Shout Out Project

A little over a year ago, Jane Earp and Kevin Blair began working with young people from The Y and Park Lodge on a project called “Shout Out”. The aim has been to engage one of the most marginalised groups, young homeless people, with the arts. Both artists themselves, Jane and Kevin have worked with homeless centres in Leicester for over 4 years. This project has had over 50 residents of The Y and Park Lodge take part.

Coloured drawing of a heart with a lock and key.The original intention to celebrate the end of the project would have been an exhibition at Soft Touch Arts. Unfortunately, a global pandemic had other plans, BUT we are delighted to share the following with you. Jane and Kevin have put together an online gallery to showcase the amazing work that has come from the last 12 months.

There is a video introducing the project and the artists which epitomises what “Shout Out” has achieved. See first hand what the workshops looked like and how much the young people embraced expressing themselves. You’ll also hear first hand from the young people about their participation and what the project has meant to them. It’s a must watch.

View the online gallery here.

Congratulations to Jane and Kevin and thanks to Arts Council, Leicester City Castle Ward and Leicester’s Everybody’s Reading Festival for funding the project.

The 2.6 Challenge

What a weekend!

Last week we asked you to get active and get involved with The 2.6 Challenge and support us at The Y.

The 2.6 Challenge was created to help save UK charities as a response to the cancellation of the London Marathon. Rather than taking on the 26-mile run the marathon would have been, the stay-at-home challenge was created to get everyone up and active.

We asked you to set a challenge surrounding the number 2.6 or 26. Take a look at our mid-week response!

Thank you to everyone who got involved to support us, we thoroughly enjoyed seeing you all getting creative with the challenge.

Flat 108 and Autism Awareness Week

What is Autism?

Autism is a lifelong, developmental disability which affects how people communicate, relate and experience the world around them. Autistic people may see, hear and feel the world differently to others. Many autistic people state how a world with autism often feels overwhelming which can cause considerable anxiety.

Autism is a spectrum condition meaning that autistic people share certain difficulties, but experience them in different ways. Autistic people often have additional learning disabilities, mental health or other conditions, resulting in different levels of support being needed.

All people on the autistic spectrum will learn and develop, and with the right support, can live a fulfilling life.

Autism Awareness Week

Autism Awareness Week is a week dedicated to spreading awareness and putting a spotlight on the hurdles that people with autism experience every day and to increase understanding and acceptance of the disability.

You can find out more about Autistic Awareness Week and work that is being done on the National Autistic Society website.

Flat 108 at The Y

Flat 108 it a safe place in Leicester City Centre aimed at enabling independence for those with additional needs including support for those with autism as well as other physical, sensory or learning disabilities.

At Flat 108, we can provide support with shopping, cooking and meal planning, personal care, socialising, keeping safe and much more.

We are committed to providing a safe place to practice daily living skills, build confidence and self-esteem, gain independence, have more control over life, and create goals and plan for the future.

Adam’s Story

After using the service for 10 months, Adam stated, “When I first came here I couldn’t do anything at home. Coming here has drastically changed things. Now I can do my own lunch, go shopping and pay for my shopping myself and help my parents. One of my goals was going shopping and I’ve achieved it. In the future, I would like to travel on the bus.”

Using Flat 108 Services

If you or someone you know has autism or other complex needs, our services could help!

To find out more about the service, there is additional information on our Young People with Disabilities page.

Due to the current climate, this service is on hold, but we are still available to offer support and put plans in place when social distancing measures subside.

You can get in touch and discuss with our team for more in-depth information about the support we can provide for you by emailing: [email protected] or giving our team a ring on: 0116 204 6204

Appeal for Kitchen Items and Food

*** Help Needed ***

In the current climate, as a charity responsible for the welfare of 102 vulnerable young people in Leicester City, we need to support our young people in following the social distancing guidelines. We are in desperate need of the following kitchen items to help us provide hot meals for our residents. Who can help us by donating any of the items below in new or nearly new condition?

If you can help, please send a direct message to us through social media to arrange a drop off or collection. Alternatively, you can also contact our Reception who can also help safely co-ordinate this on 0116 255 6507.

