Consett & District YMCA

Evaluation of Reaching Communities

Y I AM Project

Gary Stokoe

December 2014

Contents Page number Contents 2 Executive Summary 3 Introduction & Background 4 About The Area 5 The Evaluation Process 7 Findings 8 Case Studies 10 Evaluative Conclusions 12 Recommendations for Development 14

Executive Summary This evaluation looked at the Consett YMCA Reaching Communities project which ran for 5 years from 2009-2014. It was delivered by an organisation that had been established within the community for many years and has a track record of working with families across many generations. This history of Consett YMCA being embedded within these communities has been a key factor to the projects success. Many of the participants had knowledge of their parents being involved with the YMCA and indeed many grandparents. The research findings show that the project not only achieved the objectives set out in the initial bid (initial target numbers being revised in 2013) but also delivered value for money with 6409 participant being involved in the programme of work. It also achieved 103 community events, 4 job outputs and actively engaged 18 volunteers who are still volunteering. It also delivered the wider outcomes of raising aspirations of individuals, encouraged young people to raise their horizons, developed community cohesion and enabled organisational collaboration between many other services operating within the area. On a purely cost basis, this equates to only £35 per person over the lifetime of the project. This also does not include the value of the volunteers (£11.91 per hour – source – Volunteering.org.uk) and the job outputs and related cost saving associated with these. (£9800 pa JSA cost saving for someone entering to work – source Government Unit Cost Database) The project has been particularly effective in reaching out to, and engaging with, the most vulnerable and hardest-to-reach sections of the local community. This in itself has been one of the greatest challenges for all agencies as these communities and individuals are the ones reported by many statutory health agencies as those least likely to take part in health related programmes. Moreover, it has achieved significant positive outcomes for these people, many of who had not come into contact with health improvement services and indeed in many cases had proactively avoided them. A lasting legacy of the project is not simply that it has equipment and the ability to continue to deliver activity based health services to these communities, but that it has built up further links and trust within these communities to provide a “brokerage service” to enable their own and other organisations services to be take direct to the most needy individuals within these communities. As outlined later in the report, there are many projects and programmes aimed at delivering health outcomes within these communities. The key barrier they all face is the lack of trust and local knowledge needed to effectively deliver these programmes at a truly local level. I believe that Consett YMCA has this trust and track record and should utilise this, to facilitate these other programmes and help create a partnership between services and the communities they wish to engage with. One way to achieve this would be to develop a programme of work that replicates some of the good practice achieved within this project and enhance this, with collaboration between the YMCA project and all of the other programmes that are available to these communities. This would not only bring added value to the YMCA’s own programme, it would enable higher outcome for the other projects and directly address the weaknesses identified this project relating to the follow on destinations of the individuals participating.

Introduction & Background Gary Stokoe has been commissioned by Consett & District YMCA to evaluate its Reaching Communities-funded health and wellbeing project, Y I AM. Gary has been working within Community Development for over 25 years and acted as independent Chair of the Local Children’s Board for the Derwentside area for three years from 2008-11. He is currently Chair of the North Durham Healthy Communities Alliance which was set up to improve strategic links and enhance communications across the North Durham landscape to facilitate responsive action to improve health and well-being. In 2009, Consett & District YMCA applied to the Big Lottery Fund’s Reaching Communities Programme for support to address the challenges Health Inequalities created through multiple deprivation, rurality, and the impact of lack of opportunity and isolation found throughout the District. The project proposed tackling these issues through an innovative programme of activities linked to information and advice, and overall sought to improve the quality of Heath & Wellbeing of participants. The project was awarded £223.000 from the Big Lotteries Reaching Communities Programme over 5 years to deliver a programme of health related activities across the area. The project employed a full time Development Worker on a 5 year contract, with a revenue budget for delivering Community Events, Support and Monitoring, Publicity and Information and also in Year 1 there was a Capital Equipment budget for the purchase of the equipment needed to deliver the project. The Project has now completed its final year of delivery. This evaluation examines its impact, focusing on delivery between July 2009 – 2014. It was commissioned by Consett & District YMCA and forms part of the organisations commitment to the Big Lottery Fund. The evaluation specifically seeks to identify the Project’s good practice and lessons learned, making recommendations about how to more effectively deliver future services to the people of Derwentside and the surrounding area. Ecotec’s Evaluation Toolkit for projects was referenced during this evaluation

