The Avenues Youth Project – Where young lives thrive Charity number: 1090210 Company number: 04045031
The Avenues Youth Project Report 2021–2022
Contents
| Contents | |
|---|---|
| Company information | page 2 |
| Report of the Executive Committee | 3 - 13 |
| Report of the Independent Examiner | 14 |
| Statement of fnancial activities | 15 |
| Balance sheet | 16 |
| Statement of cashfow | 17 |
| Notes to the fnancial statements | 18 - 23 |
Company information
PATRONS
Susan Aglionby OBE, Founder Karen Buck MP Gill Fitzhugh MBE
COMPANY NUMBER
04045031
CHARITY NUMBER
1090210
EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE
Jennie Marshall (Chair) Corrina Ralph (Treasurer) Virginia Ashton Julia Court Cllr Eartha Pond Geoffrey White Graeme Miller Russell Keir Tutt Cristina Fedi Louisa Gregory Chris Murray (appointed 14.9.2021)
CHIEF EXECUTIVE
Paddy Barnes
COMPANY SECRETARY
Geoffrey White
CHARITY OFFICES
3/7 Third Avenue, Queen’s Park London W10 4RS
INDEPENDENT EXAMINER
Azets Holdings Limited Regis House, 45 King William Street, London EC4R
BANKERS
Royal Bank of Scotland plc High Street Kensington (A) Branch Kensington High Street, London W8 6SH
Barclays Bank 35 Notting Hill Gate, London W11 3JR Metro Bank 160-166 Kensington High Street Kensington, London W8 7RG
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The Avenues Youth Project Report 2021–2022
Report of the Executive Committee
The Members of the Executive Committee present their report with the financial statements for the year ended 31 March 2022. The Financial Statements comply with current statutory requirements, the Memorandum and Articles of Association and Accounting and Reporting by Charities: Statement of Recommended Practice applicable to charities preparing their accounts in accordance with the provision of section 1A ‘Small Entities’ of Financial Reporting Standard 102.
Objectives and Aims
The charity’s objects are to:
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provide facilities for recreation and other leisure time occupations for the inhabitants (in particular young people) of the London Borough of Westminster and surrounding areas, in the interests of social welfare and with the object of improving their conditions of life;
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advance the education of such inhabitants; and
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provide the relief of need, hardship or distress of those living in the area of benefit.
our service users safe is paramount. The Avenues acknowledges its duty to act appropriately to any allegations, reports, or suspicions of abuse in a professional and speedy manner.
Our Safeguarding and Child Protection policy is reviewed and renewed annually to make sure The Avenues promotes best practice and works in a way that prevents harm of any sort, including bullying, abuse, and coercion, and that staff, volunteers and partners recognize when this may be happening and what to do about it.
Staff, unsupervised volunteers, and youth work contractors are required to obtain an enhanced DBS certificate and attend an induction which includes Equality, Diversity and Inclusion training as well as Safeguarding and Child Protection training. This training must be completed before coming into contact with the young people who use our service.
A repeat DBS check is obtained for all staff, qualifying volunteers and Trustees every three years. Refresher Safeguarding and Child Protection training is provided to both Staff and Trustees including the designated Safeguarding Lead at least every two years.
We review our aims, objectives, and activities each year. This review looks at what we achieved and the outcomes of our work in the previous 12 months. It looks at the success of each key activity and the benefits they have brought to those groups of people we are set up to help. The review also helps us ensure our aim, objectives and activities remain focused on our stated purposes. We have referred to the guidance contained in the Charity Commission’s general guidance on public benefit when reviewing our aims and objectives and in planning our future activities. In particular, the trustees consider how planned activities will contribute to the aims and objectives they have set.
Our Vision
We believe that every child and young person should have the opportunity to realise their potential, whatever their life circumstances.
Our Mission
Our mission is to deliver high quality recreation activities and skills training to young people in West London, to help them fulfil their potential and boost their long-term outcomes.
Our Values
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Safety and care
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Friendship and fun
Safeguarding
The charity puts children and young people at the heart of all that we do, so our commitment to keeping
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Inspiration
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Professionalism
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Commitment to community
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The Avenues Youth Project Report 2021–2022
Report from the Chair Jennie Marshall
The 2021-22 financial year was a year of readjustment, back towards normality after the shock and disruption of Covid, though, with restrictions still varying until February 2022 our staff had to continually adapt to provide the programmes and support that our young people want and need. More young people than ever before took advantage of those programmes and for the first time in our history we were open for Seniors on Saturday evenings. The purchase of a 17-seater minibus has helped to make sure young people and their families feel secure as they come and go in the later evening, as well as providing opportunities for visits and experiences further afield. We are particularly grateful to the wonderful Carol Archibald, who stepped up from Programme Manager to the newly created Programme Director role, to make sure all these new opportunities were delivered effectively as the staff team increased in size.
In April we were thrilled to learn that The Avenues had been awarded the London Youth Gold Quality Mark, held by only a very few youth organisations in the capital, in recognition of all that our staff have achieved through even the most difficult times.
Mental health issues that came to the fore during the pandemic, persisted as an area of major concern for us and we engaged with Westminster City Council and Westminster Mind to provide staff training to help staff handle mental health and identity issues. This was followed by secondment of one of Mind’s staff members to us for one day a week which has proved extremely beneficial.
April also saw the inauguration of our Advisory Panel by our Chief Executive and our newly appointed Impact Evaluation Manager, creating a regular, information-sharing forum with other youth service providers and experts to support our youth workers in their professional development, and to ensure the best analysis of interventions achieved by their work.
Thanks to the amazing generosity of our donors, we were able to continue our refurbishment works to the building, upgrading our kitchen to become a training facility of the highest standards, to match the quality of our state-of-the-art music and podcast production studios. The building has been extremely well used
since construction in 2003, and the facilities need repairing and refreshing from time to time. These professional cooking facilities mean we can continue to attract young people to learn new skills as well as providing nutritious meals for our members, about 15,000 in this year alone.
