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Author: Lynne Haigh

Volunteer of the Month: December

Posted on by Lynne Haigh

We love this time of the month: when we get to shout about our amazing volunteers and the quite literally life changing work that they do to help Fresh Futures run smoothly and effectively.

This month we are giving a very special THANK YOU to Sushma Rani, who volunteers as a befriender at Fresh Futures.

We caught up with Sushma to hear about her Fresh Futures Volunteering Journey…

  1. Name: Sushma Rani
  2. How long have you been volunteering for the charity? I started befriending in 2019.
  3. Please explain your volunteering role in a nutshell: I am a befriender at Fresh Futures and speak to the friends I have been matched with on a weekly basis to help prevent isolation
  4. What made you want to start volunteering with YCC? I became a befriender to be there for someone who is feeling alone
  5. Tell us a little bit about your role: As a befriender I assist ,comfort, increase sense of belonging and purpose in a friend’s life
  6. And finally, what advice would you give to people considering volunteering with YCC? Being a befriender gives me great pleasure

If you feel inspired to become a volunteer like Sushma, or if you would like to volunteer in any way for our charity, please contact Lucy on 01484 519988 or email [email protected]

Service Spotlight: Child Contact

Posted on by Lynne Haigh

Fresh Futures think of contact as ‘time for children’ with an emphasis on the quality of that time. The focus should be on meeting the needs of the child as best as possible to ensure their time spent with parents or carers is of value to them.

About Child Contact

This service is for parents, grandparents or other family members who no longer live with their children. We provide a range of toys and games to enable contact to be a positive experience in a safe and secure environment. Child Contact centres can help when there are safety considerations or help increase trust and reliability between parents and carers. We can assist parents or carers who need time to agree alternative plans, or when relationships need support to develop, to benefit the child.

How to access the service

Arrangements are by referral, which can be made by a social worker, solicitor, family mediator, CAFCASS Family Court Advisor or another appropriate professional. We can also accept self-referrals from parents or family members that do not have legal representation, subject to safeguarding checks, and they will be accepted at the discretion of the contact centre co-ordinator.

Once a referral is accepted, we will arrange payment of the referral fee, then each adult party will be booked in for an introductory meeting or visit with a contact worker. Following completion of introductory meetings, and once we are satisfied that it is appropriate to commence contact, we aim to arrange the first session at the first available opportunity.

To learn more about the Contact Centres at Fresh Futures please click here, email [email protected] or call 01484 519988.

Thank you so much: Stowe Family Law LLP

Posted on by Lynne Haigh

The team at Fresh Futures would like to say a big thank you to Stowe Family Law, who recently donated a generous £250 to the charity. We are so pleased that the firm has chosen to continue to support and build a relationship with Fresh Futures and we are extremely thankful for every donation we receive.

Stowe Family Law are a team of compassionate family solicitors with a strong track-record of success for clients in Huddersfield and across Yorkshire. You can visit their website here.

Stowe Family Law told YCC; “We are proud to support Fresh Futures for a second year with a donation towards their wonderful work improving the health & wellbeing of children, young people, and their families in the Yorkshire region. We wholeheartedly recommend that other local businesses get involved wherever possible.”

Fresh Futures aims to improve the lives of others, inspire change and to improve the wellbeing of the communities in Kirklees and surrounding areas. All donations we receive have a direct and positive impact on the disadvantaged and vulnerable children, young people, and families we support.

At Fresh Futures we value all our corporate partnerships, and we are keen to partner with a diverse range of business industries. There are many ways a business and their employees can get involved. If you would like to support Fresh Futures in any way, then please contact [email protected] and find out how you or your organisation could get involved to Improve Lives and Inspire Change.

News Update: Fresh Futures Christmas Cards

Posted on by Lynne Haigh

Fresh Futures are excited to announce that this year we have our very own charity Christmas Cards. The card was designed by Sam, a student at our Huddersfield Brian Jackson College and was the winner of a competition we initiated with the students across both sites.

Joolz Cooper, Brian Jackson Colleges Art Teacher, assisted with the competition and said “The brief was for students to design a Christmas card to incorporate the core values of Fresh Futures. We had lots of wonderful entries, and the winner and runner ups were chosen anonymously by our Head Teacher, Jacqui Green. The winner was Sam from our Huddersfield site, and the runners up were Kelsey from Huddersfield and Milan from Heckmondwike. Pupils spent time in lessons working on their cards to get the amazing, finished results. They all embraced their designs across several lessons and had the opportunity to use a range of mediums for their finished designs. The winner, Sam, used mixed media and collage with a range of techniques to produce his superb, finished piece. Prizes in the form of vouchers were presented by the Chief Executive of YCC, Mark Farmer, and all staff and pupils are proud of what they have achieved.”

