2022-03-31-accounts

Annual Report for IMPACT BARNET

Year ending 31[st] March 2022

Charity number: 1161670

Registered address: St John’s Parish Centre Friern Barnet Road London N11 3EQ

Trustees:

Chairperson: Lee Amoss Secretary: Sarah Afuwape Treasurer - Rob Townley Vicki Powell Stuart Gates

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:

1. We aim to encourage, nurture and respect our young people’s individual and collective aspirations as well as their sense of responsibility.

2. We strive to empower young people to be the best that they can be.

3. We aim to work with others to achieve the best outcomes for children and young people.

4. 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:

• ●We have been able to reopen our Friday night youth club, running during term time. This has been run on a rotation system by our staff and dedicated volunteers.

• ●family support and counselling – we have found this stem of our work has continued to grow and the concerns around well-being and the mental health needs of young people seems to be greater than ever. We continue to offer

family work when appropriate, as we do find this kind of support can contribute positively in our work with a young person. We have also continued to work 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 6-8 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, dvd player, fixed bench seating, heating and lighting and the young people absolutely love the space that it offers them. We have been able to reintroduce these sessions to schools again.

• ●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, and many of the referrals coming through are at a higher level of need than pre-pandemic. Schools refer the students to us on a case by case basis. The pandemic has resulted in a surge of young people requiring support around metal health and well-being. Having been required to provide this support through alternative means such as virtual and telephone sessions, at times through the pandemic, has meant we have also been able to continue to offer some sessions this way, should it be required, including for young people who may need support whilst at university. However, where possible, our work has continued to be face to face.

• ●Multi-agency work - we often work in connection with local schools and PRUs, social services, CAMHS, Barnet youth support services (Barnet Council), the police and other charities.

• ●Systemic work is an important element of how we work with a young person. Our work with a young person may involve us communicating with parents, school staff, universities, community members and statutory services.to enable us to meet the needs of the young person and support positive change. As well as emotional support for the young person, we provide practical support for them as well as the systems around them i.e strategies for staff within schools. We also provide reports to support their needs for further assessments, to access appropriate support and allowances within education, (schools, colleges and universities),

COV-ID has impacted the structure of our charity, as our Director moved to Torquay, and the Youth and Community Coordinator who was also involved in the evolving of the Charity in 2015, increased hours to take on the role of Director, as well as continuing their previous role responsibilities.

A few other changes in our work during 2021-22 has included reintroducing aspects of the service that were impacted by COV-ID ie. the van sessions and youth club restarting. Also the return to working face to face in schools with all students as they returned to full-time in-school learning. Continuing our work with Barnet Collective to ensure those of our families in need were able to receive food and necessities. We have been able to increase hours so staff were all working their full hours again. However, in order to respond to the increasing number of referrals being made for support around mental health in young people, staff hours have also been increased compared to pre-pandemic, and we have been able to employ another part-time member of staff.

We also received confirmation for our third tranche of John Lyon’s Charity grant funding. The John Lyon’s Charity have continued to 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, we have now increased from two to four secondary schools making termly contributions to our charity which enables us to offer more support to those who need it. Social Care has funded us for the continuation of our work, where we have already been working with a young person. 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. Following COV-ID, we had some changes in trustees, and two needed to leave due to a change in personal circumstances. We also had a new trustee join the board so that we currently have 3 trustees.

The dedicated board of trustees, which is made up of unpaid volunteers, is responsible for the overall running and management of the charity, and supports the Director in their role. The charity Director / Youth and community Coordinator, a paid employee, acts as staff representatives at the board meetings and one of our youth and family support workers also attends, and together they provide the trustees with up to date information and bring any items to the agenda for discussion. The Director / Youth and community Coordinator report to the board of trustees and is line managed by one of our trustees. Our youth and family support workers are line-managed by the Director.

There are now 3 paid members of staff, including the Director. Staff are provided with supervision. Our staff all have access to up-to-date essential and relevant on-going training through AC Education, London Youth, and Barnet Youth Services. Members of the team have now obtained their Counselling children and adolescents diplomas. Our Director / Youth and Community coordinator holds a degree in Psychology and Education and 28 years experience of working within both the voluntary and statutory sectors with children and young people between the ages of 5 and 25, supporting vulnerable young people including those presenting with challenging behaviour, SEND needs, and supporting parents and families in need; our team of Youth and Family support workers between them offer 18 years of working for the Ministry of Justice in Rehabilitation services for offenders, 4 years experience of working with Barnet Youth Services, a level 4 diploma in youth work, a degree in psychology, skills in counselling, 7 years experience of supporting individuals around challenging behaviour, and 2 years working as an ABA therapist. We have a dedicated team of trustees who support the work we carry out, and a 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. All staff and volunteers hold a valid and current DBS certificate.

Achievements and performance for 2021-22:

• ●We have established ourselves further as a recognised and essential service with statutory services within Barnet including schools.

• ●Our support hours have increased in the secondary schools that we work with.

• ●We have increased the number of schools from two to four schools that now make regular donations to our service, including in the borough of Enfield, and families have also continued to refer and donate directly. We continue to receive very positive feedback from schools, parents and students alike.

• ●We have formed more positive and useful networks amongst other charities and statutory services this year.

• ●Continued to work in close partnership with another charity to ensure the basic needs of the families we support, are being met in continued challenging times.

Public Benefit:

Impact Barnet, through the activities and interventions we provide, benefits young people and families in Barnet and surrounding boroughs. By working with the youth as we do we are not only supporting them as individuals, but we are also supporting their families and schools. We enable young people to access their learning by working closely with the schools, and we promote a positive outlook to help them find their sense of direction at a time when many of them are struggling. By working with families, we help to develop more positive relationships which also encourages young people to make more positive choices both towards peers and others within their community, as well as showing a greater respect for the environment in which they live.

The extensive waiting lists that these services are facing because they are so inundated with referrals means that we are also receiving requests for referrals to our Charity by statutory services, to help meet the increasing needs of young people who may be unable to receive this kind of support elsewhere.

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:

• ●Supporting the needs of young people and their families

• ●Helping our young people to increase their academic attainment

• ●Improving the mental wellbeing of our young people

• ●Helping our young people and their families to access the appropriate services

• ●Supporting families to build positive relationships

• ●Providing strategies for coping with difficult situations

• ●Enabling young people and families to recognise and develop strengths and skills