We knew this was going to be a year of change for The Avenues. For the past five years, it has been led by our dedicated Chief Executive, Fabian Sharp. He steered the charity through some of its most challenging times to the very positive position the Gold Quality Mark has recognised, and he felt this was a good moment for us to move towards the next generation of leadership and to explore new challenges himself. We were, and remain, immensely grateful for his outstanding contribution to the survival and success of The Avenues.
Fortunately, Fabian gave us enough time to find the most suitable successor; his were big boots to fill and it was not easy. We were all grateful and relieved when, after two attempts at advertising had failed to find someone suitable, our outstanding fundraiser, Paddy Barnes, stepped forward to offer to take on the role. With a law degree and background in business and marketing, as a former volunteer and trustee, as well as spending more than three years raising funds for us, he knows The Avenues really well and what it needs to succeed. Of course, this meant the fundraising role was vacant but we were very fortunate to find Tom Wegg-Prosser, who lives locally, to take up the reins. The trustees feel sure that we have the ideal team to take The Avenues into the future, and we look forward with confidence to the next year as they consolidate and build on all that has been achieved so far.
Our funders are now too numerous to thank individually but are all listed in this report. However, I would like to extend a warm welcome to our new funders CHK Foundation, Global’s Make Some Noise, Kusuma Trust, and HS2, for supporting our mission. Special thanks to those who made our dream of a new training kitchen a reality: Bernard Sunley, Strand Parishes Trust, Westminster Amalgamated and Savoy Educational Trust. And the same special thanks to those who funded our wonderful new recording studios: Dirty Hit Records, Joe Strummer Foundation, Carlile Foundation, Rough Trade, Bernard Sunley, Percy Bilton and Google/YouTube.
Jennie Marshall
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The Avenues Youth Project Report 2021–2022
Activities & Achievements Chief Executive - Paddy Barnes
Since 1979, The Avenues has been a safe place for children from 8 to 18 to socialise, learn and develop skills, and above all to feel comfortable in their own skin and be proud of their achievements. Face-to-face contact between children and our youth workers is at the heart of our work and, having reinvented our youth work delivery methods under significant pressure during the Covid restrictions of 2020, it was a great relief to revert to regular, in-person sessions in 2021.
But the impact of those long months of lockdown took their toll on both young people and staff, contributing to an unprecedented wave of mental health issues which affected all walks of life but hit especially hard in the poorest households.
On the whole kids choose to come to The Avenues because it is a nurturing space where they are supported, can have fun and get creative. But increasingly we spend a lot of time behind the scenes helping kids handle things like anxiety, loneliness and fears about their safety or their future.
In 2021, we began working with Westminster Mind, providers of community-based mental health support, we employed our first full-time mental health specialist youth worker to join our team, and we provided our staff with mental health first aid training. Whilst we are in no way equipped to replace NHS-funded mental health services, we are able to provide a safe space for young people to open up about their emotions and concerns and to become a therapeutic space where we engage young people and support their wellbeing, through both group discussion and one-to-one mentoring.
As a caring employer, we also seek to support our staff’s health and wellbeing and this year we secured funding to help staff members deal with anxiety, trauma and stress when it arises, something we will seek to continue for as long as needed.
Intended outcomes
The service The Avenues Youth Project provides to children and young people of this diverse and economically disadvantaged neighbourhood seeks to make a significant and positive difference in our community. Our Theory of Change lays out the following six intended outcomes:
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1 : Young people have improved social and emotional skills.
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2 : Young people have improved physical and mental wellbeing
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3 : Young people have increased access to opportunity and learning skills.
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4 : Young people understand & develop positive relationships with others.
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5 : Young people are better equipped and confident to make positive lifestyle choices.
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6 : Young people feel safe and respected.
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The Avenues Youth Project Report 2021–2022
Our beneficiaries
Despite the apparent wealth elsewhere in Westminster, our neighbourhood in Queen’s Park ward Westminster is one of the UK’s 10-20% most deprived wards. It is also home to the highest number of teenagers of any ward in Westminster (25% of the local population is under 18).
Our catchment is centred round the Mozart Estate, which has a history of violent postcode rivalry locally. Organised crime and the prevalence of weapons have created a pervasive fear of violence. The Avenues’ offer to teenagers, of positive opportunities in a safe environment, helps reduce both the fear of crime and exposure to the risks of being on the street. From their experiences of poverty, unemployment and crime, many young people we work with have low ambition for life, low self-esteem and anxiety.
Based in a neighbourhood of high social and economic deprivation and a lack of open space, young people in this community need to have a free-to-access safe space; where they can play and socialise without fear, learn and develop skills, and receive advice and encouragement. Locally, there is virtually no youth service provision except The Avenues – hence our popularity.
A total of 683 young people made 25,681 visits over the course of the year, the highest we have ever recorded, and a figure that was continuing to grow as the year ended.
The Zone and Secondary Zone
The Zone is our after-school club which takes place during term-time, until 6.00pm Monday to Friday, 39 weeks a year. The project provides life-enhancing activities including communal tea-time with healthy snacks and facilitated discussion, free-play sessions, team sports (football, dodgeball), reading and chess. Cooking sessions demonstrate how to make quick, healthy snacks (and occasional treats!) in our professional kitchen. Music sessions include podcasting and live broadcasting from the Avenues Radio studio with industry professionals. Creative sessions teach arts and crafts, with painting, clay modeling, sewing, soap and candle making, and t-shirt printing. We offer weekly homework support in our classroom with volunteers helping those who need it.
At the same time each weekday, the older group (11-13 yrs) have their own space, Secondary Zone, which started as a pilot pre-pandemic and has since soared in popularity. The transition into secondary school is a stressful life-stage, so we provide support, guidance and age-appropriate activities in a safe space. As well as activities such as music, cookery and sport, young people receive homework help, guidance on managing time and mental health support. To keep things fresh and varied, we also organise occasional trips around London.