Sam holding his winning design with Joolz Cooper (Art Teacher) and Jacqui Green (Headteacher)
YCCs 2022 Christmas Card

Mark Farmer, CEO of YCC, visited the college last week to present the students with their vouchers and cards and to also congratulate them on the final designs. Sam was extremely pleased that his card was the winning design and is excited to see them go on sale at the Colleges and Fresh Futures buildings.

Runner up design by Kelsey
Runner up design by Milan

The cards are now on sale at Jo Cox House and Brian Jackson House, they are £5 for a pack of 10 and all donations received from the sale of the cards will go towards supporting vulnerable and disadvantaged children, young people, and their families across Kirklees.

We have been generously supported on this project by Aura Print, a printing company based in Huddersfield. They very kindly gifted us the printed cards, envelopes, and packaging and have been a pleasure to work with throughout the process. Visit their website HERE.

If you would like to support Fresh Futures in any way, then please contact [email protected] and find out how you or your organisation could get involved to Improve Lives and Inspire Change.

Volunteer of the Month: November

Posted on by Lynne Haigh

We love this time of the month: when we get to shout about our amazing volunteers and the quite literally life changing work that they do to help Fresh Futures run smoothly and effectively.

This month we are giving a very special THANK YOU to Jordan Tyrell, who has been volunteering at the Pass It On charity shop in Heckmondwike for 6 months.

We caught up with Jordan to hear about his Fresh Futures Volunteering Journey so far…

  1. Name: Jordan Tyrell
  2. Tell us a little about yourself? My name is Jordan, I’m 18 and I have just finished studying for A-Levels in Maths, Physics and Design Technology.
  3. How long have you been volunteering for the charity? Almost 6 months
  4. Please explain your volunteering role in a nutshell: My role as a volunteer consists of working on the till and some work in the vintage warehouse where I help move newly donated furniture around and take pictures to list on the company’s eBay page.
  5. What made you want to start volunteering with YCC? I started volunteering with Fresh Futures for my Gold Duke of Edinburgh Award and I thought it would be the perfect place to start as the people are great.
  6. Tell us a little bit about your role: A typical day of volunteering for me would consist of some work on the till, pricing and uploading newly donated items on the company’s Facebook and eBay pages and helping in the vintage warehouse.
  7. And finally, what advice would you give to people considering volunteering with YCC? I highly recommend volunteering with Fresh Futures as it has been a great experience for me so far.

If you feel inspired to become a volunteer like Jordan, or if you would like to volunteer in any way for our charity, please contact Lucy on 01484 519988 or email [email protected]

Meet The Team: Dale Clarkson

Posted on by Lynne Haigh

Name: Dale Clarkson

Job Title: Caretaker at Jo Cox House

Date joined YCC: April 2013

Tell us a little about yourself: I like going to my allotment in my spare time where I grow my own vegetables and keep chickens and bees.

Your role in a nutshell: I carry out general maintenance which includes painting and decorating and day to day repairs. I provide front of house support and ensure all health and safety procedures are up to date for the building.

Why do you like working for YCC? I like working for Fresh Futures as I have a good team to support me, and I enjoy working alongside different tenants who use the building. I really enjoy helping the general public which is a big part of my role.

And finally, what advice would you give to people considering working at YCC? Be willing to work hard and be flexible in your job role.

If you would like to learn more about YCC, click HERE.

News Update: Brian Jackson College refurb project

Posted on by Lynne Haigh

Brian Jackson College, Heckmondwike has recently undergone a makeover and Fresh Futures are so happy with the results. During the half-term break we took the opportunity to spruce up the common room as a surprise for when the students returned.

Nicola Atkinson, Deputy Head teacher at the College said “On behalf of all pupils and staff at Brian Jackson College, we would like to take the opportunity to thank the volunteers who took the time to come over and re-vamp the pupils’ social space. The space looks much brighter and cleaner, and pupils can now enjoy playing Xbox, pool, and other activities in between lessons.”

The finished common room at Brian Jackson College, Heckmondwike. Well done team!

We were supported on this project by several local businesses including Ramsdens Solicitors, Maximus, National Day Nursery Association, Turner & Townsend as well as a few very helpful College staff who came in during their time off to lend a hand.

The whole team did an outstanding job and completed the works within 3 days!

