It’s Your Choice – Business Plan
2017-2020
Registered Charity: 1148418
Company Limited by Guarantee: 07441729
37 Salisbury Road
Totton
Southampton
Hampshire
SO40 3HX

  1. Introduction

This business plan provides a short current situational analysis and sets out priority objectives for It’s Your Choice (IYC)covering the period 2017-20. The plan builds on what has been achieved under the 2014-17 plan to ensure consistency and continuity going forward. The latter 3 year plan was reviewed and revised annually. Progress made against the objectives set for in 2016/17 can be seen at Appendix 1.

  1. Charitable Objectives, Vision, and Mission

IYC’s Charitable Objectives, Vision, and Mission are as follows:

Charitable Objectives

TO RESPOND TO THE EMOTIONAL HEALTH AND WELL BEING NEEDS OF YOUNG PEOPLE, TYPICALLY AGED BETWEEN 12-25 YEARS, INCLUDING THOSE EXPERIENCING DIFFICULT SOCIAL OR ECONOMIC CIRCUMSTANCES. WE SHALL DO THIS BY, ESTABLISHING, MAINTAINING AND DEVELOPING INFORMATION, ADVICE, COUNSELLING AND SUPPORT SERVICES DESIGNED TO HELP THEM MAKE SAFE, POSITIVE CHOICES AND LEAD FULFILLING LIVES

Vision

That all young people lead healthy, happy and fulfilling lives and are able to make a positive contribution to society for the benefit of both themselves and their communities.

Mission

To offer a safe, free, and confidential support service that is accessible to all young people, typically aged 12-25, who live in the areas in which we operate and require our support. Through the provision of information, advice, guidance, counselling and casework support, delivered through our various drop in centres, outreach work, workshops, and projects or, where necessary, by signposting to other services, we will aim to provide young people with the knowledge, skills and information they need to make safe, positive choices on issues which affect their lives.

At the heart of all our work with young people will be a commitment to be non-judgemental, to show them respect, to empower them, and to involve them as much as possible in the development and delivery of our services.

  1. Organisational Background

IYC was formed in 1987 in response to a recognised need for an accessible, universal support service for young people in the New Forest area. It gained charitable status in1991.

In 2013 the charity became a company limited by guarantee (07441729) and its assets were transferred into a new charity registration, It’s Your Choice Limited (No: 1148418).

  1. Current Services

The charity provides information, advice, guidance (IAG), and counselling to young people, aged 12-25 (occasionally young people aged 11), who live in and around the New Forest. However, a significant proportion of our commissioned or grant funded work is now ‘targeted’rather than ‘universal’ and delivered in the form of targeted projects or casework. We estimate that approximately 60% of the charity’s work is targeted at young people whose needs are commensurate with Levels 2 & 3 of the Hampshire Safeguarding Children’s Board and Children’s Trust Thresholds Chart i.e. young people with additional or multiple needs.

IYC’s current service portfolio includes:

  • Weekly ‘open access’ IAG drop in’s – delivered at 6 locations (Totton x 2, Fordingbridge, New Milton, Holbury, and Brockenhurst) and used by approximately 400 young people per year
  • Sexual Health Service – includes pregnancy testing, chlamydia screening, condom distribution and sexual health advice
  • Healthy Transitions – an age appropriate counselling service delivered to 75 18-25 year olds per year (IYC is the lead agency with 6 partners delivering this counselling service to 450 young people in various locations right across Hampshire)
  • Hampshire Youth Access Counselling – a counselling service delivering 615 sessions of counselling to approximately 100 11-17 year old young people each year
  • Targeted Youth Support Service (TYSS) – a new intensive casework support service targeting 160 11-17 year olds per year including those on the edge of care
  • 18 plus Homelessness Support Service – a casework service targeting 70 young people per year who are homeless or at risk of homelessness and have multiple needs
  • Emergency provision - issuing of food parcels, health/hygiene packs, clothing etc.
  • Money Advice Service – a project supporting 20 young people facing debt and financial management issues
  • Pre-emptive emotional health and well-being workshops in schools – delivered to approximately 2,000 young people each year covering a host of issues including SRE, self- harming, substance misuse, child sexual exploitation, sexting etc.
  • Free helpline telephone – accessible 24/7 for young people or parents to leave messages to which we respond at the first available opportunity
  1. Service Demand

