# Bowburn Youth Project - Annual Report 2023/24 Created by Joanne Eden and David Bonarius-Burns ## **Introduction – A Brief History of the Project** Bowburn youth project is a purpose built youth centre in the semi-rural village of Bowburn in County Durham. Bowburn youth project is managed by Joanne Eden and supported by a strong Management Committee built up of local community members and County Councillors Bowburn Boys’ Club was founded in 1935 by “Taff” Evans, headteacher of Bowburn School. It mainly used the old Miners’ Institute, opposite where the later Welfare Hall, where Bowburn Community Centre, now stands. But it also used, at different times, Crowtrees WM Club, the room above Mrs. Storey’s shop in Durham Road West, and Bowburn School. However the old Welfare was demolished after the new one was built in 1961. So plans were made to build a purpose built youth club. The new DJ Evans Youth Club, named after the Boys’ Club founder, was opened by H.R.H. the Duke of Gloucester, President of the National Association of Boys Clubs, on 25th October 1963. It became a registered charity in 1964. Though always officially a “youth club”, with registered charitable aims to cater for both boys and girls in the village and surrounding area, it was always known locally as “the boys’ clubs”, or even just “the boysie”. Its leader since 1936, Jim Griffiths, only retired in 1967. The building was funded originally by local subscription and with the help of the National Association of Boys Clubs (now re-named the Durham Association for Boys and Girls Clubs) and the Coal Industry Social Welfare Organisation (CISWO). CISWO was then part of the NCB but is now an independent charity, and is still our landlord. We are still affiliated to the Durham Association for Boys and Girls Clubs, whose local representative, Simon Healey, took over from John Ward as our youth leader in 1984 and served us till about 1990. An extension was built in 1982, with a new games room next to the road and the entrance put round at the side. Access to this became easier in 1998, when a new footpath was constructed past the new entrance, linking Burn Street and Bowburn Library. The club was forced to close in 1992 but it re-opened about three months later, with a new committee. In 2003, with Beverley Philips as principal youth worker, the youth centre became the base for a wider area, including Coxhoe. It was re-named unofficially as “Bowburn Youth Project” although its charitable name remains the same, still named after “Taff” Evans. Joanne Eden has been our principal Youth Worker since 2005. The premises are the responsibility of the local management committee. In about 2004, we started to plan a major refurbishment, after it was announced that a regeneration project in the village would release several million pounds for community buildings and projects. In due course it became clear that those plans could not be successful and the management committee, assisted by Joanne Eden and young members of the youth club, decided to plan a phased improvement to the building, instead. Over the last ten years or so, we have created the IT room (from part of the old games room), replaced external doors and several windows, created and then completely overhauled the gym / weights room, carpeted floors, fitted a new kitchen and redecorated throughout at least twice. Funding for this came from various sources, including a number of grants from Durham County Council and significant fund-raising by young club members. In 2008 the future of the youth centre was under threat. Recommendations were in place to only have one Community Centre in Bowburn and Children and Young People would be given a space within the Community Centre, this would mean the youth centre would likely have been demolished. A consultation was held and Young People came out in force to keep the Youth Centre open. The outcome of these consultations resulted in the Youth Centre continuing exclusively for Children and Young People and the Community Centre for the wider community. The original Constitution has remained in place to protect the centre and Young People allowing it to continue to be exclusively for Children and Young People one of a very few left in the country. Since then, we have come from strength to strength in terms of what we offer to our young people. In 2009 we were delighted to receive grants from the governors of Sherburn Hospital and from the Big Lottery Fund, to enable us at last to make the whole building completely accessible. We now have ramps to all external doors, a fully accessible toilet, and all doorways wide enough for wheelchair access In 2014 - the old gym had a whole new refurb with all new exercise equipment, this was done in partnership with wellness on wheels who identified the need for this resource in Bowburn. The community gym is open to members of the community In 2015 both the male and female toilets have had a whole new refurb. In 2023 the kitchen was refurbished. This was donated by Citrus Group who also donated some of their employee’s time to fit the kitchen. The refurbishment included the purchase of new equipment and white goods. Due to cuts in funding from the County Council, Bowburn Parish Council have committed funds to pay for qualified Youth Workers ensuring Youth Provision continues in Bowburn for the foreseeable future. Bowburn youth project is a centre based purpose