The Zone requires a referral from school or social services to ensure it targets only those most in need. Given the busier schedules and homework demands of our older age group, Secondary Zone is openaccess, meaning the young people choose to attend when they want.
“The best thing about The Avenues is the people because everyone helps each other. Both the staff and the young people, whoever you are they will help you” RS, 12
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Holiday programmes
After months of ever-changing restrictions and social isolation, we wanted to ensure our young people had a full, active and engaging summer. Over the five weeks we delivered a range of opportunities for young people on-site, off-site at local sports grounds and further afield at residentials and adventure camps. We put capacity limits on all activities and ensured sessions were structured so to comply with Covid-19 regulations and ensure there was capacity to socially distance. Within the building we offered a range of activities within cooking, art and design, studio sessions, games room, summer learning loss sessions with qualified teachers, multi-sports, dance and street play.
Thanks to the generosity of Olwyn Foundation, in July we were able to acquire our own 17-seater minibus, which was immediately put to use taking our young people on trips and excursions around London and beyond.
Trips included swimming, go-karting, Go-Ape, Thorpe Park, London Zoo, The Selfie Factory, London Dungeons, and a day at Stubbers Adventure Camp with neighbouring youth clubs.
For our biggest, most challenging and rewarding outing this year, a group of eight young people and our youth workers set sail for a week up the eastern coast of the U.K with Cirdan Trust. This experience was far out of comfort zones for many but the adventures they experienced included night sailing, dolphin and seal spotting, watching sunrises and sunsets, and afternoons on secluded Scottish beaches. The biggest challenge for many was the strict routine and being detached from technology but as the week progressed the young people started working as a team and appreciated the experiences around them.
“My favourite thing about The Avenues is the workers and the trips. The Avenues is really good for my mental health because there’s mentors here who I can talk to about anything. I feel respected here because the staff treat everyone equally” MT, 16
Youth Work Level 1 training
Our in-house training programme for young people has gone from strength to strength, providing local young people with their first experience of volunteering, an accredited qualification in youth work and a spell of meaningful paid employment at The Avenues. Not only does this illuminate a positive pathway in their lives, but it provides the young people with a sense of pride and purpose in the role they now play in their community.
The benefits do not end there, as some are well on their way to becoming our next generation of youth workers, at a time when recruiting staff at any level has become a challenge for employers in London.
The 3-year training programme, funded by the Mayor of London, will see a total of 32 young people qualify to become Junior Support Workers. This fantastic success has encouraged new funders to help us continue the programme, and for us to introduce Level 2 and Level 3 training in the 2022-23 year.
Mic Drop music programme
2021 saw the opening of our remodelled music studios, designed and installed by Miloco Studios and equipped out to professional standards. Music has always been popular at The Avenues, and these new facilities are providing skills and inspiration to another generation of young people considering a music career. We are so grateful to the funders that Jennie has credited in the Chair’s report.
The success of Mic Drop, our weekly, advanced music course for 14-18 year olds continues, as word spreads locally. Each six months, a group of six young people showing a talent and passion for music, receive guidance, coaching, and the confidence to write, record and perform original music. They
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receive a grounding in all aspects of music creation and production, including lyric writing, composition, arrangement, and sound engineering.
Included are trips to gigs, and visits to Church Studios thanks to a burgeoning relationship with the legendary music producer and songwriter Paul Epworth, who was himself introduced to music as a teenager at his local youth club.
The young people also performed live, both in front of a large audience at The Avenues annual party at Paradise in Kensal Green in November and to their peers at Grand Junction in February. With some serious talent emerging from Mic Drop, the course will now evolve to cover non-performance skills such as production, and management.
Seniors programmes
In addition to our regular Friday evenings, we opened on Saturday evenings open for the first time in our history. These open-access sessions are designed to be sociable, fun and stimulating, allowing participants to spend time with local peers in a safe and productive setting. Our team of trained youth workers act as positive role models, discreetly providing guidance and support to the needs of the individual; be it around confidence, employability, housing, safety fears, sexual health or helping a young person with a difficult personal or family situation that they are experiencing.
Activities include; cooking sessions in our professional kitchens; a pop-up café; music production sessions in our recording studio; radio sessions in our broadcasting suite with industry professionals; football skills; dance; games (pool, table tennis, FIFA); and group discussions. As well as providing some structure and purpose to their lives, these activities give our young people an opportunity to explore new interests and develop their talents.
Street safety remains an increasing concern to the young people and their parents. We therefore provide a staffed, door-to-door minibus service in our new vehicle, for those living within a mile, ensuring safe passage and peace of mind.
“I love it here because everyone is just supportive of each other. Everyone has got your back” AR, 14
Girls’ Hub
Every Tuesday evening is our long-running girls-only project for 11-18 year olds, in an environment that allows open discussion about the issues affecting young women at these
key life stages. This weekly service provides a safe space for girls to socialise, become motivated, enjoy physical exercise, receive mental health support, learn new skills, and develop into responsible young adults has multiple benefits for the girls, their families and the wider community.
Activities include cooking, dance, art and group discussions with our female youth workers where the subjects are chosen by the girls themselves. For example they came up with a fundraising campaign to raise money for Centrepoint to buy care packages for homeless girls, displaying great responsibility and thoughtfulness for others. Another highlight was in December when the girls had a sleepover night at The Avenues, with an evening of pampering, movies and popcorn.
We are able to track girls’ progress on pro-social behaviours, with the girls scoring highly in kindness, consideration, sharing and volunteering to help others.
To assuage fears of street dangers, we run a staffed, door-to-door minibus service to get the girls safely home.
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Creative Entrepreneurs
Alongside our successfully established Mic Drop and Level 1 training courses, we developed a new employment pathway programme, Creative Entrepreneurs, aiming to spark interest in potential career pathways.
