Year 3 Quarter 4 report:
This report covers January to March 2024 and is the 11th report on the work undertaken by Ashford Youth Club.
It is sent to all local councillors, SCC staff involved in the lease and the local community as well as social media.
Commentary
This quarter has seen the club continue to build on its multiple youth work nights through the development of delivery partnerships. These have included Spelthorne Borough Council, Surrey County Council, Active Surrey among others.
Next quarter we will want to develop these links further and expect to be delivering 5 nights of provision.
Concern over the mental health of our community looms large and this should be a concern for our future deliver and in this we have developed links with the NHS and other local deliverers.
Finally there is a need to reset and strengthen our relationship with Surrey County Council on behalf of who we carry out our youth work.
1. Youth work
1.1 The Youth club run 4 evening sessions a week for young people in the community.
– Monday nights for a young persons forum and physical activity evening ( years 7 to 13)
– Tuesday nights for 9 to 13 year olds ( year 5 to 8)
– Wednesday nights as a Creative Arts evening in partnership with Spelthorne Council in for years 7 to 11
– Thursday Nights for 13 to 18 year olds ( Year 9 to 13) including the Duke of Edinburgh Award
1.2 In this period it run 51 separate sessions over 4 evenings, An increase from last quarter from 40 and the most we have delivered across the last 3 years.
1.3 222 different young people aged 10 to 18 were reached in this quarter
1.4 This totalled to 1455 attending sessions, up from 777 last quarter
1.6 Though the majority live in Ashford, the numbers at older sessions are split between Stanwell and Ashford due to the shared secondary school. The Wednesday Creative Arts session attracted young people from across the borough.
1.7 A young person steering group meets fortnightly on a Monday.
1.8 18 volunteers have supported youth work deliver in addition to 18 peer leaders including Royal Holloway University football team on Tuesdays.
1 Community
2.1 Amy , our apprentice, is developing well. She is providing mentoring, support and youth work sessions with a focus on mental health. To this end we have partnered with east to West, mindworks as well as establishing links with the Surrey mental health hubs.
2.2 We continue to run weekly support sessions for Ukranian refugees supporting Spelthorne borough Council staff. This has linked into local borough services.
2.3 Both Barnados and Action for carers use the building to meet young people.
3 General
3.1 A community faith group hires the building at weekends.
3.2 We have invested in a Compliance and Building Manager to oversee the building to ensure we are on task around building expectations.
3.3 We hold the lease for the Staines Station Community Garden which focuses on growing food into the community. The young people will be showcasing their art in the waiting rooms.
3.4 We hold the lease on the Skills and Jobs Hub in Staines which provides support for residents looking for employment or training.
3.5 We are ‘Friends of Ashford Station’.
Next quarter
In the next quarter we are continuing our current provision and additionally want to secure funding for an ongoing creative Arts hub as well as a plan to support the mental health of our community.
We will be partnering with Spelthorne Council to deliver Basketball for the Surrey Youth Games.
Thank you to local borough and County councillors, Spelthorne Borough Council, Surrey County Council, McDonalds and most importantly our Community, our volunteers and young people.
Independent Spelthorne Group (ISG) 