The Jane Hodge Foundation

Margaret Cason

The Jane Hodge Foundation

Ty Gwyn

Lisvane Road

Cardiff

CF14 0SG

19/08/2010

I am writing to ask if the trustees of The Jane Hodge Foundation would consider a grant of £25,244 towards our New Destinations project in Merthyr Tydfil.

Summary

New Destinations will work with 16-25 year olds who are not in education, employment or training (NEET) in Merthyr Tydfil with the aim to increase their confidence and aspirations and get them back into education, training or volunteering to help them gain employment. Working with our local project partner, The Gellideg Foundation, we will match the NEET young people with local college and university students in a 6 week volunteering programme where they will plan and implement their own community project to tackle an issue they themselves have identified. All activities will be focused on youth-led volunteering and developing skills which can be applied to the work place such as goal setting, leadership, project planning, communication and teamwork.

TimeBank

TimeBank is one of the UK’s leading volunteering charities. We aim to make volunteering part of the fabric of everyday life and a rewarding experience for everyone involved, by enabling outstanding volunteering opportunities to happen for more people, more of the time. We do this by delivering our own frontline volunteering projects and by helping other organisations to recruit and support volunteers. TimeBank’s key areas of specialist activity are Mentoring, Youth-Led Volunteering and Employee volunteering.

Past and current successes include:

• Recruiting nearly 300,000 people from all backgrounds into community activity, supporting hard to reach individuals and marginalised groups in society through volunteering.
• Developing the first national mentoring programme to achieve the Approved Provider Standard from the Mentoring and Befriending Foundation.
• Matching 2,500 refugees with UK citizens in one-on-one mentoring relationships. Timebank’s Time Together scheme ( has provided friendship and support to refugees in 24 locations across the UK.

Project Rationale

Merthyr Tydfil is one of the most deprived areas of Wales. The decline of traditional mining and heavy industry in Merthyr Tydfil has left a legacy of high unemployment, low relative incomes and little in the way of employment opportunities since the 1980’s. The young people of Wales have been hit particularly hard by the current economic climate. In 2009, 45% of unemployed people in Wales were under the age of 25[1]. In 2008 the percentage of NEET young people aged 16-18 years old was 11.6% but increased to 12.3 % in 2009[2]. The project target area, the Gellideg estate, is one of the most deprived estates in Merthyr and has a reputation for ‘problem families’, anti-social behaviour and generational unemployment[3].

In general, NEET young people need a range of skills to succeed in life. They often require support with basic numeracy and literacy skills as well as social skills and a level of emotional literacy and resilience that will help them deal with the challenges of adult situations. Young people excluded from education, training and work opportunities often fail to develop these skills. Further evidence shows that, as well as affecting

future earning potential, being NEET is also associated with poor physical and mental health[4]. NEET young people being far more likely to experience depression and use drugs and alcohol and young men who are NEET are three times more likely to suffer from depression, and five times more likely to have a criminal record, than their peers. New Destinations aims to tackle this problem by increasing the skills and confidence lacking in these NEET young people, by bringing together individuals that would not usually interact with each other in unique partnerships that facilitate the sharing of skills, knowledge and ideas and also break down social barriers, so they are better placed to make the transition to adulthood and the world of work.

Project Description

New Destinations has been developed from The Spark; a successful TimeBank pilot project which supported the personal and skills development of NEET young people through youth led volunteering projects, delivered in Sunderland and Merthyr Tydfil in partnership with T-Mobile. This project has been co-designed using the beneficiaries in these pilots and their input has been incorporated into the new design.

New Destinations will bring together 15 NEET young people, from socially disadvantaged backgrounds, referred by our project partner, The Gellideg Foundation, with 15 local college or university students recruited from The University of Glamorgan and Merthyr Tydfil College. They will work in partnership to design, plan and implement a community project which will tackle a local social issue they have identified.