Across 12-weeks of evening courses, each group of 15-18 year olds acquired an introduction to skills in catering, design, beauty, hairdressing and DJing, alongside the basics of business and self-employment. For each subject we bring in experts and tutors, all of whom are business owners, and who are used to working with this age-group. Our new kitchen is purpose-built for teaching small groups, each student with their own prep area and induction hob.
We bring in guest speakers and chefs, and aim to raise ambitions and to find work experience opportunities for our young people in salons, design studios and restaurants.
- “I feel respected by all the staff here and that’s really important to me” TG, 17
CASE STUDY 1
Karen (not her real name) has been attending since primary school and finds Avenues has always been a respite from home life and a place she can be herself. She has a close relationship with our youth workers and receives weekly mentoring which gives her some 1:1 time.
She is one of our most frequent attendees in our Secondary Zone and Girls’ Hub, however, her engagement in group sessions was never consistent, she would be regularly distracted, do the bare minimum, be on her phone and chat to others throughout. Youth workers always encouraged her to get involved and apply herself, but this rarely happened, despite all her potential and skills.
In January 2022, in Girls’ Hub we began London Youth’s ‘Good For Girls’ programme which involves our Inters age group of girls engaging in weekly discussion talking circles and wellbeing workshops focused on sports and the arts. It also includes a social action project for five girls, with the opportunity for two of them to attend a residential to be trained as wellbeing ambassadors. Karen was a part of the group of five due to her regular attendance and friends participating.
Throughout the planning of the social action project Karen placed herself in a leadership role within the group, leading brainstorming sessions, contacting others to attend planning sessions, making a poster to pitch their ideas, and thinking of new way to expand
the project. In addition to the social action project of making pamper packs for women in the community to improve their wellbeing, Karen also led on the idea to host a bake sale at The Avenues to raise money for a women’s charity and took the lead on organisation, baking and selling at the event.
Having the opportunity to be a part of this project in a small group within Girls’ Hub gave Karen a space to naturally find her voice and role within the group at her own pace. She is still consistently leading the group, following up on tasks, and delegating to others, which increased her confidence and pride in her work.
Her reward for this progress was a place on a weekend’s residential, giving her an opportunity for a needed break away from home issues. It is an all-female trip and having the Girls’ Hub youth worker who has built a relationship with the family in attendance has also meant her family granted permission for her to attend, something she may not have been if it was a usual residential trip, due to age, gender and faith-based concerns of staying away from the family home.
Her self-esteem has improved, formed an identity for herself and helped open up new experiences and opportunities. Seeing young women form into the best versions of who they are as an individual and how this links with their groups and communities is at the heart of what Girls’ Hub is about.
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Strategic Plan
The charity has come a long way since its last 3-year business plan was written in 2018. A number of its objectives have been achieved, with a new funding model, a stable, professional team of staff and an established programme of key services all successfully in place. Supported by a raft of blue-chip local and national funders, and playing an integral role in a healthy, functioning partnership of Westminster youth service providers, the charity no longer starts from a position of existential crisis, but from one of relative strength and confidence.
However, looking ahead, the trustees and I believe that pursuing further growth would be risky, especially as the economic outlook for the next few years is very weak and labour supply is in shortage. So, a new 3-year strategic plan has been written that is essentially one of consolidation and refinement and, although we certainly seek to continuously improve engagement, outcomes and the quality of our facilities, we aim to do so by delivering largely the 2021-22 programme of activities.
Whilst largely sticking to our tried and tested programme for 8-18 year olds, for the next 3 years we will be focussing on 4 themes across our projects:
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Creative arts; practise and experience, in partnership with some of London’s leading arts institutions.
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Employability skills; building on our successful music, cookery and youth work training projects for older members.
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Health & wellbeing; in partnership with MIND, delivering mental health support workshops, mentoring and staff training.
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Heritage; recognising and celebrating our members’ rich diversity of backgrounds and cultures to strengthen their sense of belonging and ownership.
Youth Work Advisory Panel
As members of the Young Westminster Foundation, and as one of four Youth Hubs in Westminster, we participate in a regular, information-sharing forum with other youth service providers.
In 2021, we engaged the services of Rocket Science, a leading consultancy in evaluation of projects targeting young people, to become our learning partner in our Seniors programme. Working closely with our Senior Youth Work team, our Impact and Evaluation Manager set up a Youth Work Advisory Panel, involving the Centre for Youth Impact’s Chief Operating Officer, to help us achieve best practise in measuring the impact of this and other programmes.
By engaging Rocket Science and with input from Centre for Youth Impact, we not only expect better data, but for our learning to be given extra validity. We have also harnessed the pro-bono services of two of the UK’s leading communication consultancies, Adam & Eve DDB and Milltown Partners, to help us understand and focus our messaging.
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CASE STUDY 2
role model for his younger peers. During the initial weeks, Jamal struggled with critique. Any advice he was given was taken personally and could result in confrontation with his mentor or staff. His mentor worked on this throughout the summer and has seen a marked improvement.
Jamal (not his real name) is a 19-year-old young man who initially attended The Avenues as a young person, attending our Friday Seniors weekly activities and spent many years growing up here. As Jamal got older, he began showing interest in a career in youth work and began volunteering at The Avenues around his other commitments. Earlier in the year, Jamal opted to undertake a year-long course to gain his Level 1 Youth Work qualification.
Jamal’s mentor said, “I believe Jamal to be on course to achieving a distinguished youth work career should this be the field he wants to pursue. It’s been a pleasure to witness the journey Jamal has been on, from young member to employee. In his short time as a colleague, he’s formed excellent relationships with his peers and young people alike, with some of the young people at our football camp labelling him the best new youth worker!!”