In the 12 months to 31st March 2017, 698 young people received 1:1 support from IYC rising to 2,617 when taking into account those attending our group work and emotional health and well-being (EHWB) programmes in schools. The latter involved delivery of 92 workshops in 8 secondary schools as well as targeted work with other groups of young people in the New Forest covering topics such as sexual health, drug/substance awareness, money management and life skills.

  1. Outcomes and Impact

In the last year, the charity has been working with consultants as part of the Cabinet Office Local Sustainability Fund to improve the way we measure and convey our impact. This has led to the development of a shared Theory of Change for the organisation, see Appendix 2.This identifies three key areas of impact we want to make on young people as a consequence of our interventions: Feeling valued; Being in a better position to access opportunities; and developing lasting resilience.

We have updated our Charity Log data system, developed a common vulnerability assessment for all young people accessing IYC’s services to gauge their level of need, and will continue to record and report outcomes in accordance with funder/commissioner requirements. Going forward we will interpret these outcomes to estimate the impact we are having across the three Theory of Change domains. New visual and concise reporting templates will be used to inform all stakeholders of our impact on a quarterly basis.

  1. Current Resources

7.1Human Resources

We remain committed to being a transparent, lean and efficient organisation, maintaining maximum levels of integrity in the way we operate.

Currently 4 trustees bring a range of experience, skills and expertise. They meet 8 times per year to ensure effective governance of the charity. Further trustees will be recruited during 2017/18.

We employ15 (9.1 FTE) paid staff and 21 trained volunteers to deliver our services. This includes a small executive team of 2.5 FTE staff who undertake all the central management functions including Finance, HR, IT, Quality Assurance, Data Monitoring, Fundraising, Marketing and Public Relations.

7.2Financial Resources

Compared to the start of our last business plan in 2014, IYC’s funding from Hampshire County Council (then our biggest funder accounting for two thirds of the charity’s income) has been reduced by 60%. Last year the reduction was even greater at 80%. This major cut in local authority funding in such a short timescale has presented significant challenges. Despite this we have managed to maintain services reasonably close to 2014/15 levels with a turnover in 2016/17 of £306K compared to £325.5K back then. Although we’ve had to cut staff costs this has generally been achieved through natural wastage – the priority being at all times to protect front line service delivery. We’ve retained most of our paid youth advisors, and maintained a steady pool of volunteer qualified counsellors and youth support volunteers.

Maintaining turnover has been achieved by diversifying our funding streams, in particular by substantially increasing the number of national and local grant making trusts supporting our work and by securing new multiple year funding from funders such as The Big Lottery and the Comic Relief Core Strengths Fund.

Going forward we recognise we must not be complacent. We are working hard to diversify our funding even further, particularly via local community fundraising. Whilst we have made steady progress in this area we recognise that significantly increasing funding from this source is essential if the charity is to become sustainable over the longer term.

Throughout the period we have been able to maintain our unrestricted reserves at £30K (equivalent to 1.2 months of operation).Nonetheless, our aim will be to increase our unrestricted reserves to 3 months’ worth of operational costs (£75K) in order to protect the charityagainst sudden drops in income, unforeseen calls on funds, or to allow us to take advantage of new opportunities.

Our forecast budget for 2017/18, highlighting secured, highly likely and potential income is shown at Appendix 3.

Our income projections for 2018/19 and 2019/20 are shown at Appendix 4. Projecting ahead in detail inevitably is difficult given the nature of voluntary youth charity funding but forecasts will be updated as and when income is secured.