Project Outcomes Outcome 1 8000 people in disadvantaged/ rural areas of Derwentside will see an improvement in their health and fitness by the end of Year 5. Outcome 2 8000 people in disadvantaged/ rural areas of Derwentside will have learned how to improve their health & fitness and will be encouraged to continue their participation in events by the end of the project. Outcome 3 75 mobile wellbeing events will impact across Derwentside taking activities to excluded areas of low participation and remove existing barriers to participation by the end of the project Outcome 4 2000 people will engage regularly in further physical activities by the end of the project and will see a positive impact on their health, weight and self esteem.

About the Area

Consett & District YMCA predominantly works within the area of the old District Council of Derwentside (abolished in 2009 - just as this project started) although some of the work for this project was delivered in areas adjoining such as Birtley, Gateshead and Bishop Auckland. The area now is overseen by one Unitary Authority of Durham County Council, although there are 14 local representative bodies of Area Action Partnerships of which two (Consett & Stanley) cover the old District area.

Situated in the north of the county, the AAP of Stanley stretches from Quaking Houses in the south to Tanfield in the north, and is centred on the town of Stanley. The AAP is bordered by Gateshead Borough to the north and by the other AAPs of:

• Chester-le-Street & District • Derwent Valley • Mid Durham.

The Stanley AAP is predominantly ‘urban’ in nature with a population of over 31,6001. Covering an area of over 3,650 hectares (14.1 sq. miles), the AAP has a population density of 8.7 (people/hectare), which is over three times that of the county (2.3). Stanley AAP covers the major town of Stanley, along with the settlement of Annfield Plain and minor settlements of Tanfield, Tanfield Lea, Tantobie, South Moor, Craghead, Quaking Houses, the Kyos (New, West and East), Greencroft, Catchgate and Harperley. The town of Stanley is centred on a hilltop between Chester-le-Street and Consett, and lies south west of Gateshead Borough. The majority of settlements in this area are former pit villages, a legacy of the significant mining undertaken in the area up until the 1980s. Interspersed between the settlements are areas of rough moorland and fells, a reminder that the land which covered the coal was mainly agricultural.

The Derwent Valley Area Action Partnership is situated north west of Durham and stretches from Moorside in the south west, through Consett and Leadgate, to Burnopfield in the north. The AAP is bordered by Northumberland and Gateshead Borough to the north and by the other AAPs of:

Mid Durham Stanley

The Derwent Valley AAP is predominantly ‘urban’ in nature with a population of over 43,6001. Covering an area of over 5,500 hectares (21 sq. miles), the AAP has a population density of 7.9 (people/hectare), which is over three times that of the county (2.3). Many of the settlements benefit from the picturesque views of the Derwent Valley. The town of Consett is located on a hilltop above the Derwent valley on the edge of the Pennines and was a former steel working town where operations ceased in 1980. Adjoining Consett is Shotley Bridge, surrounded by picturesque woodland and once the heart of Britain's sword making industry. Leadgate now stands as a small village with a close knit community, but it originated as the home of the workers and staff of the Eden Colliery 1844-1980, and the Consett Iron Company. Statistical profiles are available for the AAP areas and show some key indicators about the population of the area. Deprivation Statistics

Percentage of the population living in deprived areas, by domain

Stanley Derwent Valley County Durham

ID2010 Domain Top 10%

Top 30%

Top 10%

Top 30%

Top 10%

Top 30%

Overall 5.1 70.5 0.0 32.9 11.4 45.5

Income

Employment

Health

Education

Housing

Crime

Environment

22.3 85.2

60.5 90.7

5.1 80.2

15.2 75.5

0.0 0.0

14.3 37.3

0.0 0.0

0.0 36.2

3.4 65.3

7.6 60.8

0.0 33.8

0.0 4.6

0.0 4.4

0.0 0.0

9.0 42.5

30.9 65.0

27.5 71.0

15.3 46.9

1.8 8.2

4.1 21.5

0.0 0.7

Child Index

Older Person Index

5.6 70.3

14.3 80.2

0.0 21.5

3.4 39.8

4.8 34.8

5.5 40.1

Health Inequalities The County Durham Joint Strategic Needs Assessment also provides data for the health of the population of the area.