During the Summer Programme, Jamal undertook his first paid position as a Junior Support Worker at The Avenues. This acted as part of his placement for his Level 1 Youth Work course. Jamal focused on sports and football camp throughout summer, and it was a great success for him. As a keen sportsman himself, the focus sport has given Jamal has really helped his focus and provided him with confidence to take initiative, assist in coaching sessions and helping the young members improve their skills.
We’re pleased to report that Jamal has now graduated from a Junior Support Worker to a Youth Worker, and he is currently undertaking his Level 2 in Youth Work qualification. He has begun to design and lead his own projects and is an inspirational role model to young people and his peers alike.
Jamal was a significantly reliable member of the team throughout the summer. Jamal’s mentor noticed a clear and tangible transition from young person to colleague and is now acting as a great
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The Avenues Youth Project Report 2021–2022
Financial Review
The charity maintained a strong financial performance in the year ended 31 March 2022. Whist in year income decreased 6.35% year on year to £796,041 (2021: £850,136); £291,525 of funds were generated for programs which commenced in year and will continue over the next twelve months and have been ringfenced as such in the accounts.
Expenditure before depreciation increased by 33% to £770,269 as the charity delivered additional programs in line with funds raised (2021: £580,692). Depreciation, the non-cash method of allocating costs of tangible assets (mainly the charity’s building) over their useful life spans, was £54,457 in 2022 (2021: £36,545).
These factors resulted in a net surplus before depreciation in 2022 of 25,858 (2021: £269,444 surplus) and a net deficit after depreciation of £28,599 (2021: £232,899).
The reserves policy is set out below and is monitored via the monthly Financial Dashboard which is reviewed by the Treasurer and by the Executive Committee.
Reserves Policy Statement
The Avenues Reserves Policy is to maintain a target reserve of unrestricted funds equal to six months of budgeted operating costs and with the actual reserves of unrestricted funds being not less than three months of budgeted operating costs.
The principal purpose of The Avenues Reserve Policy is to mitigate the following risks:
The base case risk is that The Avenues will not have sufficient funds to enable normal operating activities to be provided on a continuous basis due to temporary shortfalls in typical income streams or other events which trigger an unexpected funding demand; the reserves should at no time be in a sum lower than that needed to enable The Avenues to continue normal operating activities on an uninterrupted basis despite the occurrence of the relevant temporary contingency.
suffer a material and most likely permanent drop in revenue which, if not addressed, would most likely lead to a permanent cessation of activities; ideally the reserves should at no time be in a sum lower than that needed to fund any restructuring of the business or other significant change in circumstances, such as moving premises, which The Avenues Executive Committee believes could enable the activities and support to continue being provided to the beneficiaries.
Building Fund
Whilst Westminster Council owns our land, The Avenues owns the lease and pays the council a peppercorn rent in agreement for providing services and support to young people and the local community. However, the nature of this lease is that The Avenues is wholly responsible for the repair, maintenance, and improvement of the property under the lease which has 80 years remaining. Indeed, since we replaced our first youth centre with the current two-storey, purpose-built facility in 2003, several million pounds have been spent to maintain and refresh the facilities and keep it a safe, temperate, and attractive place for young people to spend their free time.
With no contribution towards these costs from Westminster Council, we have taken the prudent step of holding a fund for repairs and renovations, and this fund is actively deployed on a programme of regular works.
Monitoring and Reviewing Reserves Policy
The actual operating costs of The Avenues are closely monitored by each of the Trustees and the Treasurer of The Avenues and, together with details of the actual unrestricted reserves amount, are the subject of monthly reports to the Executive Committee of The Avenues. At each of its quarterly meetings, the Executive Committee considers whether, in light of events which have occurred or are expected to occur, any change or changes should be made to the respective amounts of the targeted and minimum unallocated reserves.
The fundamental case risk is that The Avenues will
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Structure, Governance and Management
Constitution
The charity is a company limited by guarantee constituted pursuant to, and governed by, a Memorandum and Articles of Association dated 1 November 2001.
Members’ Liability
The charity has no share capital. Rather, its members have “guaranteed” (i.e., agreed) that in the event of winding-up of the charity they will each contribute £1 towards funding any shortfall in the assets of the charity as compared with its liabilities. The members have no right, in the event of a winding-up of the charity, to receive any distribution of any surplus of the value of the charity’s assets over its liabilities; pursuant to the Memorandum and Articles of Association any such surplus is required to be given to another charity having similar objects to those of the charity.
Executive Committee
The business of the charity is managed by its Executive Committee which currently comprises a Chair and ten other volunteers. All members of the Executive Committee are also directors and, as the only members of the charity, they constitute the trustees of the charity.
New members of the Executive Committee are recruited with regard to the balance on the Executive Committee from time to time of persons with relevant skills, experience, knowledge and qualifications.
Any person appointed by the Executive Committee holds office until the next succeeding annual general meeting of the members at which time they become eligible for re-election.
At each Annual General Meeting of the charity one-third of the existing members of the Executive Committee are required to retire but then become eligible for re-election.
The Executive Committee meets a minimum of four times a year and in addition has an annual ‘Away Day’ for the purpose of in-depth review and study of particular subjects relevant to the charity’s affairs.
There are three sub-committees of the Executive Committee; Personnel, Finance, and Buildings, and each such sub-committee meets on an ad-hoc basis,
co-opting qualified volunteers (for example, from accountancy and architecture), where appropriate.
A BLM forum brings members of the Executive Committee and staff together to agree and oversee best practice on equality, diversity and cultural competence. This group is working closely with the Personnel sub-committee. A Youth Work Advisory Panel brings together staff, trustees and co-opted experts in youth work from other organisations, including Centre for Youth Impact.
No member of the Executive Committee is remunerated by the charity for any of their time spent in connection with the affairs of the charity.
Chief Executive
The Executive Committee has delegated day-to-day management of the charity to the Chief Executive. The Chief Executive attends all meetings of the Executive Committee and is an ex-officio member of each of the Executive Committee’s sub-committees.