7.3Operational Management Structure

Since re-structuring in early 2015, we have adopted a generic youth work model to ensure sufficient flexibility in the way we deploy staff resources. We continue to broaden the skills of our staff and volunteers through an annual programme of training in support of this generic approach whilst at the same time supporting continuing professional development in areas in which they have specific knowledge and expertise.

A current management and staffing structure chart is shown under Appendix 5.

7.4Property

In 2015, having concluded 37 Salisbury Road, Totton is the ideal central hub from which to manage and deliver IYC’s services, we took the decision to launch a capital appeal to purchase, extend and develop the property. The property is in an accessible location and has excellent potential to be upgraded and extended to become a first class youth centre in keeping with the high quality youth work we undertake each year. Hampshire County Council has extended our lease to March 2018 and given us preferred purchaser status. The Council has valued the property favourably at £250K but we are negotiating for them to cover a percentage of that cost in the form of match funding. We believe this will increase potential for raising the remaining finance from elsewhere. Options to do so include: approaches to high net worth individuals in the New Forest who are already showing interest and financial support; applications to capital grant making trusts; and if necessary entering into a mortgage on a proportion of the value with the Charities Aid Foundation Bank.

Alongside this, we will continue ourlongstanding policy of utilising rent free locations in and around the New Forest from which to deliver drop in, counselling and outreach services to make our support to young people as accessible as possible.

7.5IT

We have a legacy system in place which is satisfactory to meet current needs. We have recently transferred our IT support contract to a local provider offering quicker and more comprehensive support and better value for money.

7.6Service User Participation

We are committed to hearing and responding to the views of young people in the way we plan, develop and deliver services. The charity has been an actively involved in piloting new forms of communication with service users including a text messaging pilot alongside the use of more traditional focus groups, feedback cards and evaluation forms. Further testing of social media, such as What’s App, remains a priority in this area going forward.

7.7Quality Assurance

Our current externally accredited PQASSO Level 1 award remains in force until December 2017. We are in the process of seeking renewal beyond this date.

7.8Marketing, PR, Events and Social Media

We will continue to employ a part time communications manager encompassing management of Social Media, PR and events to help maintain momentum raising community awareness and engagement.

7.9Fundraising

We will similarly continue to employ a part time fundraiser, with a responsibility for preparing and submitting bids to trusts and foundations, in support of ourstrategy to diversify income streams.

7.10 Risk Management

The charity takes a proactive approach to managing risk. The charity’s risk plan for 2017/18can be seen at Appendix 6

  1. Service Development

We have identified the following priorities for revenue funding applications in 2017/18:

  • Core funding
  • Funding to support continuation of open access IAG drop in’s
  • Funding to reduce counselling waiting lists/provision of interim support whilst waiting for counselling
  • Emergency funds e.g. food parcels, clothing, travel, health & hygiene etc.
  • A new NEETS service for 16-21 year olds
  • A replacement service for the current Blagrave Homeless Project from April 2018

We will pursue funds in support of our capital appeal to purchase and develop our base at 37 Salisbury Road, Totton separately.

  1. Business Plan Priorities

The following are a list of priority objectives for 2017/18 against which we will monitor our progress. These will be reviewed in March 2018 and revised/new objectives will be set for 2018/19.

Operational Priorities

  • IAG

Attract additional funds and maintain a minimum six drop in’s per week. Extend drop in’s to routinely cover Lymington/Pennington and Ringwood if possible.

  • Counselling

Reduce waiting lists for counselling. Look to strengthen drop in facilities to provide support whilst young people are on waiting lists. Re-introduce limited use of trainee (final year) counsellors and allocate cases appropriately

  • Targeted Youth Support Service (11-17 year olds)

Maintain this commissioned service going forward beyond April 2018. Endeavour to obtain a multi-year funding contract from HCC

  • NEETS service

Secure replacement funding to provide a NEETS service to young people aged 16-21. Secure new funding during 2017/18

  • Homeless Project

Use what has been learnt from the three year Blagrave Homeless Project for 18-25 year olds to reconfigure the service into a broader targeted support service for this age group. Seek funding from new sources to continue this service from April 2018

