Ynot Aspire Business Plan

January 2018 to December 2022 Registered Charity no. 1150198 Company no. 8290421

Formed in October 2010 Ynot Aspire is a registered charity and limited company. It is a grass roots organisation, working with young people in Hyndburn and surrounding areas to raise their aspirations and inspire them to be all that they can be.

Working in partnership with other organisations in the area, Ynot Aspire runs a range of activities to help address gaps in service and issues that are relevant to the beneficiaries it looks to reach and deliver a value for money, needs-led service for some of the area’s most vulnerable young people.

Ynot Aspire constantly consults with stakeholders and beneficiaries to ensure that activities complement other work going on in the area, avoiding duplication and offer clear and easily accessible referral pathways, adapting them to meet the changing needs and priorities of our service users.

Purpose and vision Ynot Aspire charitable purposes are to advance in life and help young people through: 1. The provision of recreational and leisure time activities provided in the interest of social welfare, designed to improve their conditions of life; 2. Providing support and activities which develop their skills, capacities and capabilities to enable them to participate in society as mature and responsible individuals.

Staff and volunteers support vulnerable young people by: listening to them enhancing their life skills creating opportunities

Through this work Ynot Aspire is: giving young people a voice shaping communities reducing crime and antisocial behaviour delivering sustainable, specific and social outcomes

Good practice Involving young people – in the development and delivery of what we do Confidence building – successfully supporting young people with low aspirations and negative views about the world around them and how they can improve their lives and achieve their ambitions

Never letting go – adopting mentoring roles, understanding the specific need of individuals and ensuring they receive the [multi-agency] support they need and deserve. Operating an ‘open door’ policy, which enables young people to receive support and guidance as and when they need it

Extensive partnership working – with a wide variety of committed stakeholders

Delivering what is needed – which is centred on the needs and requirements of young people

Innovative projects and initiatives

Encouraging entrepreneurship – directly supported young people to launch and develop their own successful businesses

Targeting – achieved by: • positive and effective partnership working with all relevant agencies • extensive work in schools, covering whole year groups

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Business Plan

• working with schools and agencies such as the police to identify and target current and potential ‘young offenders’, with strategies that include understanding the consequences of criminal behaviour/not achieving an adequate education

Having ‘fun’ – enabling young people, many of whom have lives which are chaotic and often dysfunctional to enjoy their lives and time being supported by Ynot Aspire

Achievements Recent independent evaluation of projects and initiatives* have highlighted that supported by our amazing volunteers, and in partnership with multi-agency partners, Ynot Aspire has enabled: positive impacts on the lives and well-being of scores of young people, and in relation to crime and antisocial behaviour, which as a result, has no doubt also improved the lives and general well-being of wider community members an impressive 48% reduction in the number of people who fail to move into education, training or employment an impressive 30% reduction in reported youth related antisocial behaviour an impressive 74% success rate in reducing the number of young people entering the criminal justice system In terms of Social Returns on Investment (SROI), there are positive indications that such is extremely impressive, and is likely to run into many thousands of pounds, far exceeding current financial inputs. For example, potential saving to the public purse as a result of the Project are estimated to range from £328,000 in relation to young people prevented from entering the criminal justice system to over £10m in relation to the life time potentially negative costs savings of those (458) young people, who as a result of the Project have now seen their life chances drastically improve as they are steered away from being involved in antisocial behaviour.

What young people have to say: the Ynot Aspire, as it is I would like to stay involved with e there when things get eon important for me to have som want to start my education and tough. I am looking at College care or the performing arts. again, and am considering child t Aspire I feel I have a Thanks to all those involved in Yno something of myself. e future and am determined to mak It’s ME time!

Alice aged 22

The future is very positive. As a dire ct result of what I have gained from the Yno t Aspire I now run my own not for profit event man agement company with a colleague who I met at Ynot Aspire, and it is really successful.

We employ 2 full time staff and hav e 20 to 30 freelance staff on our books at any one time.

We have achieved loads. We hav e supported Children in Need and I have even supported Peter Kay and John Bishop at thei r gigs. Peter Kay has become a friend and help s our business whenever he can with referrals and the like.

We still receive support and guid ance from the CEO of Ynot Aspire in writing bids for our own company and it is good to know someone has ‘got your back’ when you need it.