The following table is an extract from the 2011 County Durham Joint Strategic Needs Assessment at the MSOA geography. Figures for the AAP are not available.

The areas of ‘Annfield Plain North and Dipton South’, ‘Annfield Plain South and South Moor’ and ‘Craghead and South Stanley’ have relatively favourable measures in relation to binge drinking but perform worse than the county in relation to obesity, smoking and healthy eating. The ‘Medomsley and Shotley’ MSOA has relatively favourable measures in relation to obesity, smoking, drinking and healthy eating. The picture across the other MSOAs is more mixed.

Area/MSOA % obese children

1 % obese adults 2

% adults who smoke

% binge drinking adults

% healthy eating adults

Annfield Plain North and Dipton South

26.0 33.1 35.3 28.4 17.4

Burnopfield, Dipton North and Tantobie

24.8 28.7 22.0 38.6 25.2

Consett West and Castleside 23.9 30.7 30.6 36.9 20.3

Delves and Leadgate South 22.8 32.6 32.6 31.5 17.8

Leadgate North and Consett East 19.7 29.5 29.5 30.8 21.1

Annfield Plain South and South Moor 27.5 32.2 35.0 27.3 17.1

Burnopfield, Dipton North and Tantobie

24.8 28.7 22.0 38.6 25.2

Craghead and South Stanley

22.1

31.5

44.9

29.5

14.7

Stanley North and Kip Hill 20.2 29.9 27.6 31.8 20.0

County Durham 20.6 28.6 28.2 31.6 21.4

Source: National Child Measurement Programme1, Health Survey for England

2.

1. Percentage of obese children (Year six), 2007/08-2009/10.

2. Percentage of adults (modelled estimate), 2006-2008.

The Evaluation Process The evaluation methodology involved a combination of analysis of project monitoring information, Interviews with beneficiaries and discussions with Consett YMCA’s Leadership Team. Project Monitoring Consett & District YMCA has produces 5 yearly monitoring reports as part of their contractual obligation to the Reaching Communities Fund. These reports outline the ongoing achievements of the project and also highlight some of the difficulties the project encountered. Each year the monitoring form asked specific questions regarding the outcomes, and positive responses would allow the project to progress to the following year. Each of these reports gained positive comments and the response to the end of grant report stated “I have completed my review of your End of Grant (P5) monitoring report and I am delighted to confirm it to be compliant and meets the requirements of the BIG Lottery Fund. The project has made very good progress during the last year of its funding period and has achieved all and in some cases exceeded its outcomes targets; contributing to improving the lives of its young beneficiaries. This project has shown to be well managed being delivered on target and within budget by the final year of its grant period. I sincerely wish you every success for the future success with your bid for continuation funding to develop your new ‘Health by Stealth’ project currently being developed in conjunction with your partner agencies.” Ashley Gane -Funding Officer Beneficiary Case Studies After discussions with the project team, 2 beneficiaries were identified as people who had benefited in different ways from the project. These beneficiaries were contacted and their opinions and feedback are included within this report. It was a privilege to talk to these two individuals and it was clear that the project had made a dramatic impact on their lives and in return, they had been able to share that experience and help others within the communities they both had worked with. Leadership Team After initial discussions with the leadership team as to the scope of the report, follow up interviews took place with individual members of the team and their experiences and reflections are included within the report. Each member gave opinions not only on what had took place but also on what could have been improved and what should be taken forward in the developing work. It was clear that the passion of the staff working for the organisation has made a clear contribution to the success of the programme, but also that the clear direction and ethos of any future programmes was a shared vision and took into account lessons learnt from this work. It should be noted that the Project Leader employed by the YMCA was Lee Robson. Lee passed away last year after he lost his fight against Leukaemia. Lee had been in remission for a number of years and it comes across from all involved, that it was his effervescent enthusiasm and total dedication to working within communities that has driven this project forward. He battled through his own personal heath issues as well as through the barriers that the project was presented with over the years and built up the relationships within the communities that not only will enable further work to be effective, but will stand as a lasting legacy to him and the sparkling personality he brought to the project.