Chest freezers x 2 (good working condition)
Large baking trays
Kitchen knives
Cheese graters
Cooking utensils (not wooden)
Chopping boards (not wooden)
Tea towels
Plastics tubs suitable for storing food
Dried/canned foods
Squash/Cordial

You may know that we also support rough sleepers through our Y Support Project. Unfortunately, we are having to limit the numbers who access the service at any one time and are providing take away food pack ups where possible. With numbers lower than average, we are still expecting at least 20 – 30 individual visits per day. We are therefore also in urgent need of the below:

Bottled water
Pot noodles
Cereal bars
Apples
Multi pack crisps
Multipack chocolate or biscuit bars
Milk
Tea
Sugar
Coffee
Hot chocolate

Carl in Nepal: A March Update!

At the start of the year, resident, Carl was raising funds for his place on the ICS (International Citizen Service) programme where he would be volunteering overseas for 3 months. With many thanks to all of his supporters, Carl managed to raise just over £800 to fund his place, even if it did mean losing his hair along the way! You can find out more about this here: https://www.leicesterymca.co.uk/carl-to-volunteer-in-nepal/ 

Carl has now been living in Nepal for 3 weeks and is having an amazing time. He has been leading a group of volunteers whilst working 6 days a week in a school which he has found to be an exhausting but rewarding experience. He has also is living with a local family who have been teaching him Nepalese and helping him learn more about life in Nepal.

 

 

 

Through navigating the new culture, food and lifestyle, Carl is has been busy settling in and getting to grips with life in Nepal. This experience has been providing Carl with life long skills and unforgettable experiences.

We are grateful to everyone who supported Carl on this venture, and we would like to thank everyone again for the donating. We are excited for any future updates and wish Carl the best of luck for the rest of the programme!

 

DMU Champion Intern Joins The Y

Hello, I am Ashleigh and I will be working with the Marketing and Fundraising team here at The Y as part of DMU’s Graduate Champions scheme. I am thrilled to be working on some exciting projects that will help to raise awareness and generate funds to continue the fantastic work that is done to improve the lives of young people in Leicestershire. 

In the commencing weeks, I will be working on the up and coming Miss Leicestershire contest, which will be held at The Y Theatre this March.

As well as this, I will be getting involved with other aspects of marketing and fundraising, including; creating social media content, making alterations to the website and updating additional marketing materials.

Being able to gain valuable experience at The Y is a privilege. I am looking forward to the commencing weeks where I will sharing ideas and thoroughly getting involved with various projects that will support the development of the charity. 

Carl To Volunteer in Nepal

One of our young residents, Carl, has been accepted onto International Citizen Service (ICS) through one of their delivery partners, Restless Development UK. He’ll head out (fingers crossed) to Nepal in mid February with the rest of the young people on his wave. This will be an amazing experience for him to travel and work with other UK volunteers (and local volunteers) in a disadvantaged community in a developing country.

He is busy raising the £800 he needs to fund his placement. On Friday 17th of January, he completed a head shave in order to try and raise sponsorship.

    

We are all about empowering our young people so they access the same opportunities and aspirations as all young people. In order to try and meet this goal, Carl has also organised a small raffle of prizes donated by local businesses as well as a sweepstake for two pairs of Leicester Tigers tickets.

Please support Carl if you can, he will be doing great things to make a positive impact as an ICS volunteer. This will also be followed up with a 6 month “Action at Home” phase. Well worth a little sponsor. Please note, this money will go directly to Restless Development to fund Carl’s placement. You can donate here.

If you’d like to know more about ICS, visit: https://www.volunteerics.org/
If you’d like to know more about Restless Development, visit: https://restlessdevelopment.org/ics

Announcing Mummas and Bubbas Project

The Y launches Mummas and Bubbas – A new project to support vulnerable young women and their babies with group sessions and individual coaching in Leicester.

With a £9857 grant awarded to The Y by Leicestershire & Rutland Community Foundation using money from the Governments Tampon Tax fund, They Y is launching “Mummas and Bubbas”. The project will provide twice weekly group parenting sessions, training, workshops and individual coaching to support these young women even after they leave our service. The primary aim is to help more vulnerable young women achieve the skills and confidence they need to thrive as a parent and increase the likelihood of mother and baby being able to remain together.

The Y has been working with vulnerable young women for over 15 years in Leicester. Each year, several young women need to leave the service due to pregnancy. Some young women returned to the service after having the baby removed from their care and the number of babies removed from these young women were disproportionately high. Most felt that if they had parenting classes and ongoing support, they would have been able to keep their baby.