built youth Centre, which provides provision for young people age 10 - 25 years. Over a 200 young people have accessed the provision in the last year. The young people are given the opportunity to participate in projects and activities that they choose to do. The last year has seen projects around raising self esteem and confidence, sexual health, mental health, internet safety, drug and alcohol awareness, health & fitness, cooking and life skills, CVs, interview skills, fundraising, planning events, environment, sport and fitness, Young Mums sessions and fitness class for girls. As well as the Centre based activities on offer the young people have the holiday provision provided as well as Community events. ## **Our Aims** To provide positive opportunities, activities and experiences for young people in a safe warm environment **Supportive Relationships** - Young people need supportive relationships with people they trust to help them develop their values and judgments, learn from experience, take responsibility, and manage pressures. We provide early help to inspire, support and protect young people, particularly the most vulnerable and disadvantaged, who need more help than their families and communities are able to provide, or whose family situation puts them at risk. **Strong Ambitions** – Young people have energy and enthusiasm to shape and change the world in innovative and exciting ways. Most young people will form their own ambitions and pragmatic goals to achieve the following, whilst some will require extra help to do so:- - Succeed in learning and work – understanding the value of education and committed to developing their skills for employment - Live safe and healthy lives – having the confidence and resilience to make informed decisions and manage risk; and - Be active in society – taking the initiative and demonstrating leadership to make a positive contribution to local communities and the wider world, with public and media recognition of their achievements **Good Opportunities** – Young people need opportunities to learn and develop. We will work together so that every young person has the opportunity to reach their full potential and make sure those that require extra help to do so, receive it, through:- - Education – through the use of informal education during our sessions. - Personal and social development – through opportunities for personal challenge and responsibility – including work experience, and relationships with adults they trust that help them , to develop the character, qualities and capabilities that they need to learn, build — relationships, make informed choices, and become employable; - Voice in society – through opportunities to express their views and influence public decisionmaking. - A Focus on Health and Wellbeing – Young people have the opportunity to access sport and healthy lifestyle advice form qualified staff in a safe and peer lead environment. ## **Some Key Achievement**  This year has seen the youth clubs go from strength to strength we have a junior youth club providing a smooth transition for young people into senior sessions.  The community gym is proving to be a giant step towards our goal of breaking down the barriers between different groups within the community. Spinning classes are open to everyone over the age of 12 years and fitness classes have people aged 12 to 60 all working together with a common goal to get fit and healthy. The Gym is open to young people aged 16-18 free of charge on a Monday, Tuesday and Thursday evening. Children 12-15 can attend free with an adult.  In addition to our regular Youth Clubs, we hold an Evening drop in session for young people to access the GYM on a Monday, Tuesday and Thursday.  The annual fun day was a huge success which saw young people taking part in volunteering.  Successful funding has given the young people the opportunity to take part in a wide variety of centre-based projects, off site visits and training opportunities, adequate resources have enabled staff to deliver high quality youth work. The funding from the Parish Council has ensured that we have been able to continue to offer a full programme of youth provision.  We have decided to offer a new session on a Tuesday evening. This will be a sports club for young people in school years 6-11. ## **Youth Work Staff** Joanne Eden – Senior Youth Worker / Centre Manager / Fitness Instructor Brett Kirkby – Level 3 Youth Worker Mackenzie Smart – Level 2 Youth Worker Ben Davison – Youth Support Worker David Bonarius – Administrator Dave Chapman – Gardener Dennis Pilmoor – Caretaker Staff have been provided training in first aid and 2 members of staff have completed an Introduction to Youth Work Course and one member of staff has completed a Level 2 in Youth Work. ## **Volunteers** Oliver Jenkinson – Youth Club Volunteer Charlotte Proctor - Youth Club Volunteer Daniel Pocock – Youth Club Volunteer Dennis Pilmoor – GYM Volunteer Dave Chapman – GYM Volunteer Kimberley Richards – GYM Volunteer Chloe Sparrow – GYM Volunteer ## **Management Committee** Councillor Jan Blakey – Chair Andrew Shutt – Treasurer Joan Beck - Trustee Rebecca Avery – Trustee Ben Griffiths – Trustee Shaun Carter – Trustee ## **What we offer** **Community Gym** - Open 6 mornings and 5 evenings a week and ran by Volunteers. Fitness classes run on a Monday, Tuesday and Thursday evening with a qualified instructor. **Junior Youth