YAH Annual Report Sept 2020 to August 2021: Churches Together
I am pleased to present this interim report as we near the end of the third full year that Youth Across Hemel has operated as a registered charity. Despite the devastating impact of the Covid19 Crisis on youth work, as we draw a firm line under this academic year and enter the new one, we have continued to make good progress in all our focus areas and have built capacity to grow in influence and impact.
Providing Resources
Since forming as a newly formed charity in July 2018, our focus has been on building up capacity, getting policies and procedures in place, securing volunteers and funding and building important networks and relationships.
We have focused our limited resources on the following areas
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Building networks and relationships
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We have maintained and established new relationships with head teachers, teachers, church leaders, youth leaders and other youth organisations
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Providing training
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Our volunteer recruitment and training plans for 2019-20 were severely impacted by Covid 19. We hope to resume activity in 2020-21 if lockdown rules allow.
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Working with local churches
We have been engaging & working with a number of local church leaders and youth workers and, wherever possible, using their facilities for events and activities.
- Running events & clubs
Youth Across Hemel volunteers who also comprise volunteers from other churches and organisations, have run the following free events over the year despite restrictions all the way through the year.
BIKE HIKE – Jun 2021
Keen cyclists came together again to pedal 15km through Ashridge’s leafy and muddy trails for a fun afternoon.
DEATH ON THE NILE – Mar 2021
Our Zoom whodunnit, a Murder Mystery evening featuring a stella cast of professional actors and youth leaders, offered a night of sleuthing and free Skittles to some 40 young people. Set in ancient Egypt, Death on the Nile, was a hilarious opportunity to enjoy a bit of armchair theatre during
lockdown and to learn about the story of Moses who was used by God despite his murderous past.
BALLOON SNOWMAN WORKSOP – Dec 2020
Kits packed with balloon pumps, balloons and chocolate snowmen made their way into the homes of young people for our zoom Snowman Balloon Workshop. Anna Nicks from South Hill Church gave a talk about being washed as white as snow by putting our trust in Jesus. A fun evening with YAHemel team as we celebrated Christmas together with fun, creativity and gratitude
CHRISTMAS PIZZA CHALLENGE – Dec 2020
More than 100 free pizza kits were delivered to local youth groups for our Christmas lockdown challenge – to create a festive pizza celebrating the reason for the season. A host of imaginative entries ranged from 3D stables and characters to inspiring flat based shapes decorated with delicious toppings. Check out the amazing work of our nine finalists, who each received an abundance of chocolate and edible prizes in various forms.
OPERATION CHRISTMAS CHILD – Dec 2020
A heart-warming 18 shoeboxes filled with gifts and goodies, by local young people, were delivered to Christ Church Baptist, Kings Langley for distribution to spread joy and love to kids around the world. Thanks to all the youth groups who helped to make this happen.
DENS SLEEPOUT – Nov 2020
A few of our fabulous team and young people took part in the annual sleepout to raise some £815 for homeless charity DENS. Due to Covid restrictions, only people from the same household could sleep together. Pictured above is our Chairman and family. Thanks to everyone who swapped their beds for the kitchen floor or an outdoor spot to raise awareness and funds for those experiencing homelessness at this
time.
PHOTO SCAVENGER HUNT – Oct 2020
We originally arranged a Photo Scavenger Hunt event but were unable to due to Covid 19. Instead, we made it available as a resource for youth groups or to simply to enjoy with mates.
Working with Schools
Wherever possible, YAH prefers to collaborate with existing partnerships rather than compete with other organisations or duplicate activity. We work mainly through the following activities;
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Assemblies
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No assemblies were undertaken in 2020-21 – mainly due to Covid 19 lock down restrictions during the second half of the year.
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Lesson Plans
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Partnership with Steps in St Albans has given YAH access to large array of lesson plans which avoids duplication of work. While we have not been able to utilise these resources so far this year are grateful for the generosity of Chris Birch-Evans and his team for encouraging us during a difficult year where opportunities to work in schools were not possible.
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Clubs
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The Summit: Kings Langley School - a weekly lunchtime club run by YAH Volunteer, Lisa Dussek, Christ Church Baptist Youth and Families Coordinator, Ben Ansell and Kings Langley School leader Melusi Moyo. The club was put on hold due to lock down restrictions in Feb 20 and has not yet re-opened.