  • Schools

Build on the findings of the IYC ‘Analysis of PSHE in New Forest Secondary Schools’ report and proactively develop an IYC schools ‘offer’ delivering EHWB support

  • Partnerships

Proactively build partnership working and working in consortia

Impact/Outcomes

Continue to report outcomes against commissioner/funder requirements as required

Implement quarterly and annual stakeholder reporting using concise/visual templates

Implement new Theory of Change – provide annual reports of progress against IYC’s three impact areas: Feeling valued; better access to opportunities; and lasting resilience

Governance, Management, Staffing and Volunteer Priorities

  • Trustees

Build trustee capacity to a minimum six trustees. This includes recruiting a new treasurer. Additionally look to strengthen legal, marketing and fundraising expertise on the board.

  • Management

Clarify lines of management accountability from 2017/18

Ensure professional supervision is diarised and delivered across the year at all levels

  • Volunteers

Improve management/support by designating ‘leads’ for youth advisor and administration volunteers.

Ensure professional supervision is diarised and delivered for all youth advisor volunteers

In addition to regular clinical supervision for all counselling volunteers in accordance with BACP guidelines, provide four sessions of group support per year for volunteer counsellors at venues across the New Forest

Recruit and train more counselling and youth advisor volunteers

  • Pensions

Introduce and embed a staff pension scheme in accordance with legislative requirements

User Participation/Feedback

Continue to develop a culture of participation within IYC

Trial and implement as appropriate use of social media/new technology to extend feedback received from hard to reach service users

Policy

Ensure policy and procedure is reviewed regularly and actively used to guide practice across the organisation

Revise sickness policy and introduce the use of statutory sick pay

Community Engagement

Develop and launch an ‘IYC Friends’ scheme to increase the number and range of community/local business supporters. Actively support IYC friends by developing an IYC handbook, sending quarterly newsletters, inviting to events etc.

Significantly build and actively service the local community mailing list comprising individuals, businesses, social groups/associations, sports clubs, churches etc.

Recruit a volunteer to manage/administer and expand siting of IYC collection tins

Hold a minimum two events per year in support of the community engagement strategy

Fundraising

  • Revenue Funding

Adopt a focused approach to revenue fundraising in support of service development priorities

Secure more multiple year grants to assist continuity, planning and development

Increase revenue from community sources as a proportion of the charity’s overall income

Improve targeting of Trust and foundation applications in support of service development priorities

Increase the charities reserves to cover 3 months’ worth of operational costs (currently 1.5 months()

Capital Appeal

Secure the purchase of 37 Salisbury Road. Extend, upgrade and develop the property to become a first class youth centre in keeping with the high quality youth work the charity undertakes every year.

Quality Assurance

Secure PQASSO Level 1 accreditation for a further 3 years from December 2017

APPENDIX 1

IYC Business Plan 2014-17

Progress against Objectives 2016/17

Strategic
Sustainability & Growth
Progress in 2016/17
Strategy to purchase 37 Salisbury Road underway. Endorsement from Jo Brand secured. Income diversification continued. Turnover down from £320K to £306K but a significant achievement considering 80% reduction in funding from HCC from previous year. Won Big Lottery Building Capabilities grant resulting in (a) an external Organisational Strengths Review) and (b) an external analysis of the PSHE needs of 9 secondary schools in the NF - report launched in March 2017 with the aim of IYC delivering a better branded, quality assured, more coherent schools offer in future. Won Cabinet Office LSF grant. Work undertaken to improve the way we demonstrate impact and increase community engagement resulted in newly developed and adopted Theory of Change, updating of Charity Log, new vulnerability assessment, new reporting templates and clarified forward thinking on community engagement – we will now focus on setting up a Friends scheme. Meanwhile, 52 new businesses engaged with the charity in some way during the year. New partnerships were developed; existing partnerships strengthened leading to more consortia funding bids/awards. Strategic influence on the LCP and HYIACS continued to be strong.