Findings The research findings demonstrate that the Consett YMCA’s Y I AM project delivered a very effective and highly valued programme of activity. Communities across the area benefited from local events and activity, often integrated within

their own community events and received support and advice from staff that had the experience and knowledge of the available follow on options for all sections of the community. This integration within communities has been vital to ensure that activities were “owned” by the communities and not seen as outside interference. The project has been particularly effective in reaching out to, and engaging with, the most vulnerable and hardest-to-reach sections of the local community. These communities and individuals are the ones reported by many statutory health agencies as those least likely to take part in health related programmes. Moreover, it has achieved significant positive outcomes for these people. The project narrative has individual success stories and personal victories in overcoming personal challenges to a healthy lifestyle. Generally, Consett YMCA continues to inspire positive communities and in an area which is still amongst the most deprived in the County, it stands as an organisation of hope for the future. An infectious ‘can do’ attitude pervades the work of Consett YMCA, reflecting its grass roots history within communities, and this evidently rubs off on service users, staff and volunteers alike. The project appears to have delivered value for money as well as raised knowledge and aspirations of the communities it worked with. For a relatively small scale investment from Reaching Communities of less than £50k per annum, it leverages a wide range of benefits and generates significant outcomes in terms of both scale and quality. In summary, the project represents excellent value for money

Inputs

Salaries Community Event Expenditure

Support Staff Publicity & Promotion

Capital Equipment Volunteer Input

Activities & Throughput

103 Community Events 6408 individuals taking part in health related activity

One to one support and guidance of individuals Additional funding brought alongside the project as part of

the ongoing programme

Outcomes

18 volunteers actively engaged with the organisation 4 Employment gained by beneficiaries

Raised aspirations of individuals Encouraged young people to raise their horizons

Community Cohesion Organisational Collaboration

What to Improve?

Monitoring & Collection of Data Protocols of information sharing with outside agencies

Stronger links to other health related activity

Findings

What we planned to do Outcome 1 8000 people in disadvantaged/ rural areas of Derwentside will see an improvement in their health and fitness by the end of Year 5. What we achieved Over the lifetime of the project 6409 people we reached and although his did not meet the original 8000 target in the initial proposal, it did exceed the requested changed target of 6000 which was requested due to poor weather in Year 4 and a number of events within communities being cancelled.

What we planned to do Outcome 2 8000 people in disadvantaged/ rural areas of Derwentside will have learned how to improve their health & fitness and will be encouraged to continue their participation in events by the end of the project. What we achieved As specified earlier, 6409 people were involved in the community activities and all of them during the activity learned how to improve their Health & Fitness. All were encouraged to continue to be involved in a variety of health & fitness options for the future and many took part in other events. There is a gap in knowledge of participant destinations and future activity due to the project not having follow up procedures in place. What we planned to do Outcome 3 75 mobile wellbeing events will impact across Derwentside taking activities to excluded areas of low participation and remove existing barriers to participation by the end of the project What we achieved The project delivered a total of 103 events over the lifetime of the project exceeding the original target of 75. This was achieved due to the success of initial events, the hard work and determination of the staff involved and the perceived benefit to the communities which led to communities requesting more events and the project being able to deliver these. What we planned to do Outcome 4 2000 people will engage regularly in further physical activities by the end of the project and will see a positive impact on their health, weight and self esteem. What we achieved This was probably the most difficult to evaluate due to the nature of the project and its lack of follow up strategies with individuals. 973 expressed an interest in further activity with a significant number joining the programme for a second time. This was captured in the database of participants, although anecdotal evidence points to many more participants continuing to access health related programmes, the evidence for this is not available. This issue was identified early by the staff team, but despite being aware of the problem, the structure and nature of the project did not allow time or resources to develop further links with these individuals and the organisations they became involved in. In hindsight, additional administrative resources should have been included in the original bid allocated to carry out this task.