Club** - A very popular session for young people aged 11-12, they take part in sport and leisure sessions, healthy lifestyles, arts and crafts as well as issue-based sessions around issues that affect them for example, bullying awareness, Internet safety, drug and alcohol awareness giving young people the chance to make informed decisions. **Senior sessions** - We have two senior sessions a week giving Young People a safe place to meet, sessions are structured around the needs of the Young People and include, confidence and self-esteem, sport and fitness, drug and alcohol awareness, **Sports Club –** We have a sports session for young people in school years 6-11, this a structured session focusing on a range of different sports each week, decided by the young people. **Senior Drop-in sessions** - We have 3 evening drop-in sessions a week where young people aged between 15-21 can drop in to use the centres facilities, access the GYM, sports hall. This offers them a safe space to meet and access support from a qualified youth worker. ## **Funding** We continue to look and apply for funding sources to enable us to continue to offer an extensive programme for young people and ensure we have provisions in place for core costs. Recent funding has come from: - AAP – East Durham Rural Corridor - Balinger - CDCF - Sir James Knott - Barbour - Rothley Trust - Joanne Ridley - Royal Naval Association - Hurton Family - The Co-operative - Cassop Cum Quarrington Parish Council – Funding core staffing costs ## **Holiday provision** We have offered an extensive Holiday Programme to Children in school years 3, 4, 5. This took place over each of the school holidays and half terms. During the summer they were able to go on an off-site visit. The sessions involved sports and fitness, team building games and arts and crafts. Children were given a healthy meal during the session. These sessions were partly funded by the AAP. In addition to this our evening youth sessions and GYM continued to run during school holidays allowing our young people a safe place to meet. ## **Fun day** Yet again another fantastic day at Bowburn, fun-days are a day for the whole community to come together and have fun, our fun day is planned and organised in partnership with the Community Centre and other local organisations, The original aim of the fun day was to break down barriers within the Community with everyone working together with a common goal. This aim continues year on year. We had a lot of young volunteers helping out and the evaluations from them were all positive. The Durham Mayor opened the funday this year, the day was extremely popular and well attended and the weather was great. We had lots on offer for the community such as, stalls, tombola’s, raffles and a variety of rides. We also had a visit from our Community Fire Service and Police. ## **Volunteer Recognition** We would like to thank all of our volunteers for their support over the past year. We would not be able to offer what we do without the support of our volunteers. GYM Volunteers where given the opportunity to take part in a volunteer recognition day at Raby Castle, spaces for this opportunity where provided by Durham County Council. ## **Sessions** **Mixed senior sessions** - These sessions are aimed at young people 13 to 19, this year has seen the young people take part in a variety of projects including health and well-being, Drug and Alcohol awareness, Community Cohesion and Internet safety. The gym is very popular during our senior sessions and the young people have a system in place so all young people have the opportunity to use the facility's. Young people have the opportunity to play football, pool, table tennis, bar football during each session. We also offer project-based sessions where young people can take part in cooking, arts and crafts, sports and fitness, nail art etc. The IT room is also available for home work. **Junior club** - This is now a well-established popular group which is enabling young people to make a smooth transition from the junior club to the older session. Young people have taken part in cookery, arts & crafts, football, challenges etc as well as receiving issued based information and advice. **Senior Drop-in Session** – This session has become incredibly busy over the past year, the session is predominantly used by young people aged 15-19. They have the opportunity to use the facilities which includes the GYM, Sports Hall, pool table and chill room. In Addition to this young people have access to information, advice and C-Card from a qualified worker. ## **What the Young People Have to Say** - I use the GYM during my youth club - I enjoy playing dodgeball - I like getting food and hanging out with my mates - I like getting food, playing football and games - I enjoy baking - I enjoy meeting my friends ## **The Future** We will continue to offer a wide variety of youth provision to young people in Bowburn. We constantly evaluate our sessions with young people to ensure we are meeting the needs of our community. ## **Thank You** We would like to say thank you to Cassop Cum Quarrington Parish Council for there continued support in funding our core staffing costs, we would not be able to offer what we do without this funding. Thank you to Total Business Group for providing us with a new photocopier at a significantly reduced monthly cost. Thank you to DABGC (Durham Association of Boys and Girls Clubs) for providing us with a trip to south shields surfing during the School Summer Holidays. Finally, we would like to thank all our, staff, volunteers, Management Committee and Funders for helping to support us over the past year. ## Annual Accounts for ## **DJ Evans Youth Club - Bowburn Youth Project** **----- Start of picture text -----**
For Year Ending 2023 Month1 Month2 Month3 Month4 Month5 Month6 Month7 Month8 Month9 Month10 Month11 Month12 Year to Date