Paul Brown, CEO of The Y said:

“The Mummas and Bubbas project will enable The Y to deliver a specialist wrap around support service to young women in our service who are pregnant or have recently become a mother. We’ll be working to reduce the need for intervention and give these young women the tools they need to meet their aspirations for themselves and their child.”

Katy Green, CEO at Leicestershire and Rutland Community Foundation said:

This funding supports the groups on the ground that are making a huge difference to the lives of women and girls. We know there is huge demand out there for these services and are proud to help small organisations working in our community to access vital public funding, which otherwise they may miss out on.”

Christmas Shoebox Appeal 2019

Christmas can be a difficult time for many, including for some of the residents we support at The Y. Showing love, compassion and support is a great way to spread the spirit of Christmas.

After an overwhelmingly successful appeal back in 2018, we asked again for Leicestershire locals to support our residents and provide them with a gift through our Christmas Shoebox Appeal.

With this initiative, we asked for shoeboxes filled with donations to help brighten a young person’s Christmas. Items which were requested ranged from shower essentials to cooking equipment with a long list of other treats. 

The donations came in fast, and again, we were left astounded by the support of the community. 

We received approximately 800 boxes from individuals, businesses and local groups alike. Here are a few amazing schools and businesses who supported us during the Christmas period:

 

  • Marriott School
  • Orchard Mead Academy
  • Forestway School
  • Leicester Grammar School
  • Beauchamp College
  • Cedar Academy
  • Falcons Primary School
  • Leicester Univerisity Student Participation and Engagement
  • All Saints, Scraptoft

 

  • Chubb
  • Play Barn
  • St Leonards Church, Swithland
  • RSMUK
  • Impact Air
  • JudgeMeadow
  • Asda
  • Braunstone NHS
  • Kierann Shah and the Space Centre

 

We also had many other individuals who kindly donated to which we are hugely grateful for. We would like to give an enormous thank you to all those mentioned and everyone else who made a donation, big or small to support our residents during this festive season. 

We hope everyone had a wonderful Christmas and send best wishes for 2020!

Announcing Safe & Sound Project

“The Y has been awarded £92,955 from Homeless Link’s Ending Women’s Homelessness grants programme, funded by the Government’s Tampon Tax Fund.”

The Y are one of 29 charities across England, working with women who are homeless or at risk of homelessness, to receive a grant. Almost 200 organisations applied for a portion of the £1.85 million pot.

Women’s homelessness is a significant national issue with many women having experienced violence and abuse contributing to their homelessness. Over 640 women sleep on our streets every night and thousands more do not have access to a safe or suitable home.

Homeless Link’s grants programme aims to help end women’s homelessness by building capacity for gender- and trauma-informed services and developing partnerships between homelessness and specialist women’s sector charities.

The Y currently offers housing and support to homeless and vulnerable young people aged 16 – 24. As part of their aim to broaden their skills and offer greater specialised support, the grant will enable them to deliver “Safe and Sound”, a project that will run in partnership with Leicester Women’s Aid, New Dawn New Day and MAST Outreach Services.

Safe and Sound project aims to provide specialist intervention for vulnerable young women to interrupt the cyclical nature of complex needs and poor physical, emotional and psychological outcomes. This will be done by focussing on individual need and providing a safe, nurturing, female-only environment. It will have an emphasis on positive mental health, safe and healthy relationships, recovery from gendered abuse and pre and post parenting work for young mothers. The Y will continue to support these young women for up to 6 months after leaving the service.

The grantees were chosen by a cross-sector, all-woman panel, including women with lived experience of homelessness.

Welcoming the grant, Paul Brown, Chief Executive of The Y said:
“The funding will enable The Y to deliver a specialist wrap around service to some of our most complex and marginalised young women. The project will ensure that young women gain the skills to understand domestic abuse in all its forms and the routes to a safe and healthy life.”

Homeless Link’s Assistant Director of Practice and Partnerships, Tasmin Maitland adds: “Women’s homelessness is a growing crisis. Despite this, women who are homeless or at risk of homelessness are one of the most marginalised groups in our society and the specialist support that they need is often lacking or non-existent.
We are delighted to be able to award The Y, Leicester, a grant that will have a real impact on the support that women experiencing homelessness in Leicester receive, and ultimately contribute to ending women’s homelessness for good.”