Eddy aged 21

Ynot is the gl ue that holds things together. The team can refe r you to anyone you ne ed and are al w ays so cheerful, posi tive and have a real ‘can do’ approach . They teach pe ople life skills, which en able confiden ce , which is the key to ev erything.

They work as a team with th emselves and other ag encies and I ha ve so much respect for ev eryone involv ed. They make things happen and se em to know what you need at any given tim e.

Shaun aged 21

nities at Ynot Having those volunteering opportu g back to the Aspire made me feel like I was givin receiving a great deal community at the same time as nce and belief. for myself in terms of self-confide these skills and I truly believe that it is building on ing part of the having a sense of purpose and feel from re-offending. community that has prevented me ate their volunteers I feel like Ynot Aspire really appreci ral of us have been and this was apparent when seve for services to presented with national awards volunteering.

Ynot Aspire Volunteer

*Wider Impact Consultancy, December 2016

January 2018 to December 2022

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Your Voice is the new name for the Mental Health and Well-being prevention and early intervention project that we are currently working on with partners and a focus group of young people. We are also working closely with The Hollins to shape a pilot project for schools that we will be running from September.

We are still working on how the project will eventually look but here’s where we’re up to so far: training of staff/volunteers and young people in various aspects of mental health new Mental Health workshops delivered to Year 7/8 and replacing No Way Out one-to-one mentoring and group work for identified young people leaflets/awareness raising with parents with a potential to set up a parent support group

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Business Plan

development of the website to include a live webchat offering help, support, guidance and signposting for young people experiencing mental health issues

limited and young people need to know their options and have someone working closely with them to assist them and be there for them during this very difficult time.

student-led initiatives within schools

Through our funding from Hyndburn Borough Council’s Housing Advice Team, we are able to offer a single point of contact for these young people. We team them up with one of our amazing volunteers to offer them one-to-one support when they need it most.

Your Space is a project that works specifically with homeless young people and those who are at risk in the borough. These young people who present as homeless or are identified as at risk are those who then run a further risk of ‘disappearing’ from our communities altogether. With very little support or guidance available to them, this group needs the intervention and support of the dedicated staff and resource of Ynot Aspire the most.

Our borough has limited emergency provision for homeless young people. Whilst this is a wonderful and much needed haven, the key issue is that spaces are

We help young people with: rehousing getting Housing Benefit and other benefits in place improving family relationships and removing the threat of homelessness putting support in place to help sustain their tenancy re-engaging in education/training or employment

We have now extended our mentoring service to any young person who feels that they would benefit from some extra support such as: to reduce the risk of isolation help with accessing services or activities someone to talk to in confidence Our trained mentors are here to offer a listening ear and a supportive arm to those young people who need it.

Your Network – Young people are at the heart of our community. We work with lots of local organisations to engage young people and families and link them with other agencies and charities for support in their interaction, well-being and home life/housing.

Examples of past joint working from the team at Ynot Aspire can be viewed on our Case Studies pages – an overview of our successes includes: supporting Lancashire County Council with their Working Together with Families project. working with Hyndburn Borough Council to provide one to one support to local homeless youngsters through our volunteers. providing advice and support to the team at Children’s Social Care to work with those labelled as ‘hard to reach’ young people within the local area.

We continually engage with partners through our First Friday Forum meeting which takes place bi-monthly.

Through this meeting we look at where there are gaps in service, collaborative working and joint funding opportunities.

It is a forum to share partner updates so that agencies have a clear idea on who is delivering what services in the area and now incorporates the Youth Homeless Forum for agencies working with young homeless people up to the age of 25.

Your Help – Volunteers with Ynot Aspire come to us from a range of backgrounds, and each of them possesses their own unique mix of skills, strengths and qualities. All of the volunteers recruited to our projects are fully trained after having been recruited to the team following intensive assessment over a period of time.

We ensure that all of our volunteers are fully trained in areas of Safeguarding, as well as supported through gaining qualifications in youth work, health and safety, substance misuse and peer mentoring, to name just a few. Often, our volunteers will come to us with their own ideas for training, and we embrace this attitude and professionalism. This drive is what we believe sets our volunteers apart from the rest.