January February March April May June July August September October November December
Income Total
Grants 12,100.00 900.77 929.75 0.00 0.00 0.00 2,723.00 0.00 0.00 7,738.00 100.00 3,000.00 27,491.52
Parish 0.00 9,877.72 3,594.25 0.00 3,821.57 6,729.63 0.00 3,496.68 0.00 0.00 0.00 17,179.25 44,699.10
Tuck/Subs 0.00 0.00 25.00 29.00 0.00 60.00 0.00 0.00 100.00 181.80 93.85 95.70 585.35
Donations/ Fundraising 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 20.00 1,320.00 0.00 0.00 132.85 1,472.85
GYM 59.79 32.41 476.11 145.82 139.82 75.00 0.00 0.00 52.97 252.40 155.86 51.50 1,441.68
Hire/ Misc 72.00 72.00 72.00 72.00 76.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 400.00 764.00
Interest 7.20 7.09 6.74 7.34 6.14 6.40 6.24 6.06 5.95 5.46 5.84 1.28 71.74
Total Income 12,238.99 10,889.99 5,103.85 254.16 4,043.53 6,871.03 2,729.24 3,522.74 1,478.92 8,177.66 355.55 20,860.58 76,526.24
**----- End of picture text -----**
||**Expenses**||**Total**| |---|---|---|---| ||Wages|**January**
**February**
**March**
**April**
**May**
**June**
**July**
**August**
**September**
**October**
**November**
**December**
4,146.39
4,296.84
4,770.21
4,648.55
4,532.95
4,365.63
4,187.97
6,027.83
4,267.61
3,918.29
4,438.81
4,380.26|| ||Cleaning|0.00
28.09
157.58
21.00
0.00
0.00
47.54
0.00
0.00
0.00
0.00
0.00|| ||Utilities/ Insurance|542.60
1,047.33
2,381.08
517.94
514.28
256.20
196.15
321.49
640.20
207.52
474.40
898.73|| ||Repairs /Servicing|462.45
0.00
0.00
0.00
4,000.00
300.00
4.59
121.20
0.00
17.60
0.00
356.00|| ||Telephone/ Broadband|36.55
0.00
197.50
0.00
41.81
204.28
41.81
56.21
56.21
56.21
14.40
198.18|| ||Resources/Equipment|89.59
0.00
26.76
14.40
6.49
1,363.52
0.00
0.00
74.47
9.99
247.66
85.25|| ||Projects|0.00
0.00
0.00
0.00
0.00
0.00
395.00
222.75
615.82
0.00
80.00
628.68|| ||Tuck/ Food|121.31
0.00
0.00
73.49
67.01
201.07
0.00
0.00
34.85
86.72
114.98
15.21|| ||Holiday Clubs|0.00
350.06
137.95
482.94
27.60
0.00
524.44
606.76
0.00
109.99
50.00
0.00|| ||Misc/ sundries|18.99
30.00
18.00
60.00
0.00
0.00
0.00
34.43
17.18
0.00
110.01
153.50|| ||Bank Charges
GYM
**Total Expenses**|6.93
5.94
14.91
80.93
10.92
10.92
0.00
0.00
7.50
0.00
0.00
0.00
0.00
0.00
12.99
19.19
0.00
0.00
11.99
0.00
0.00
0.00
200.98
0.00
**5,424.81**
**5,758.26**
**7,716.98**
**5,918.44**
**9,201.06**
**6,701.62**
**5,409.49**
**7,390.67**
**5,713.84**
**4,406.32**
**5,731.24**
**6,715.81**|| ||||| ||**Profit/(Loss)**|**6,814.18**
**5,131.73**
**(2,613.13)**
**(5,664.28)**
**(5,157.53)**
**169.41**
**(2,680.25)**
**(3,867.93)**
**(4,234.92)**
**3,771.34**
**(5,375.69)**
**14,144.77**|**437.70**| ||**Treasurer**
Sign
|January
February
March
April
May
June
July
August
September
October
November
December
Total YTD
_Month1_
_Month2_
_Month3_
_Month4_
_Month5_
_Month6_
_Month7_
_Month8_
_Month9_
_Month10_
_Month11_
_Month12_
**Independent Examiner**
Current Acocunt
**11,259.55**
**£**
Sign
_____________________________________
Deposit account
**70,000.00**
**£**
Petty Cash
**245.00**
**£**
**Closing Balance on Bank**
**Accounts at Year End**
_____________________________________|| Inde ndent Examiner's Re ort I report on the accounts of DJ Evans Youth Club- Bowburn Youth Project for the period of Ol" January 2023 to 31" December 2023 Res ective Res onsibilitie5 of Trustees and Examlner The trustees of the charity are responsible for the preparation of accounts. they consider that the audit requirement5 under section 43{2) of the Charities Act 1993 does not apply. I have been appointed under section 43 of the Charities Act and report in accordance with regulation made under section 44 of the Act. It is my responsibility to examine the accounts and sLitement, without perforrning an audit, and report to the trustees. Basis of Examiner's Statement This report is in respect of an examination carried out under section 43 of the Charities Act 1993 and in accordance with the dirertions given by the Charity Commissioners under section 43 (71{bl. An examination includes a review of the accounting records kept by the charity trustees and a comparison of the accounts presented with those records. It also includes a review of the accounts making such enquiries as are nece55ary for the purpose of this report. The procedures undertaken do not constitute an audit. Examiner's Statement Based on my exarnination, no matter has come to my attention which gives me reasonable cause to believe, that in any rnaterial respect, accounting records have not been kept in accordance with section 41 of the Charities Act 1993. Or that the accounting records have not been kept in accordance with section 41 of the Charities Act 1993. Or that the accounts presented do not accord with those records or comply with this accounting requirement of the Charities Act 1993. No matter has come to my attention in connertion with my examination to which, in my opinion, attention should be drawn to enable a proper understanding of the accounts. Signed.