Case Studies Case 1 - Health Benefitiary I was privileged to be able to talk to a Carl, who came to the project just having completed bariatric surgery because of an obesity problem that had developed over many years. He had been 27 stone and needed to reduce weight to ensure he stayed alive. He saw the project as a way of getting into activity in a safe and supported way. He was particularly drawn to the climbing activity and soon was involved in a passion for the sport. He first came to the project after securing a job with The Princes Trust, working with young people on a ten week programme, he soon volunteered for the Y I Am project and became part of the delivery team going out to communities every weekend and becoming involved in sharing his experiences with other, especially those with overweight problems. He realised that there was little support away from clinical intervention for this group of people and understood the emotional and relationship support that is needed to enable these people to re engage in society. When asked what worked well, he immediately identified the events where different agencies came together to deliver services to communities and were able to collectively meet the needs of individuals within the event. He also identified the need for more education for individuals and the need to motivate on an individual basis, especially those who were very overweight. There was a message to be shared, that people did not need to be super fit or indeed superman, they just needed to take that first step. Case 2 - Young person into employment I also talked to a young man who at the start of the project was engaged in the School Support Programme held within the YMCA for those who were excluded from school or found it extremely difficult to cope within a school environment. He was identified by the tutors as someone with potential and was encouraged to finish the programme, which he did, gaining GCSE qualifications. As part of this programme the student was# involved in the Y I Am programme. At the end of the school training course he was offered a trainee post on the Y I Am project which he accepted. He started shadowing other staff and gaining an understanding of how the activities were used to engage people. He was soon given training and qualifications to enable him to deliver the activities. During this time it is obvious that he has acquired the skills needed to understand the needs of these communities. He saw the potential for introducing young people into these activities and raising their awareness and aspirations within communities where these opportunities very rarely exist. His age and background also made it easier for him to connect and communicate with the younger participants and this experience has led him on to further training and aspirations of a future career in the type of community work. When asked to comment on the successes of the project, he identified an event in Benfieldside where many of the agencies were present including the Police Community Sports, Sunderland Foundation and Local Organisations. He described how barriers were broken down between the communities and the organisations and it was felt that there would be closer working together in the future.

Case Studies Case 3 – St Johns School St Johns Roman Catholic School became involved in the project after they received a referral from work that the Y I Am had done with some of our support mentors in school. This led to discussion as to how the project could deliver further work within the school. A day was arranged where the project came to the school and students from Years 7-10 and 12 participated in the events. This was part of our "house" competition end of year prize. There were approximately 250 students involved in all events throughout the afternoon. There were various activities that happened on the day including Zorbing, Re-ball and the Climbing Wall. A quote from the email from the school sums up the impact the day made on the pupils. "I would just like to say many thanks for the activities that you provided St John's. The students thoroughly enjoyed all of the activities and had an opportunity to take part in challenging events that they would not have otherwise have had a chance to do. Your involvement made our rewards day a fantastic experience for all. Your team were superb on the day. They had a fantastic rapport with the students and were professional throughout ensuring that all of the equipment was safe for use. Students were challenged, supported and motivated in equal measures during the events of the day. Thank you again and I look forward to working with you and your team in the future. " Gavin McIntyre - Assistant Head-teacher Case 4 – Community Safety Officer Sara-Jane Heslop from Consett YMCA, made partners aware of the Y-I AM events in a multi agency partnership meeting which was then further advertised more widely to external partners by the Community safety officer for the area. This led to events taking place within communities. Multi agency partners contacted the YMCA to arrange the Y I Am projects attendance at these events. The activities that took place within these events complimented other attendees at multi-agency partnership events that were already taking place “I would say the YMCA attendance at events improved young people’s attendance at events, as most partnership events are aimed at educating adults and there is usually little provision for young people. Having the YMCA attending allowed the younger members of the public to engage with YMCA services and education that was previously not available to them. The unique activities that the YMCA provided I.e Cimbing Wall and Zorb Balls allowed young people to experience these activities for the first time. It also allowed the YMCA to advertise their services more County wide around Durham with multi agency partners and residents” The community Safety officer also commented that at one of the initial events, the YMCA were criticised by partners for arriving at the event late and leaving early, having little disregard for attendees that did not have the opportunity to use the services provided. However it would appear from latter events, that the YMCA were a victim of their own success, having had numerous young people queuing to take part in activities and sometimes having to turn young people away because of the success of the activities provided. It was felt that the YMCA attendees managing the events always acted in a professional manner and were always more than willing to engage with partners. - Steve McCallan (BA Hons) Community Safety officer - Durham County

