YMCA DLG 2022/23 Snapshot

Our Impact 2022/23

Transforming young lives across Sussex and Surrey 1

We’re the largest charity in Sussex and Surrey working to prevent youth homelessness and support children and young people’s emotional and mental health.

Our services prevent crisis; by supporting young people at this crucial stage in their lives (16-24) we can help them create a brighter, independent future.

Every night...

We are...

Each Year...

we give a safe home to more than 650 young people facing homelessness in Sussex and Surrey

the largest provider of mental health services and counselling for children, young people & families in Sussex

we prevent crisis by providing support and advice to 9,000 young people across Sussex and Surrey

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Where we work

Our Impact 2022/23

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Preventing and Tackling Youth Homelessness in our Communities 1 in 5 people facing homelessness in the UK are aged 16-24.

40% of 16 to 24-year-olds have sofa-surfed or lived in temporary accommodation at some point.1 Homelessness continues to grow across our region. The rate of homelessness in Brighton is second only to the Borough of Westminster and government figures show that Eastbourne has experienced a 300% increase in homelessness since the pandemic.

Across the same period, demand for our housing support has risen by 20% annually.

In 2022/23 we provided high quality, supported accommodation to 1,056 children and young people (16-24) in Sussex and Guildford, many of whom have complex needs due to the trauma they’ve experienced.

Alongside a safe home, we provided holistic support, including access to education, training, or employment to give them the tools to live independently.

86%

of the young people ready to move on did so successfully

1 Centrepoint Databank 2022

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Trends 2022/23 ▶ Increase in young asylum seekers ▶ Increase in care leavers aged 16-17

Of the young people we supported…

“The YMCA has made such a difference. I was given so much more than just a roof over my head. The staff did so much to help me pass my A levels and help me get into university. I’m now studying midwifery and following my dreams.”

68%

had mental health needs

60%

were homeless due to family breakdown

33%

- Mapalo, Ex-resident

were care leavers 5

Supporting Children and Young People with their Mental Health In 2022, 18.0% of children aged 7 to 16 years and 22.0% of young people aged 17 to 24 years had a probable mental disorder.2 In 2022/23 we provided therapeutic support to 5,423 children and young people across Sussex, via school and community counselling. Despite increasing our counselling provision by 87%, our waiting lists grew due to unprecedented demand.

We continued to work closely with our sector partners to find innovative ways to increase capacity and reduce waiting times. We launched Single Point of Access for Mental Health alongside Children and Adolescent Mental Health Service (CAMHS) and the Youth Emotional Support (YES) Service to give young people, families, and professionals with a simple referral for mental health support in West Sussex.

We also collaborated with West Sussex Multi-Agency Mental Health Education Triage (MAMHET) to reduce the risk of suicide by young people. Finally, our Mental Health Champions project in schools and our digital wellbeing service, e-wellbeing, offer accesible ways for children and young people to get wellbeing support.

"We value the service from yourselves enormously. With waiting lists for mental health support in the NHS at an all time high we are so grateful that we can offer this to those who need it most."

- School Client 2 NHS digital 2022 2 NHS digital 2022

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In 2022/23 we saw..

30%

an increase in demand since pandemic service

20,000 visits to e-wellbeing

Of the young people we supported…

94%

would probably or definitely recommend our counselling

58%

were referred with anxiety

"Before having the support from YMCA Dialogue, I didn’t think that it would even be a possibility for me to gain power over my anxious thoughts and not let them control the way I lived my life. I am proud to say now, postcounselling, that I feel empowered, prepared and able to live my life to the absolute fullest."

- Mollie, YMCA Dialogue Client 7

Supporting Young People in their Community Since 2010 there’s been a 68% reduction in spending by Brighton and West Sussex on youth services.

Youth services act as a ‘safety net’ for young people and without them issues may go unaddressed leading to long-term consequences. Despite the difficult funding conditions, in 2022/23 we were able to maintain our essential youth services, such as our Youth Advice Centres in Brighton and Crawley.

The Brighton Youth Advice Centre is the ‘front door’ for any child or young person facing homelessness. Every day our trained advisors prevent young people from being street homeless by finding them alternative housing, emergency accommodation, or provide family mediation to stop parental eviction. In 2022/23 it continued to run its youth-led ‘Food Market’ providing affordable groceries and essentials for young people.

Across Sussex, we continued to deliver some groundbreaking projects such as Room to Rant (mental health project aimed at young men) and our What is Sexual Exploitation (WiSE) service, which supports children and young people experiencing sexual exploitation or at risk of it.