The performance of the Chief Executive is the subject of annual reviews carried out by the chair of the Executive Committee.
Trustees
The trustees who are also directors of the company for the purpose of company law are all members of the Executive Committee. Changes to Trustees are shown on page 2.
Independent Examiner
The trustees consider that for the year ended 31 March 2022 the company was entitled to exemption from a statutory audit under section 477 of the Companies Act 2006. Under the provisions of the Act, the directors have appointed Azets Holding Limited, as Independent Examiner.
This report has been prepared in accordance with the special provisions of Part 15 of the Companies Act 2006 relating to small companies.
ON BEHALF OF THE TRUSTEES: Jennie Marshall - CHAIR, 7 December 2022
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The Avenues Youth Project Report 2021–2022
Report of the Independent Examiner
I report to the charity trustees on my examination of the accounts of the company for the year ended 31 March 2022 which are set out on pages 15 to 23.
Responsibilities and basis of report
As the charity trustees of the company (and also its directors for the purposes of company law) you are responsible for the preparation of the accounts in accordance with the requirements of the Companies Act 2006 (‘the 2006 Act’).
Having satisfied myself that the accounts of the company are not required to be audited under Part 16 of the 2006 Act and are eligible for independent examination, I report in respect of my examination of your company’s accounts as carried out under section 145 of the Charities Act 2011 (‘the 2011 Act’). In carrying out my examination I have followed the Directions given by the Charity Commission under section 145(5)(b) of the 2011 Act.
Independent examiner’s statement
Since the company’s gross income exceeded £250,000 your examiner must be a member of a body listed in section 145 of the 2011 Act. I confirm that I am qualified to undertake the examination because I a member of The Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales, which is one of the listed bodies.
I have completed my examination. I confirm that no matters have come to my attention in connection with the examination giving me cause to believe that in any material respect:
-
accounting records were not kept in respect of the company as required by section 386 of the 2006 Act; or
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the accounts do not accord with those records; or
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the accounts do not comply with the accounting requirements of section 396 of the 2006 Act other than any requirement that the accounts give a ‘true and fair view’ which is not a matter considered as part of an independent examination; or
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the accounts have not been prepared in accordance with the methods and principles of the Statement of Recommended Practice for accounting and reporting by charities applicable to charities preparing their accounts in accordance with the Financial Reporting Standard applicable in the UK and Republic of Ireland (FRS 102).
I have no concerns and have come across no other matters in connection with the examination to which attention should be drawn in this report in order to enable a proper understanding of the accounts to be reached.
John Howard FCA
For and on behalf of Azets Audit Services Limited
2nd Floor, Regis House, 45 King William Street, London EC4R 9AN
13 December 2022
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The Avenues Youth Project Report 2021–2022
Statement of financial activities Income and expenditure for year ended 31 March 2022
| Note Incoming Resources Grants and donations 2 Investment income Rental income Fundraising Other government grants Total incoming resources Resources Expended Cost of generating funds: Fundraising expenses Charitable expenditure: Direct charitable expenditure 3 Management and administration 4 Total resources expended Net surplus for the year Fund balances brought forward Transfer between funds Fund balances carried forward |
Unrestricted funds Restricted funds Restricted Building funds Total 2022 Total 2021 £ £ £ £ £ 268,910 309,108 - 578,018 714,547 148 - - 148 613 59,632 - - 59,632 52,210 8,976 - 148,800 157,776 82,766 553 - - 553 - |
|---|---|
| 338,219 309,108 148,800 796,127 850,136 |
|
| 40,499 - - 40,499 39,028 320,055 325,846 - 645,901 521,410 138,326 - - 138,326 56,799 |
|
| 498,880 325,846 - 824,726 617,237 |
|
| (160,661) (16,738) 148,800 (28,599) 232,899 671,239 182,444 1,235,615 2,089,298 - 510,578 165,706 1,384,415 2,060,699 |
The notes on pages 18-23 form an integral part of these financial statements.
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The Avenues Youth Project Report 2021–2022
Balance sheet at 31 March 2022
| Note Fixed Assets Tangible assets 7 Current Assets Cash at bank & in hand Debtors 8 Creditors Amounts falling due within one year 9 Net Assets Funds General reserves 10 Designated funds 10 Restricted funds 10 Restricted building fund 10 |
Total 2022 Total 2021 £ £ 1,656,192 1,379,747 761,111 770,348 1,768 8,031 |
|---|---|
| 762,879 778,379 |
|
| (358,372) (68,828) |
|
| 2,060,699 2,089,298 |
|
| 77,861 238,522 432,717 432,717 165,706 182,444 1,384,415 1,235,615 |
|
| 2,060,699 2,089,298 |
These accounts have been prepared in accordance with the special provisions relating to small companies within Part 15 of the Companies Act 2006.
For the financial year ended 31 March 2022 the company was entitled to exemption from audit under section 477 [small company exemption] Companies Act 2006; and no notice has been deposited under section 476 [member or members requesting an audit].
The trustees acknowledge their responsibilities for ensuring that the company keeps accounting records which comply with s. 386 and for preparing accounts which give a true and fair view of the state of affairs of the company as at the end of the financial year and of its surplus or deficit for the financial year in accordance with the requirements of sections 394 and 395 and which otherwise comply with the requirements of the Companies Act 2006 relating to accounts, so far as applicable to the company.
The financial statements were approved by the Trustees on 7 December 2022
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………………………………………………. …………………………………………….
J Marshall (Chair) Corrina Ralph (Treasurer)
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The notes on pages 18-23 form an integral part of these financial statements.
