criminal purposes, including sexual exploitation and drug networks.

County lines involves gangs from urban areas who exploit children to set up drug distribution networks to rural areas, market towns and coastal areas.

Gangs and drug dealers often use violence and intimidation to set up and maintain such networks. This also includes forcing vulnerable people from their homes to set up drug dealing bases, a practice known as "cuckooing". The most recent national assessment of county lines, by the National Crime Agency, suggests there are more than 1,000 such networks in operation.

Mohammed, aged 21, was sentenced to 14 years in prison at Birmingham Crown Court this week after admitting running a drug dealing operation and trafficking two 15-year-old boys and a 14-year-old girl.

His conviction follows a West Midlands and Lincolnshire Police investigation after the two boys were reported missing from their home in Birmingham and later found in Lincoln earlier this year in a flat where knives and a bundle of cash were discovered.

The investigation revealed that Mohammed had been making regular trips to the flat from Birmingham and a phone used to run the drugs line was found in his car as well as evidence linking him to the missing children.

Mohammed refused to talk to detectives during interview but later admitted four counts of possessing drugs with intent to supply and five counts of human trafficking.

"This is a hugely significant conviction for West Midlands Police and law enforcement as a whole across the UK," said investigating officer detective constable Max Gebhard.

"It shows that we can go after county lines offenders not just for drug supply but also under trafficking legislation due to them exploiting children. And that means stiffer custodial sentences for offenders."  Analysis: Safeguarding key to tackling crime  Analysis: Help for runaways to be enhanced 12

Last month the Home Office launched the ÂŁ3.6m National County Lines Co-ordination

Centre, to tackle county lines and develop national intelligence of the complexity and scale of the problem. The Home Office has said that there are more than 200 active county lines investigations under way.

Evidence released this week from a Home Office-funded pilot to tackle county lines crime found that specialist support from a youth charity was able to dramatically reduce the number of children who go missing.

"This conviction under the Modern Slavery Act sends out a clear signal that children under the control of so-called county lines drugs gangs are not criminals, but victims of criminal exploitation and trafficking," said The Children's Society chief executive Matthew Reed.

"These gangs groom children with drugs and alcohol or promises of status and wealth, and control them using terrifying threats, violence and sexual abuse.

"We work with children who have gone missing from home or care, sometimes for weeks on end, at the mercy of gangs who see these vulnerable children as pawns in their crimes.

"That's why when a child is reported missing from home or care they should be assessed to see if they're at risk of being exploited by these gangs and professionals must get better at spotting the signs and ensuring these children get help at a much earlier stage."

13

Fundraising EXTRA Yorkshire Dales Millennium Trust - funds available

Has funding available for young people: https://www.ydmt.org/what-we-do/greenfutures/environmental-action-fund it is running for the next 2 years. We welcome applications from Cumbria within one hours drive of the Yorkshire Dales National Park.

14

Member News Emergency First Aid at Work Gen2 has places available on Emergency First Aid at Work, there are 2 courses available either 5th November or 12th November.

The cost of this 1 day course is ÂŁ65 + VAT per person.

If you have any staff you wish to enrol onto either session, please complete and return the attached booking form as soon as possible as places are on a first come first served basis.

Booking Form Kind regards Samantha Gen2 Head Office Blackwood Road, Lillyhall Workington, Cumbria, CA14 4JJ. t:

01900 701300 - dd: 01900 701330 - m: 07808 778343

e: Samantha.Clark@gen2.ac.uk

Support young people at risk of poor mental heath The new 3.7 programme in memory of Masterchef’s Matt Campbell has been launched by Brathay at Kirbie Kendal School. Below is some more information about it and an expression of interest form for any schools interested in the programme.

Download flyer for more information

15

Courses at CADAS More information about each of these courses, including dates/costs can be found here: https://mailchi.mp/7f853e150e06/drug-alcohol-and-volatile-substance-abuse-training-carlisle-barrowwest-cumbria-kendal Thank you - Megan Troughton West Cumbria Volunteer Coordinator, Cumbria Alcohol & Drugs Advisory Service Phone: 07493865636 - Website: www.cadas.co.uk

ACE's Screening th

Just a polite reminder that the ACE’s full film is being screened this Wednesday and then on 13 November 10am to 12.30pm from West Cumbria House. You can book a ticket for free on Eventbrite if you want to go along to either of these screenings. https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/2018-cockermouth-kings-church-resilience-the-biology-of-stress-the-scienceof-hope-tickets-48161205462 https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/2018-lillyhallworkington-resilience-the-biology-of-stress-the-science-of-hopetickets-51397152266 Regards Russell Maddams Active Cumbria

16

Disability Information Day 21/11/2018

Shirley Murphy Cumbria Parent Carer Forum Chair Tel: 07702580347 e-mail: cumbriaparentcarerforum@gmail.com Registered Charity Number - 1175734 www.cumbriaparentcarerforum.org.uk

17

Draft CLA Strategy - Consultation Dear Colleagues At this week’s Corporate Parenting Board the first draft of the CLA Strategy was agreed by Members for stakeholder engagement. Following a period of engagement a second draft will be developed in November with the final strategy going to Cabinet for sign off in November.

The strategy has been developed with children looked after, whose work is in the appendices. They have also drafted the vision.

If you have any comments on the strategy then please can these be fed back to joel.rasbash@cumbria.gov.uk by 9th November 2018.

CLA Strategy Draft App-1-Blue-Jam-engagement-eventsApp1 App-2-CLA-Zine App-3-Poem App-4-Poem Kind regards Deborah Hope Business Support Administrator - LSCB and Improvement People | Cumbria House | 117 Botchergate | Carlisle | CA1 1RD t: 01228 226898 m: 07825 755284 e: deborah.hope@cumbria.gov.uk

18

Kingswood Residential Trips for 2019

19

Kepplewray Centre Christmas Parties

20

Keep up to date with all of the news from Cumbria Youth Alliance by following us online

Website http://www.cya.org.uk

Facebook https://www.facebook.com/CumbriaYouthAlliance/

Twitter https://twitter.com/CYAUK

YouTube https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCWCZ4MP14cy6BBkM3VYa0pA

Instagram @CumbriaYouthAlliance

21