THE Annual Report 2021/22 Jun? PROJEC May 2022
| Page Overview 3 Trustee Summary 5 Who We Are 7 What We Do 8 Our Year 10 Our Future 16 TABLE OF CONTENT |
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| Page | ||
| Overview | 3 | |
| Trustee Summary | 5 | |
| Who We Are | 7 | |
| What We Do | 8 | |
| Our Year | 10 | |
| Our Future | 16 |
OVERVIEW
FOUNDER: FOUNDING PROPOSALS: BUSINESS LOCATION: LEGAL FORM: CEO: START OF CHARITABLE ACTIVITY: FINANCING: FUTURE PLANS:
Ali Golds
To advance in life young women of school age who have experienced significant challenges 12 New Broadway, Worthing BN11 4HP The Juno Project, Charity number 1176628 Sanchia Ryan January 2018
Funded through donations from grant funders, foundations, and private individuals The Juno Project has already supported over 500 girls in West Sussex since inception, and intends to take operations nationally over the next two years.
EMPOWERING VULNERABLE TEENAGE GIRLS TO DEVELOP HIGHER CONFIDENCE AND SELFESTEEM, STAY IN EDUCATION, AND CREATE A BETTER FUTURE
TRUSTEE SUMMARY
During 2021/22, alongside many other organisations, we witnessed first-hand the impact of isolation, lockdowns, and online learning due to the pandemic. We worked hard to adapt our safeguarding infrastructure and our face to face programmes to facilitate online delivery during this time: both adapting partially completed face to face work, and creating dedicated distance learning projects. We continued to experience increased demand for TIM, from schools, parents and youth workers as well as enquiries for private programmes and online work. Our founder and CEO, Ali Golds, had advised the board of her resignation in the previous year, and stepped down at the end of April to concentrate on new projects. The board decided to appoint her assistant as Interim CEO, with a view to finding a permanent successor in September. We began delivery of our Children In Need (CIN) funded TIM programmes in across four schools, reaching 24 young women. Further work was scheduled for the summer term, but the incumbent trustees decided that they wanted to focus on internal processes and governance during the Covid period, so made the decision to temporarily halt operations until later in the year. During this time, we finalised the design of our exciting new - Horizons programme a programme for girls in year 6 making the transition to high school, ready for piloting in a local primary school.
In September, our Interim CEO resigned her post and shortly after, the entire trustee board was subject to a refresh. Our founder returned to continue skeleton operations in November, whilst a new board was appointed and took on their roles.
TRUSTEE SUMMARY
The new board began their tenure and, following a declaration of interest in the CEO position, Sanchia Ryan was appointed in December. Sanchia brings a wealth of experience in third sector project management and the design and delivery of projects for young people and families, along with drive and passion for the aims and mission of The Juno Project.
In January, under the new board and CEO’s guidance, and with continued support from the founder, operations resumed and, alongside implementing strategic planning and operational improvements, we began delivery of the remaining CIN funded programmes. By the end of March, we had started work with an additional thirty young women in five local schools. Additionally, we completed the last of our highly successful one day programmes with 10 young women from Mid Sussex.
We were fortunate to be offered support from a range of volunteers in 2022, who started work on a new website (to include an alumna platform), improvements to our social media presence, and marketing collateral which will go a long way towards continuing to support the young women we work with, as well as updating and educating funders, schools, and youth workers and others on The Juno Project. We would like to thank all at The Juno Project, facilitators, management and volunteers, for their unwavering loyalty and support; as usual they give their utmost to us and to the girls we work with, along with our grant funders, without whom, the project would not be possible. We are looking forward to a very exciting year ahead with many opportunities and possibilities.
The Juno Project Trustees. April 2022
WHO WE ARE
Our board of trustees
Alex Gray Appointed 3/12/21
Sarah Maxwell Emma Banks Olivia Hylton-Smith Appointed 3/12/21 Appointed 4/2/22 Appointed 19/11/21
Trustee Changes
Former board Michelle Gulrajani resigned 7/21 Sophie Whitehouse resigned 19/11/21 Markus Krizsmann 9/5/21-19/11/21 Catherine Hill 16/4/21-19/11/21
Transition board Sanchia Ryan Paula Jane Cox
19/11/21-4/1/22 (CEO) 19/11/21-4/2/22
WHAT WE DO
The Juno Project aims to empower young people, in particular young girls or young women of school age, who have experienced significant challenges in What we do their lives including drug/alcohol/or other addiction, domestic violence, poverty, health issues, learning difficulties, homelessness, mental health, excluded/about to be excluded from school, abuse, bullying, anger management and/or parents who have experienced the above by: providing support and activities which develop their skills, capacities and capabilities to enable them to participate in society as mature and responsible individuals. Many of the young women we work with find everyday life a struggle. Our bespoke programme, This Is Me (TIM), is delivered by facilitators who have lived through similar challenges and are therefore able to coach and mentor the girls to improve their self-esteem and confidence, and to continue in education in order to achieve their personal goals. Working with girls aged 13-16 who've experienced a range of challenging and difficult circumstances, we encourage them to explore their behaviours, attitudes and responses - and develop a growth mindset that will enable them to overcome barriers and achieve whatever goals they set themselves.