Evaluative Conclusions The Consett YMCA Senior Leadership Team tasked the evaluation to reflect on 4 key questions as part of the evaluation exercise: Did the project make a difference and did it meet local need? The project delivered in the majority of deprived areas covered by the geographical scope of the project. In each of these areas existing relationships were built upon and developed. New partnerships were formed between the communities and partner agencies such as Local Schools, Voluntary Agencies and Police. The communities clearly value the input of Consett & District YMCA and continue to request assistance and intervention from the organisation. The responsiveness and ability to change and mould delivery of programmes to suit individual communities is a testament not only of its commitment to meet local needs, but also to the dedication of the staff and volunteers involved. With 6409 participants, 18 volunteers and 6 jobs created, it is clear that the project did make a difference to the communities it worked with. Is there is still a need for this work? The project created an awareness of health as an issue for communities through a non judgmental approach. This project has led to communities accepting many partner organisations close to their families. Despite the intervention of this project and many other health programmes, the statistics still show these communities are still some of the most deprived within County Durham. The levels of obesity, smoking and alcohol misuse are a testament to many generations family poverty created against a background of mining and steel work. There is still poor housing and access to healthy food in many of the communities, whist this is compounded by generational reluctance to turn to the “authorities” for help and assistance. Changes in benefit regulations and further pressures on family incomes only exacerbate this. The growth of food banks within the area send a shocking message to agencies and government alike that there is still a great deal of work to be done to bring equality to areas such as this. Despite the successes of the project, sadly there is an increasing need for further work but also a clear understanding that this needs to be delivered in a partnership model. What has worked well? The strength of the organisation, and clearly demonstrated in this project, is its ability to gain the trust of communities and be allowed into their communities to deliver work. This has been built up over many years of support and hard work and is a key component in the success of this and many other programmes. The individual activities that created opportunities for ongoing conversations and discussion seemed to work the best. An example of this would be the climbing tower, which enabled staff to build up the trust and relationships with individuals and allowed the discussion about future activity or involvement to develop. Overwhelming feedback from participant was they appreciated an activity within their own area that was free. This proved to be a key factor in the participation rate and a factor that should be considered when developing future programmes. Not only are people more likely to come in the first place, but they feel comfortable with the process and the intervention of the staff.

The Equipment Legacy of the project is also key element of the success of the project. The organisation still has the equipment that was purchased through the project and still uses this to engage communities. This equipment includes the Climbing Tower, Laser-tech Shooting and Re-ball Equipment which are valuable assets, not only to the organisation but to the communities around the area. Finally, the skills of the staff and volunteers contributed greatly to the project’s success, as this, combined with the knowledge and support from other staff at the YMCA created a project that brought additional resources to communities What could the project do better if it had continued funding? Lessons learnt from the project bring a stark reality of attempting to change generational poverty and oppression. Over a number of years projects and programmes have delivered silo approaches to attempting to improve the lives of our community members. This realisation came from the inability of the Reaching Communities project to support individuals and communities in isolation. It became evident quite quickly that partnership and joint working were required to assist in the multiple needs of many of the families that were being worked with. Future programmes will need to build upon the fantastic relationships created over the duration of this project. They will need to dovetail into existing programmes delivered by both Statutory and Voluntary Organisations. The lessons learned regarding silo delivery and families and communities needing a raft of services to meet their needs, naturally lead to a project that integrates into these other programmes more effectively. The strength of the project has been, and in the future will continue to be, that it has the trust and respect of communities. Many of these families have an in-built generation mistrust of authority, and therefore miss out on opportunities specifically designed to improve their lives. A future programme of work can build upon the relationships built with communities and partner organisation and deliver integrated services that meet the needs of communities where they want them and also at a time and style that suits their lifestyles.