Some of our volunteers have actually suffered through issues such as homelessness, substance misuse and bullying/domestic abuse during their own lives, meaning that they bring a lot of empathy and understanding to the role that cannot be devalued in the absence of formal qualifications.

Smart recruitment of people who volunteer with Ynot Aspire is vital within our values. There is an emphasis on recruiting the right amount of suitable people rather than a large bank of names that may not suit our projects or people when the going gets tough! We work with volunteers across all of our projects, so please

apply, and trust us to match you to the best project for you and your skill-set.

There are no formal pre-requisites get on board to our programme – All you need to have is some spare time, honesty, patience and passion for making a difference to the lives of young people.

Your Choice – Our work in schools is just one of the ways that we reach out to young people who need us.

We run our schools intervention projects in partnership with key agencies such as Book, Hyndburn Leisure and Accrington Stanley Community Trust. We currently have 2 packages: Know Stigma, for Year 8 pupils explores ways to promote positive mental health and wellbeing and includes topics such as, body image, communication, keeping active and resilience.

Know Fear is about helping young people to stay safe and covers topics such as crime and consequences, life choices, drug and alcohol awareness and road safety. Having the support you need to make the right decisions in life is important.

Through Know Fear, Know Stigma and other projects, we give young people the guidance and encouragement to explore their future, make discoveries and have adventures.

January 2018 to December 2022

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Strategic Objectives OBJECTIVE 1. Increase income generation Explore various opportunities to increase income and become less reliant on grant funding: consortia working delivery of services on behalf of the public sector delivery of fee paying services increase regular donations/bequests new funding applications

OBJECTIVE 2. Team strengthening and growth Build on our current team and skills set: recruit new board members with identified skills sets staff training recruitment of Project Coordinator recruitment of Funding Officer explore opportunities for Patrons

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Business Plan

OBJECTIVE 3. Young people Continue to engage and inspire young people through various projects and always in consultation with them: Your Voice – peer-led projects within local secondary schools; encourage engagement in regional and national strategies Your Space – Continue to provide one-to-one mentoring and increase awareness raising and prevention work Your Choice – Build on our prevention and early intervention workshops

OBJECTIVE 4. Community Engage communities to help make them stronger: explore opportunities for ‘community hubs’ in line with current strategies and plans

Big Lottery Outcomes The following key Project outcomes have been agreed with the Big Lottery: 1. Young people will have raised aspirations through exploration of opportunities open to them around education, training, work experience and employment.

2. Young homeless people or those at risk of becoming so will be supported resulting in a reduced risk of falling through the gaps and being socially isolated.

3. The mental health and well-being of young people will be improved resulting in better coping skills and reduced risk of social isolation.

4. Young people and the wider community will have the opportunity to be involved in meaningful volunteering opportunities resulting in more skilled, resilient and sustainable communities.

Change Indicators and Timescales Outcome

Indicators

Target

Timescale

People involved in the Project will report raised awareness of the opportunities open to them around education, training and employment

20 per year

End of project

People accessing the Project will have undertaken some form of further education, training or employment

80

End of project

2

The number of young people presenting as homeless who are supported into secure accommodation

50

End of project

3

People accessing the Project will report having better coping strategies

30 per year

End of project

People accessing the Project will report feeling less isolated and more confident to access activities/services

150

End of project

Beneficiaries will report having a raised awareness of positive mental health and well-being and where to go for help and advice

1,400 (350 per year)

End of project

The number of volunteers trained by the Project

10 per year

End of project

People involved in the Project will report increased self-confidence

100

End of project

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4

January 2018 to December 2022

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Cash Flow Analysis over-arching objective of securing the long-term sustainable future of the organisation, with reducing reliance on ever scarce grant funding.

In order to develop new and enhanced services and initiatives there is a continued drive to attract new funding and partnership opportunities, with an

Enabled by Big Lottery Reaching Communities funding and other valued funding sources the organisation’s finances are secured until December 2022.

100

■ Year 1

■ Year 2

■ Year 3

■ Year 4

■ Year 5

80 60 (£000) 40

The Ynot Aspire team 20

The Ynot Aspire management, delivery and administration team is compact, innovative, multi-skilled and passionate about supporting local young people.