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The Avenues Youth Project Report 2021–2022
Statement of Cashflow
| Reconciliation of net cash (used in) Operating Activities Net income/(loss) for the reporting period Adjustments for: Bank interest Depreciation (Increase)/ decrease in debtors Increase/ (decrease) in creditors Net cash used in operating activities Cash flows from investing activities Fixed assets purchases Cash flows from financing activities Bank interest received Net (decrease)/increase in cash and cash equivalents Cash and cash equivalents at beginning of year Cash and cash equivalents at end of year Cash and cash equivalents at end of year |
2022 £ (28,599) (148) 54,457 6,263 289,544 321,517 321,517 (330,902) 148 (9,237) 770,348 761,111 |
2021 £ 232,899 (613) 36,545 (8,031) 45,010 |
|
|---|---|---|---|
| 305,810 | |||
| 305,810 (136,838.) 613 |
|||
| 169,585 600,763 770,348 |
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The Avenues Youth Project Report 2021–2022
Notes to the financial statements
1. ACCOUNTING POLICIES
Basis of preparation of accounts
The financial statements are prepared under the historical cost convention and include the results of the charity’s operations which are described in the Report of the Executive Committee and all of which are continuing.
The financial statements have been prepared in accordance with the Statement of Recommended Practice applicable to charities preparing their accounts in accordance with the provision of section 1A ‘Small Entities’ of Financial Reporting Standard 102.
The charity has taken advantage of the exemption in Financial Reporting Standard No.1 from the requirement to produce a cash flow statement.
Tangible fixed assets and depreciation
Unrestricted Funds
Unrestricted funds are donations and other incoming resources receivable or generated for the objects of the charity without further specified purpose and are available as general funds.
Designated Funds
Designated funds are unrestricted funds earmarked by the management for particular purposes.
Restricted Funds
Restricted funds are to be used for specific purposes as laid down by the donor. Expenditure which meets these criteria is charged to the fund, together with a fair allocation of management and support costs.
Tangible fixed assets are stated at cost less depreciation.
Depreciation is provided at rates calculated to write off the cost or valuation of fixed assets, less their estimated residual value, over their expected useful lives on the following basis:
Furniture and equipment - 15% net book value.
Value Added Tax
Value Added Tax is not recoverable by the charity and as such is included in the relevant costs in the Statement of Financial Activities.
Expenditure of management and administration of the charity
Administration expenditure includes all expenditure not directly related to the charitable activity. This includes costs of staff salaries for administrative staff and audit fees.
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The Avenues Youth Project Report 2021–2022
Notes to the financial statements
| 2. GRANTS AND DONATIONS | Unrestricted | Restricted | Restricted | Total | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| funds | funds | Building | 2022 | 2021 | |
| funds | |||||
| £ | £ | £ | £ | £ | |
| Angus Lawson Memorial Trust | - | 9,762 | - | 9,762 | - |
| BBC Children in Need | - | 28,164 | - | 28,164 | 46,638 |
| BMO Global Asset Management | - | 10,000 | - | 10,000 | - |
| CHK Foundation | - | 58,333 | - | 58,333 | - |
| City of Westminster Charitable Trust | - | 7,500 | - | 7,500 | - |
| Edward Harvist Trust | - | 4,000 | - | 4,000 | - |
| Garfield Weston | 12,500 | - | - | 12,500 | 30,000 |
| Global’s Make Some Noise | - | 11,000 | - | 11,000 | - |
| Greater London Authority | - | 23,975 | - | 23,975 | 62,150 |
| Groundwork | - | 11,191 | - | 11,191 | 13,486 |
| HPPEC | 1,667 | - | - | 1,667 | - |
| Hyde Park Place Estates | - | - | - | - | 5,000 |
| Jack Petchy Foundation | - | 1,200 | - | 1,200 | 1,500 |
| Joan Ainslie Charitable Trust | 10,000 | - | - | 10,000 | - |
| John Lyon's Charity | 6,667 | 4,000 | - | 10,667 | 45,000 |
| Kitchen Social (Mayor's Fund for London) | - | 7,715 | - | 7,715 | - |
| London Youth | - | 2,000 | - | 2,000 | - |
| London Funders: COVID Response | - | - | - | - | 62,664 |
| Luckies of London | 4,470 | - | - | 4,470 | - |
| Octavia Foundation | - | 5,000 | - | 5,000 | - |
| Paddington Charity | - | 7,500 | - | 7,500 | - |
| Pineapple Trust | 7,500 | - | - | 7,500 | 7,500 |
| Queens Park Community Council | 20,000 | 2,500 | - | 22,500 | 25,000 |
| Strand Parishes Trust | - | - | - | - | 5,000 |
| Team London & Thrive (GLA) | - | 2,185 | - | 2,185 | - |
| The Carlile Foundation | 3,750 | 15,000 | - | 18,750 | - |
| The Health Lottery | - | 6,959 | - | 6,959 | - |
| The Hobson Charity | - | 3,840 | - | 3,840 | - |
| The Kusuma Trust | - | 7,845 | - | 7,845 | - |
| The National Lottery Community Fund | 3,942 | 10,000 | - | 13,942 | 23,185 |
| Westminster Brighter Futures Fund | - | 1,667 | - | 1,667 | - |
| Two Magpies | - | 5,000 | - | 5,000 | 10,000 |
| Westminster Almshouses | - | 19,000 | - | 19,000 | 6,985 |
| Westminster Amalgamated | - | 3,333 | - | 3,333 | 9,220 |
| Westminster City Council | 42,768 | 1,000 | - | 43,768 | 97,730 |
| Westminster Foundation | 26,250 | - | - | 26,250 | 75,000 |
| Westminster Ward Budget | - | 9,939 | - | 9,939 | 9,625 |
| Young Westminster Foundation | - | 29,500 | - | 29,500 | 16,402 |