Recommendations for Development In Durham over the last three years ,the partnership working between the voluntary sector and the statutory agencies has developed strongly. Although it may have been fuelled by a cut in central government funding, the drive to partnership work has been made with genuine intent. The old Health Improvement Service has been de-commissioned and replaced with a community based Health Trainer Model, delivered by a partnership of Voluntary and Statutory Organisations. We have a Healthy Communities Partnership working across the new Clinical Commissioning Group of North Durham bringing Lead Commissioners together with the Voluntary Sector and AAP’s, to ensure joined up programmes and reduce duplication. Consett YMCA intends to bring any new programmes alongside these existing programmes and ensure that future programmes not only meet the needs of communities, but it utilises its strengths to enable communities to take full benefit from other programmes that are being delivered within the area, but may not be reaching those communities. Some of these programmes have been identified as Wellbeing for Life : Lead CDCDF Walk 4 Life : Lead DCC Culture & Sport Workplace Health : Lead DCC Culture & Sport Countywide Cycle Model : Lead DCC Culture & Sport Little Wellbeing : Lead DCC Public Health Employability Pit Stop : Lead Pioneering Care Partnership. Health Buddy Scheme : Lead Pioneering Care Partnership. Emotional and Mental Health : Lead If U Care Share Foundation. Silver Talk : Lead Derwentside Homes Managing Money Better : Lead Prince Bishops Community Bank Healthy Horizons : Lead DCC Culture and Sport Making Connections IT Project : Lead Age UK County Durham Derwent Valley Diners Project : Lead Age UK County Durham A Healthy Start for nurseries and reception classes. : Lead Pre-school Learning Alliance HAGGRID branches out : Lead Durham Agency Against Crime. In addition to these, there are a raft of community based programmes that are being delivered by the VCS with elements of Health & Wellbeing which are attached in an separate appendix. The future direction of a heath related programme for the YMCA needs to take into account existing delivery models within the area. It is clear there is no a shortage of health programmes or indeed a willingness to deliver theses within communities, however many of these express the same frustrations – the inability to engage with the hardest to reach communities. The strength and lasting legacy of this project has been its ability to connect with these communities and build up the trust and relationships with key individuals with them. The YMCA has the ability to engage with communities and any new programme should utilise this strength and allow connections to be made between these communities and the other programmes that are available to them.

Consett & District YMCA Consett & District YMCA provide a range of Community Services:- Princes Trust If you're unemployed, unexcited and unsure of your future, we have something to get you going: the Team programme. The Team Programme is for UK residents aged 16-25 who are unemployed. It's free and will not affect your Jobseeker's Allowance. It's ideal for those whose lack of confidence or qualifications are holding them back. Alternative Education Consett works with year 11 students outside mainstream education from the schools across County Durham. It provides alternative education but still delivers GCSE course to enable students to gain the qualification they need to progress in life. Furniture Recycling The furniture recycling project is a scheme designed with the community completely in mind and has been an asset to the local area since it first started in the early 1980's.We collect all items of re-usable household goods, e.g. furniture, electrical items, bedding, clothes, shoes, curtains, books, bric-a-brac, videos, CDs and DVDs. All soft furnishings should be covered by current fire regulations. All useable items will be collected free of charge. Starter packs are available for those on low income or referred to by Social Services. These consist of: beds, wardrobes, drawers, 3 piece suites, table and chairs as well as living room units, coffee tables and electric kitchen items (All when available). Adventurous Activities At Consett & District YMCA we offer a wide range of outdoor pursuits and activities to suit the needs of everyone from school groups to corporate clients looking for something special for their staff training or team building needs. We can tailor all of our outdoor activities into full packages for any groups and also specialise in single gender activity weekends. Accommodation & Room Hire Consett YMCA has modern hostel accommodation available all year round. It is ideal for families, groups, Schools & Colleges. The centre has 5,6 and 7 bedded rooms, some en-suite, with separate accommodation for group leaders if required. There is a large conservatory with TV, a pool table and a small kitchen for making drinks or snacks plus a laundry facility. We can provide the hostel for groups either as self-catering or fully inclusive with breakfast, packed or buffet lunch and evening meal. The YMCA has various areas and meeting rooms which can be hired on a half-day or daily basis We also have a fully licensed bar and function room. The room is ideal for groups of up to 60 people who require a smoke-free, relaxing, warm and friendly atmosphere for their functions.

Parliament Street Consett Co Durham DH8 5DH

Phone: 01207 502680 Fax: 01207 501578

Web: www.consettymca.org E: admin@consettymca.org