Annual Report for IMPACT BARNET
Year ending 31[st] March 2021
Charity number: 1161670
Registered address: St John’s Parish Centre Friern Barnet Road London N11 3EQ
Trustees:
Chairperson: Ed Newman Treasurer: Robert Townley Secretary: Sarah Afuwape Vicki Powell Lee Amoss
Charitable Objectives :
Our mission:
To advance in life and relieve needs of young people in Barnet and the surrounding areas through:
(a) The provision of recreational and leisure time activities provided in the interest of social welfare, designed to improve their conditions of life; and
(b) Providing support and activities which develop their skills, capacities and capabilities to enable them to participate in society as mature and responsible individuals
Our aims and values:
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We aim to encourage, nurture and respect our young people’s individual and collective aspirations as well as their sense of responsibility.
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We strive to empower young people to be the best that they can be.
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We aim to work with others to achieve the best outcomes for children and young people.
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We strive to include all local young people in our services, tailoring services to respond to individual and group needs and actively challenging all forms of discrimination.
Activities:
Impact Barnet aims to help young people to reach their full potential, and support young people and families in and around the borough of Barnet. Over this past year, our services have included:
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●A Friday night youth club, running during term time. This has been run on a rotation system by our staff and dedicated volunteers. Unfortunately, due to the pandemic and not having access to the church premises, this has been closed.
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●family support and counselling – we have found this stem of our work busier than ever this year, with much of our youth work leading to more family-based therapy. We have found this extremely helpful when the whole family is getting the support they need. We have also worked in partnership with a new charity
that came about as a response to the pandemic, in providing families in need, with food and necessities including the support and direction to access appropriate financial aid.
- ●issue-based workshops held in our mobile youth van based in secondary schools (for vulnerable students) – these workshops are held in groups of 8 – 10 students and cover a wide range of topics including; self esteem; anger management; bullying; peer pressure; social media; positive relationships; positive communications; substance abuse; self image etc Our youth van is equipped with a tv, games console, fixed bench seating, heating and lighting and the young people absolutely love the space that it offers them. Unfortunately, due to the pandemic, we were unable to carry out sessions in the van as it is not a space where we can ensure social distancing.
●one-to-one mentoring/counselling sessions for particularly vulnerable students. These counselling and mentoring sessions cover issues such as self harm; eating disorders; abuse; severe bullying; anxiety management; bereavement etc. Many of these issues have been accentuated by the pandemic. Schools refer the students to us on a case by case basis. We often work in connection with local schools and PRUs, social services, CAMHS, Barnet youth support services (Barnet Council), the police and other charities. The pandemic has resulted in a surge of young people requiring support around metal health and well-being. We have also been required to provide this support through varied means, including virtual sessions, telephone sessions, outdoor sessions, as well as continuing to support the vulnerable students still attending schools during lockdowns, within the school environment.
A few changes in our work during 2020-21 has included the work with Barnet Collective to ensure those of our families in need were able to receive food and necessities, and this partnership continues. Individual families have also provided funding for our continuation of work, where we have already been working with a young person / them. We have been required to adapt in how we work with young people especially in response to the lockdowns, to ensure we continue to support them, but finding alternative ways for many to school based sessions. Virtual sessions have enabled us to continue to offer support at times when this would be very difficult, including being able to extend our support to students who have faced the challenge of attending university during the pandemic.
Due to a reduction in services IMPACT BARNET was able to offer, and staff family circumstances during lockdowns, some staff members’ hours needed to be reduced / furloughed, but we were also able to take on a sessional youth and family worker to continue offering some of those hours. New permanent staff were unable to be employed as intended, due to the impact of the pandemic on some of our work. Therefore, John Lyon’s Charity very kindly enabled us to defer the 3rd tranche of grant funding to the end of this year. The John Lyon’s Charity provide us with a generous grant which has been pivotal in enabling us to continue the very important work that we do. As well as this funding, two secondary schools make termly/annual contributions to our charity which enables us to offer more support to those who need it. Families are also funding us directly to continue our work with them.
Structure and management:
IMPACT BARNET is registered as a CIO with the charity commission. In accordance with our governing document, new trustees are appointed by the existing trustees at a
properly convened board meeting. Board meetings are held quarterly throughout the year. There should be a minimum of 3 charity trustees and the number of trustees should not exceed 10. Currently, we have a dedicated board of 5 trustees.
The board of trustees which is made up of unpaid volunteers, is responsible for the overall running and management of the charity. The charity Director and the Youth and community Coordinator, both paid employees, act as staff representatives at the board meetings and one of our dedicated volunteers acts as a volunteer representative and together, they provide the trustees with up to date information and bring any items to the agenda for discussion. The Director and Youth and community Coordinator report to the board of trustees and are line managed by one of our trustees. Our youth worker and our placements are line-managed by the Director.
There are now 3 paid members of staff, including the Director. Staff are also provided with external professional supervision. Our staff have received relevant training in areas including counselling and safeguarding, and all have access to up-to-date ongoing training through AC Education, London Youth, and Barnet Youth Services. Members of the team have now obtained their Counselling children and adolescents diplomas. Our Youth and Community coordinator holds a degree in Psychology and Education; our Director has completed her level 4 diploma in youth work practice and has been trained in facilitating the Circle of Security program. Our sessional Youth and Family worker has 4 years experience working with Barnet Youth Services and also holds a level 4 diploma in youth work practice. We have a dedicated team of volunteers who help to run our youth club and who have all received safeguarding and basic youth work training and it is with great appreciation that we mention them in this report, as without them, we would not be able to keep the club running. Although the youth club has been closed, all volunteers have continued to maintain contact with Impact Barnet in preparation for when we reopen. All staff and volunteers hold a valid and current DBS certificate.
Achievements and performance for 2020-21:
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●We have established ourselves further as a recognised and essential service with statutory services within Barnet including schools.
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●Our support hours have increased in the secondary schools that we work with.
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●Two schools, and families that we work with have made regular donations to our service, and we continue to receive very positive feedback from schools, parents and students alike.
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●We have formed more positive and useful networks amongst other charities and statutory services this year.
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●Working in close partnership with another charity to ensure basic needs of families we support, have been met during very challenging times.
Since the academic year runs from September to July, some specific aims from the previous year that were due to be completed in the final term of school could not be completed due to Cov-id 19 and lockdown. These include the parenting programme, the secondary school workshops for Yr 6, the building of our log cabin office and the residential trip for the youth club group.
Public Benefit:
Impact Barnet, through the activities and interventions we provide, benefits young people and families in Barnet and surrounding areas. By working with the youth of
Barnet today, we are not only making a difference to their lives now, we are also supporting their families and teachers, as well as paving the way for a brighter future for Barnet as a whole.
The project will not only help the young people of Barnet, but will also make a difference to the schools in the area, and the many families within our community. In the past we have seen individuals who have benefited from our services make dramatic changes in their lives, with their attendance and attainment at school, and how they interact with others in the community.
Goals/Aims and Outcomes for the year ahead:
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●Supporting the needs of young people and their families on whom Cov-id 19 has had a detrimental impact
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●Helping our young people to increase their academic attainment
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●Improving the mental wellbeing of our young people
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●Helping our young people and their families to access the appropriate services
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●Supporting families to build positive relationships
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●Providing strategies for coping with difficult situations
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●Enabling young people and families to recognise and develop strengths and skills
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