| Youth Music | - | - | - | - | 26,978 |
| Other donations | 129,396 | - | - | 129,396 | 135,484 |
| 268,910 | 309,108 | - | 578,018 | 714,547 |
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The Avenues Youth Project Report 2021–2022
Notes to the financial statements
3. DIRECT CHARITABLE EXPENDITURE
| Salaries and staff costs Salaries, NI and pensions Training and supervision Staff recruitment costs Youth work activities Office and other costs Insurance Light and heat and water rates Telephone and internet Repairs and renewals Maintenance and cleaning Printing, postage and stationery Subscriptions Website Sundry expenses Computer support and consumables Consultancy Subsistence Motor vehicle costs Marketing and PR |
Unrestricted funds Restricted funds Restricted Building funds Total 2022 Total 2021 £ £ £ £ £ 206,833 119,084 - 325,917 219,353 2,772 - - 2,772 7,303 20,216 - - 20,216 1,518 |
|---|---|
| 229,821 119,084 - 348,905 228,174 |
|
| - 206,762 - 206,762 211,845 |
|
| 4,594 - - 4,594 3,910 16,485 - - 16,485 12,128 2,298 - - 2,298 2,641 18,781 - - 18,781 13,703 32,294 - - 32,294 17,776 1,631 - - 1,631 1,246 3,366 - - 3,366 1,230 - - - - 5,986 (8,532) - - (8,532) 676 1,561 - - 1,561 5,632 - - - - - 5,475 - - 5,475 - 88 - - 88 - 12,193 - - 12,193 16,463 |
|
| 90,234 - - 90,234 **81,391 ** |
|
| 320,055 325,846 - 645,901 521,410 |
4. MANAGEMENT AND ADMINISTRATION EXPENDITURE
| Salary Costs Salary Other Costs Depreciation Bank charges and interest Independent examiners fee |
Unrestricted funds Restricted funds Restricted Building funds Total 2022 Total 2021 £ £ £ £ £ 73,145 - - 73,145 15,000 54,457 - - 54,457 36,545 539 - - 539 514 10,185 - - 10,185 4,740 |
|---|---|
| 138,326 - - 138,326 56,799 |
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The Avenues Youth Project Report 2021–2022
Notes to the financial statements
5. OPERATING SURPLUS/(DEFICIT)
Operating deficit is shown after charging:
| Operating deficit is shown after charging: | ||
|---|---|---|
| Total | Total | |
| 2022 | 2021 | |
| £ | £ | |
| Staff costs | ||
| Depreciation on tangible fixed assets | 54,457 | 36,545 |
6. STAFF COSTS
| STAFF COSTS | |
|---|---|
| Wages and salaries Social security costs Staff pension |
Total 2022 Total 2021 £ £ 375,517 206,509 11,694 18,732 11,851 17,933 |
| 399,062 243,174 |
As a charity, no trustee received any remuneration during the year in their capacity as a trustee.
None of the trustees have reclaimed travelling and other expenses.
The average weekly number of full time equivalent staff employed by the charity during the year was as follows:
year was as follows: |
|
|---|---|
| Administrative work Direct charitable work |
Total 2022 Total 2021 3 3 6 4 |
| 9 7 |
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The Avenues Youth Project Report 2021–2022
Notes to the financial statements
7. FIXED ASSETS
| COST As at 1 April 2021 Additions Disposals As at 31 March 2022 DEPRECIATION As at 1 April 2021 Charge for the year As at 31 March 2022 NET BOOK VALUES As at 31 March 2022 As at 31 March 2021 |
Leasehold property Furniture & Equipment Motor Vehicles Total £ £ £ £ 2,004,797 184,117 - 2,188,914 306,682 1,800 22,420 330,902 |
|---|---|
| 2,311,479 185,917 22,420 2,519,816 |
|
| 632,344 176,823 - 809,167 49,730 1,364 3,363 54,457 |
|
| 682,074 178,187 3,363 863,624 |
|
| 1,629,405 7,730 19,057 1,656,192 1,372,453 7,294 - 1,379,747 |
Construction costs of the building included under leasehold property above, amounted to £1,762,923 and the company took possession of the completed property in May 2003. Since this date the cost of the building is being depreciated evenly over 50 years.
Significant donations from Bernard Sunley Foundation have been received in the past 18 months which specifically relate to building refurbishment and are included in the above as appropriate.
8. DEBTORS
| Trade debtors Prepayments |
Total 2022 Total 2021 350 - 1,418 8,031 |
|---|---|
| 1,768 8,031 |
9. CREDITORS
| . CREDITORS | |
|---|---|
| Trade creditors SS & other taxes Accruals and deferred income Other creditors |
Total 2022 Total 2021 48,497 - 8,393 - 299,205 68,828 2,277 - |
| 358,372 68,828 |
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The Avenues Youth Project Report 2021–2022
Notes to the financial statements
10. FUNDS
Current year fund note:
| Current year fund note: | |
|---|---|
| Unrestricted Funds General reserves Designated Funds Restricted Funds Restricted Building Fund Total Funds **Prior year comparative fund note: ** |
Opening Balance Incoming Resources Resources Expended Transfers Closing Balance £ £ £ £ £ 238,522 338,219 (498,880) - 77,861 432,717 - - - 432,717 |
| 671,239 338,219 (498,880) - 510,578 182,444 309,108 (325,846) - 165,706 1,235,615 148,800 - - 1,384,415 |
|
| 2,089,298 796,127 (824,726) - 2,060,699 |
|
| Unrestricted Funds General reserves Designated Funds Restricted Funds Restricted Building Fund Total Funds |
Opening Balance Incoming Resources Resources Expended Transfers Closing Balance £ £ £ £ £ 212,500 327,547 (291,118) (10,407) 238,522 295,879 - - 136,838 432,717 |
|---|---|
| 508,379 327,547 (291,118) 126,431 671,239 77,147 522,589 (290,861) (126,431) 182,444 1,270,873 - (35,258) - 1,235,615 |
|
| 1,856,399 850,136 (617,237) - 2,089,298 |
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3-7 Third Avenue, London W10 4RS Tel: 020 8969 9552 info@avenues.org.uk www.avenues.org.uk
AvenuesYouthProject @AvenuesYouth79 @avesyouth