WHAT WE DO
What we do
This year, we have commissioned a new programme, Horizons, which is designed to help girls in year 6 to transition to secondary school and encourages them to explore worries and concerns they may have about moving – to a new school as well as issues that may impact on their education and life in general, including online safety, friendships, confidence, and resilience. The girls are paired with a mentor from their new high school, who is one of the girls from our Year 10 This Is Me programme; giving the older girls a chance to give back (which they often ask to do), and the younger ones a chance to learn the ropes from someone who has already experienced the nerves and anxiety about being the new girl.
OUR YEAR
The Juno Project started work with 64 girls this year in 9 schools across West Sussex, delivering 9 This Is Me programmes to year 10 and year 11 girls, and one of our specialised one day programmes in Mid Sussex to 10 girls.
We made links with new schools and demand for our programme continued to increase. We trained our facilitators in new skills, including Mental Health First Aid, and began organising the pilot for the new Horizons programme, which will take place in the summer term of 2022.
We have begun work on our new website, which will also contain a new and exciting space for TJP alumna, and have made great progress as a new board in generating a long term strategy for the charity’s continued success and growth.
OUR YEAR
In terms of impact, approximately 95% of the girls stayed in school and/or went on to college and/or an apprenticeship, or work. Almost all told us that they believed their confidence had improved, and all of the girls showed a difference in the way they saw themselves at the end of the programme, compared to their statements at the beginning
86% of respondents said that they had found coming to This Is Me sessions to be helpful.
‘You’ve helped me find myself and get to know myself, when I couldn’t talk to anyone. It’s made me realise
I’m not alone.’
‘The programme helped me with understanding my feelings more and how to help them, I have felt more open and more comfortable with myself and others’
When asked what they’d learned from the programme, comments included:
‘It brought my confidence up; I’m more happy, better at dealing with anxiety.’
OUR YEAR
Our programmes are written for the girls we support, and therefore it’s vital that they have continuous input into the work we do. We ask all to a girls complete benchmarking questionnaire at the beginning and end of each programme. This helps us to ensure that, firstly, we have the information we need to assess the girl’s needs, and secondly, what areas of the programme feel needs to be or they changed improved. We ask them to tell us what would like more or they less of, what they liked, what they didn’t like, and what would to someone else who was they say thinking of joining a programme.
OUR YEAR
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When asked what they would do if they faced an unknown the of that would it a
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problem, percentage girls ‘give go’ doubled and none of them re-chose the no’ or ‘I ‘say
-
.
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wouldn’t be able to’ option
• When asked how they would cope on leaving school, before and after TIM, the percentage of girls who felt able to reach out for help doubled, as did the percentage of those who felt be able to . they would cope • When asked how they coped with their mistakes, the percentage of young women who would take responsibility, step up and be accountable shifted from 21% to over 50% over the life of the programme .
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When asked where they saw themselves in 10 years, the percentage of those that saw themselves in a job they love rose from 39% to 50% with a corresponding fall in the answer ‘who knows’ from 56% to 37% and 6% of the young women completing TIM saw themselves running their own business .
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- prior to TIM, none had chosen this option
OUR YEAR
This year we were concerned about how the move from in person to online, and back again, would translate in reality.
We were pleased to see that there were minimal issues, and that the girls were able to move relatively positively from online to face to face.
When asked what changes the parents and teachers saw in the girls, comments included:
‘They do not always make the right choice but there has been a decrease in blaming others around them such as peers and teachers and accepting consequences. I think this programme give them the understanding of how to be the best version of themselves and that when they are ready to use this understanding to better themselves will be different for individuals’
‘Their ability to persist even when things get tough. Recognising that they are accountable for their behaviour and respect will get them much further’
OUR YEAR
‘There has been a massive shift for them all in different ways. We had one girl on the programme who prior to joining, wouldn't engage with others in her year beyond her peer group. She is now a prefect and talks freely amongst a wider circle of people. We have another that now sees her own value and worth, after being in the shadow of her older sister, and has a stronger sense of identity. Another that has really opened up to voicing her opinion, and her mum in particular, has noted how the changes have come into the home as well. The remaining girls still have some development, as do we all (!), but they are learning to be comfortable in their own skin, making their own informed choices and not being taken for granted. The group has worked so well, and it has been a pleasure to see them blossom!’
Find out more about our work, or donate, here: https://www.thejunoproject.co.uk
F: https://www.facebook.com/TheJunoProj/ I: https://www.instagram.com/thejunoproj/
OUR FUTURE IS POSITIVE!
OUR FUTURE
We are committed to empowering vulnerable and marginalised young girls to improve their self-esteem and confidence, overcome their challenges and achieve their potential.
We are still seeing an increasing number of referrals from schools and external to refer to our TIM on agencies wanting girls programme, year and we are keen to work with our referral to further year, closely partners develop our programmes to meet demand and respond to gaps in service. We want to increase our capacity to meet this growing demand in terms of the number of girls we support and the number of schools we work with across West Sussex; in addition to expanding into other counties, in the next few years.
OUR FUTURE
We also want to increase the of the age range girls we work with by growing the support available for the girls both during their time working with us, and then beyond Year 11 with our alumna network, and we have recently recruited a new, young trustee with lived experience of the challenges our girls face, to design and lead on this network. We have also developed a programme for younger girls in Year 6, Horizons, to support the transition to secondary school. We are keen to learn from our experiences in adapting and delivering online during the pandemic, to increase our reach in supporting young people nationwide.