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Hemel School Club – a weekly lunchtime club run entirely by South Hill Church Childrens and Families worker, Anna Nicks and Youth Worker, Sorrell Harden at the Hemel Hempstead School (HHS) has also been closed. YAH continues to liaise with the South Hill Church team, with the Head of HHS and Father Mike Macy from St Johns Church, Boxmoor to discuss other opportunities we could collaborate on.
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Reflective (Prayer) Spaces
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Discussions took place last year with two local schools about the possibility of hosting reflective spaces in school premises or local churches which students can visit and experience different types of prayer and reflection. Although tentative agreements were made to plan events, these were all put on hold due to lock down restrictions and we are hoping will be revisited towards the end of 2021
Consulting & Supporting Local Churches
YAH seeks to support local churches in the youth work they are doing, either in their churches or local schools. We continue to collaborate wherever we can and to encourage local churches to take the lead wherever possible.
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Building Capacity & Momentum
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2019/20 started off with significant momentum. We continued to build our database of contacts, ensuring that we are GDPR compliant, and have segmented our contacts into different interest groups in order to support relevant contact.
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Collaboration with churches & organisations We have been liaising with a number of different local churches and parachurch organisations however opportunities to collaborate around youth activities have been extremely difficult during lock down. We are very keen to re-engage with local churches as restrictions come to an end.
Networking Hub
YAH seeks every opportunity to link people together and to encourage collaboration between different groups where appropriate. Some of the networking activities we have done include:
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Database & Mailing list Our database includes school heads and teachers, church leaders, organisation leaders, church youth workers, volunteers, prayer supporters and donors. We do not currently keep any child data on our databases. This growing source of data has proved to be invaluable for our networking activity.
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School Heads & Senior Leadership Team
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So far In 2020/21 most of our correspondence with all school heads of the eight target schools in our area have been put on hold however we are taking steps to re-engage for the new academic year.
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Attending events
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We will continue to attend events run by other church and para-church organisations where relevant to the work of YAH.
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Networking Breakfasts / Barbecues
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We were unable to run our networking breakfast for teachers & church leaders where teachers are able to meet other Christian teachers and discuss some of the challenges they face in the schools and to be prayed for by the local church leaders. Other planned networking events were also curtailed by Covid 19 lockdown restrictions. We have a Youth Leaders Barbecue planned for 29[th] June 2021.
Prayer / Financial Suport
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We have a WhatsApp group for prayer supporters where we post items for prayer. If you would like to be added to this list please contact info@yahemel.co.uk giving your email / mobile number with permission to use.
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If you would like to offer Financial Support to the work of YAH please contact Damon@YAHemel.co.uk
Team updates
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We were sad to say goodbye to our Treasurer, Paul Bradford, who played a crucial role in setting us up as a registered charity and keeping us on an even financial keel.
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Every cloud has a silver lining and so we were pleased to welcome Matt Newman from Alexander Road Congregational church as our new treasurer.
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We were very relieved to have Daniella Hobbs back from maternity leave and Dean & Ruth Such back from Bolivia just in time for the Bike Hike!
On reflection, it was a challenging year for YAHemel, however good progress was made, despite lockdown restrictions, which have enabled us to maintain momentum which will set us in good stead for when restrictions are eventually lifted. I am grateful to the team for their hard work and dedication and for their resilience and persistence during the pandemic.
Damon Harding Chairperson Youth Across Hemel
Youth Across Hemel Financial Statement for year ending 31st August 2021
Balance b/fwd as at 1st September 2020 £ 4,128.16
Income
Regular Offering £ 650.00 One-off donations Gift Aid £ 172.50 Total Income £ 822.50 Payments Events £ 688.83 ThirtyOneEight £ 331.50 Insurance £ 421.31 Total payments £ 1,441.64
Balance to c/fwd as at 31st August 2021
£3,509.02
Statement of Assets & Liabilities
Bank Current A/C £3,509.02
Treasurers Statement
I have prepared the financial statement for the year ending 31st August 2021 for the accounting records of Youth Across Hemel.
Matthew Newman Treasurer 10th May 2022