0 Staff costs

General running costs

COSTS

Training

Travel

Consultancy

(inc. end of project evaluation)

Accommodation

Building capabilities

Business Plan

Big Lottery Reaching Communities

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Hyndburn Borough Council

Trailblazer Homelessness support

CCG

Awards for all

INCOME

Impressive outcomes achieved by the Ynot Aspire team could not take place without the support of key local partners, which comprise of Board members, multi-agency members, committed volunteers and most significantly, young people themselves.

Volunteer Recruitment, Training and Retention Central to the on-going success of the organisation is the innovative recruitment, training and retention of over 60 valued volunteers, who have worked with the organisation for the last 6 years. They come from a whole range of backgrounds and experience and have varied from 13 to over 60 years of age. Volunteer roles vary dependent on their skills, experiences and life expectations and include: Young People’s Board Board of Trustees

Volunteer contributions include: time, life experience, one-to-one support, empathy, patience, non-judgmental attitude, a listening ear and delivery of interventions such as drug and alcohol awareness.

Utilising volunteers allows Ynot Aspire to reach far more young people than we would otherwise be able to do, which in addition to supporting their own personal development has helped the organisation achieve outcomes for young people such as:

Mentors

Increased self-confidence

School workshops

Access to further education, training and employment

Admin roles Facilitating and running different sports and activities Tower Wood residential trips

Moving away from crime and antisocial behaviour Accessing support for substance misuse Improved family relationships Raised awareness of services and support

January 2018 to December 2022

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Hi, I’m Tony and it is my privilege to be chairman of Ynot Aspire.

As a local councillor and chair of a number of third sector and charitable organisations such as the CVS and the Local Enterprise Trust, I believe I bring a wealth of knowledge and experience to my role as the Chair of Ynot Aspire.

It is absolutely imperative that the Chief Officer, the Board and the Chair have a clear vision and passion for the organisation, and it is my responsibility to make sure that good governance in all its formats is embedded in all parts of our organisation.

Our clients are our only focus and this is also embedded throughout the organisation from one of our Outreach Workers to the Chair of the Board.

Our success over recent years, rewarded by our recent Lottery funding, is an independent testimony to the amazing work this organisation is doing in the community and it is our determination to see that succeed and expand in forthcoming years.

Tony Dobson Chair

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Business Plan

Hi, I’m Sharon and I’m the Chief Officer at Ynot Aspire.

Having worked with children and young people in various roles previously and, with two grown up children of my own, I’m passionate about making a difference to their lives. I want every young person to realise their worth and their potential and to know that the sky is the limit in terms of their hopes and dreams.

As a founding member of the charity, the first five years were a bit of a whirlwind with lots of lessons learned.

I came to this role as a practitioner with very little knowledge of budgets and reports, managing staff or projects.

I have learned so much over my time as Chief Officer and it has not only helped the charity to flourish and grow but it has helped me on my own personal journey of discovery too.

We had some fantastic outcomes through our first five years of Lottery funding and we want to use the next five years using our learning and expanding our horizons. This will be another huge learning curve for us as we seek to give young people a sound foundation for future mental health and well-being and to help raise their aspirations and watch them fly.

We know that young people’s health is a key priority nationally. On a more local level NHS East Lancashire’s recent Health Profile Summary for Hyndburn states that ‘Mental ill health is an important priority for the borough.

Hyndburn ranks 24th highest of 324 districts in England in terms of rates of hospital admissions with self-harm’. In the Child Health Profiles for 2016 Hyndburn is showing figures as being

‘significantly higher than England’ for young people in hospital admissions, under 18 conception rates and alcohol specific admissions.

We want to build on partnerships and relationships that we’ve formed to help deliver a wraparound service for young people offering timely and meaningful interventions. We’re also going to explore more local consortia opportunities to form a ‘Hyndburn Offer’ that will see local grass roots agencies delivering those interventions.

There are certainly lots of exciting opportunities ahead and I look forward to the challenges and rewards that these will bring.

Sharon Burch Chief Officer

January 2018 to December 2022

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Ynot Aspire St James Old School Cannon Street Accrington BB5 2ER

www.ynotaspire.org.uk @ynotaspire ynotaspireltd

01254 352592

Business Plan development supported by Independent Analysis. Strategic Reviews.

Wider Impact Consultancy Ltd. www.widerimpact.com