5,000+

sessions of support and advice were provided by Brighton YAC to young people. Many prevented homelessness.

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987

children and young people given support & advice in Brighton & Crawley service

71%

of those offered family mediation remained in family home

140

children and young at risk of exploitation supported by WiSE

Room to Rant

uses rap to support young men with their mental health

"Contacting YAC has been one of the best decisions I’ve made in my life… I felt welcomed from the get-go and quickly felt comfortable talking to my worker. I always feel listened to and feel that she’s investing her full attention in my sessions."

- Nathan YMCA YAC client 9

Young People: Speaking Out, Standing Up, Giving Back Young people are at the heart of all our services. Many shared their personal experiences or joined our Youth Council to raise awareness of the issues facing them.

Josh from Hailsham and a group of our young people from Guildford Foyer helped raise the profile of our flagship participation event, YMCA DownsLink Challenge. Josh has since gone on to become an ambassador for YMCA England & Wales.

Nova shared their music with us and their experiences of discrimination.

Adi won an award at the YMCA Youth Matters Awards for his involvement in the Guildford Shakespeare Company.

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Hayley shared her story directly with funders to show how our YMCA has changed her life.

Fundraising and Community Support The cost-of-living crisis has challenged everyone, not just those needing our support. However, in 2022/23 community commitment to our cause has been inspiring.

BEFORE and AFTER: Two residents wanted to create a relaxing space. With a donation from the Mayor of Hailsham, and a lot of hard work, they turned a disused office into a welcoming lounge.

Brighton artist Carina handpainted a beautiful mural in the communal area in our Young Families Project.

UK Harvest ran sessions to show our residents how to reduce food waste and make delicious meals on a budget.

GoodGym volunteers combine exercise with service by running to projects and getting stuck into whatever needs doing - here a much needed garden makeover.

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Fundraising and Corporate Partnerships Corporate fundraising has gone from strength to strength. In addition to our Corporate Membership Scheme, in April 2022 we launched a Corporate Room Sponsor Scheme.

In July we ran our second DownsLink Challenge which raised £17,000.

Amplicon was our first Corporate Room Sponsor! Since then, 10 more businesses have signed up and we’ve a growing pipeline of opportunities.

Dynamo started as a Corporate Room Sponsor but have continued to develop a relationship with us by offering mentoring to residents, creating fundraising events and volunteering at our projects.

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Our Corporate Supporters ABC Translations Amplicon Liveline Ltd 33KV Ltd AR Lets Assurity Consulting Ltd Audio Note UK Ltd Austin Rees Best At Digital Big Hug Brewing Blockbusters Bluebell Digital Bright Local Brightec BUPA International Burt Brill & Cardens C&C Cleaning Services Capital Consulting International Ltd Carpenter Farraday Cogapp Consort Frozen Foods Cordek Ltd DMH Stallard LLP Dynamo Fowler Building Contractors Ltd G M Monk Ltd Greenday Generation Groundsure International Collection JCare Ltd Keir Group

Lawsons Group (AVS Fencing) Medex Scientific UK Ltd Mott MacDonald O3e Oban International OHM Energy Orbis Pagoda Security Plus Accounting Pryer Construction ROCC Computers ServiceMaster Clean Contract Services AAA Small World Accessories Southern Counties Janitorial Sovereign Cargo Ltd Suez Recycling & Recovery Ltd Sussex Innovation Centre The Budding Foundation The Guildford Lighting Centre The Mayday Group The Social Kinetic TLF Investments TransBright Trident Vetigraph Waitrose & Partners West & Berry Wilbury Stratton

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Get involved and support vulnerable young people in your community Donate today

Corporate Partnerships

and change a life

Change through collaboration

Fundraise for us

Volunteer

Take part in one of our events

Give your time to make a difference

To find out more visit www.ymcadlg.org or email fundraising@ymcadlg.org 14

"The best thing about being a volunteer chaplain? Seeing people flourish as they near the end of their stay with us - one or two residents have popped back to let us know how well they are doing it makes it all worthwhile."

- Volunteer Chaplain

Our Partners and Funders YMCA ENGLAND & WALES

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Keep in Touch Twitter Facebook Instagram YouTube LinkedIn

YMCA DownsLink Group Reed House 47 Church Road Hove BN3 2BE E: enquiries@ymcadlg.org T: 01273 222550 W: www.ymcadlg.org

Registered Company No: 03853734 Registered Charity No: 1079570 Social Landlord No: 4644 16 SUPPORT & ADVICE

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