At the start of the programme the student volunteers will be split into online and face to face mentor groups. The ten online mentors will offer guidance and advice to the beneficiaries through Junction49 ( TimeBank’s online volunteering support tool which enables 14-25 years olds to turn their ideas for social change into tangible community projects. The five face to face mentors will offer leadership and project planning support to the beneficiaries as well as helping them develop their communication and teamwork skills. All students will receive training in these areas from the Project Coordinator prior to the start of the project.

The six week course, which includes a minimum of 35 hours volunteering, can be broken down into 3 main elements:

Week 1: Skills week (10 hours over 5 sessions)

The week will start with idea generation sessions at the venue provided by the partner, with the beneficiaries and students working in small mixed groups with two students to each group to identify a local issue to base their project on. They will then choose their project format, which could be an event, a campaign, a film or photography project. The project coordinator will provide film training, media workshops and project management, budget management and event management workshops. The week will end with presentations of initial project ideas and the group will also be introduced to Junction49.

Week 2-5 Project planning and delivery (One 5 hour session per week)

The groups will work together to develop and deliver their community projects by going through the step by step process of putting together project plans within agreed timeframes and assigning roles and responsibilities to group members. They will also promote their projects using project partner networks and the Junction49 website as a recruitment tool, should groups need to recruit additional volunteers. The group will also research and contact local organisations/businesses that could help them to deliver their project. The Project Coordinator will support the beneficiaries throughout the entire process.

Week 6 – Showcase Careers day and Celebration (1 x 5 hour careers day & celebration event)

Focus will be on the career interests of beneficiaries and how the skills they have learnt and can be transferred to the work place. The day will also include role playing on interview skills, 1:1 clinics on CV writing, job applications and presentations by volunteers from local recruitment consultants. The final day is also a chance for young people to present and showcase their projects and celebrate their achievements with their peers and to the local community. Certificates of achievement and AQA unit awards are presented and participants are encouraged to invite their friends and family.

Project Outcomes and Benefits

By the end of the project we expect to achieve the following outcomes for the beneficiaries:

• Increased confidence, self-esteem, and improved life skills
• Improved project specific skills, which include communication, teamwork, leadership and project planning skills
• Increased knowledge of peer led volunteering and the opportunities available for them to volunteer within their community
• Increased engagement with education, training and volunteering through practical learning.

Monitoring & Evaluation

A comprehensive monitoring and evaluation framework will capture both qualitative and quantitative data on project progress and impact. The Project Coordinator will gather baseline beneficiary data obtained via registration forms in week one. This information will include numbers of young people participating as well as their demographic data. Beneficiaries will also complete goal setting forms where they will rate their confidence levels, self-esteem and knowledge regarding volunteering and teamwork, as well as recording their personal goals. A training feedback form will also be completed by Students and NEETs following the week one training. This focuses on the quality and relevance of the training, whether objectives were met, and the skills built.

At the end of the programme the Project Coordinator will review beneficiary progress, via beneficiary feedback and self-evaluation forms, against identified personal goals and identify emotional wellbeing improvements. All feedback and information gained will be used to steer the project's direction and delivery structure, as well as assessing effectiveness and providing essential learning for future projects.

Project Budget 2010/2011

Without New Destinations, these young people are unlikely to develop the aspirations, confidence or skills needed to re-enter education, training or volunteering and will sadly struggle to break free of the deeply ingrained, generational cycle of unemployment, so typical in this hugely deprived area of Wales.

“All Michael wanted was to get a job, but being an alcoholic and on sick benefits he lacked any self-belief or motivation to even try and find one. Enrolling on a detox programme and securing a job is a huge thing for Michael. I’m so proud of him.” (The Spark Pilot Report, 2009)

I hope the information above is of interest to The Jane Hodge Foundation and I look forward to hearing from you in due course.

Andy Hobson

Fundraising Officer

0207 785 6375

[1] Kenway, Palmer and MacInnes (June 2009) -Monitoring poverty and social inclusion in Wales 2009, The Joseph Rowntree Foundation

[2] Susan Fall (2009) Statistical Article – Young People Not in employment education or training – Welsh Assembly Government

[3] Karen Day (October 2009), Communities in Recession, The Joseph Rowntree Foundation

[4] Against all odds – Audit Commission – July 2010