College staff helping during their break
Maximus staff working hard
Volunteers from Ramsdens Solicitors
More helpers from Ramsdens Solicitors

YCCs Volunteering Development Officer, Lucy Martin, organised the project and was there to help and lend support to the team during the week “A huge thank you to all companies, Maximus, Turner & Townsend, National Day Nursery Association and Ramsdens who joined us in the project of revamping the student’s common area space. We even managed to complete the project earlier than anticipated! We also want to thank Kirklees Youth Alliance who offered to support the project. It was wonderful to meet everyone and spend time learning of all the great things happening across Yorkshire. We hope everyone enjoyed it as much as we did! The common area is now a bright, fresh, and clean space ready for the students to unleash their creativity and showcase their work on the walls, we’ll keep you all updated on the progress. From the college staff, students, and myself, a huge THANK YOU to you all!”

Turner & Townsend enjoying the challenge
Staff from National Day Nursery Association supporting YCC

Alice Bray, Employment Advisor at Maximus who helped on day said “Everyone really enjoyed getting involved and doing something meaningful with our time out of the office. We really hope the space is enjoyed by the students. BJC offer really important and valuable opportunities for young people that need it, so it was great to be involved.”

Fresh Futures would also like to say a huge thank you to Dulux who provided paint for the project.

If you would like to get involved in future projects like this, please contact Lucy via email on [email protected] or click here to see how you can support Fresh Futures Work With Us – Yorkshire Children’s Centre (freshfutures.org.uk).

Thank you so much: TK Maxx Homesense Foundation

Posted on by Lynne Haigh

Fresh Futures would like to say a huge thank you to the TK Maxx and Homesense Foundation for donating an extremely generous £1,000 from their Community Fund.  

The TK Maxx and Homesense Foundation was set up in 2015 and its mission is to support children and young people to achieve their potential within their local communities. The Community Fund programme is dedicated to helping local grassroots charities and since March 2020 has been working particularly hard to support those affected by the Covid-19 pandemic.

Associates (employees) from TK Maxx and Homesense stores, processing centres and offices across Europe, nominate local charities to receive grants that are doing great work in supporting the most vulnerable. In 2021, The TK Maxx and Homesense Foundation made over 1,655 grants to support local communities and charities, such as food banks and mental health organisations, with £791,793 donated.

The TK Maxx and Homesense Foundation comments: “We are delighted that The TK Maxx and Homesense Foundation has been able to support so many charities. We are proud that our grants are making a difference to local communities where it really matters.”

Fresh Futures would like to take this opportunity to thank the TK Maxx and Homesense Foundation for their very generous donation and for nominating our charity to receive the grant.

Fresh Futures relies entirely on the generosity of others to help us raise the funds needed to deliver our range of services that support disadvantaged and vulnerable children, young people, and their families.

If you would like to support Fresh Futures in any way, then please contact [email protected] and find out how you or your organisation could get involved to Improve Lives and Inspire Change.

Volunteer of the Month: October

Posted on by Lynne Haigh

We love this time of the month: when we get to shout about our amazing volunteers and the quite literally life changing work that they do to help Fresh Futures run smoothly and effectively.

This month we are giving a very special THANK YOU to Tracey Mcknight, who started volunteering over two years ago as a befriender!

We caught up with Tracey to hear about her Fresh Futures Volunteering Journey so far…

  1. Name: Tracey Mcknight
  2. Tell us a little about yourself? My journey with Community Connections started during the covid pandemic, I spotted an advertisement on social media for the role, but I wasn’t quite sure what qualifications I would need.  Well, I took the first step and soon came to realise the only qualifications needed are to be a good listener, have a good bit of chat, and most importantly have a whole lot of fun. 
  3. How long have you been volunteering for the charity? Over 2 years 
  4. Please explain your volunteering role in a nutshell: I was originally matched with two gentlemen, and we had weekly telephone calls as we couldn’t meet during the pandemic. This didn’t stop us enjoying our time together, I learned so much about Liverpool football club, we did quiz time and singalongs to some great old songs, and nattered about how things were when my gentlemen were growing up in the 1930’s.  Despite our age differences, we loved sharing our life stories together. 
  5. What made you want to start volunteering with YCC? Having elderly parents, I realised that there were many elderly or vulnerable people in our community who were feeling lonely.
  6. Tell us a little bit about your role: My role has developed and now I not only have telephone conversations with my community connection friends but I am able to see them face to face.  I have recently been matched to the most interesting and lovely lady who has so many stories to share about her cruises and ballroom dancing I love looking over the old photographs and reminiscing with her.
  7. And finally, what advice would you give to people considering volunteering with YCC? This is such a rewarding role, and I would highly recommend anyone who has a spare hour or so a week to give it a go! Putting a smile on someone’s face is priceless and just being that bridge between loneliness and having a feeling of companionship is really what it is all about! Just give it a go and make a difference!

If you feel inspired to become a volunteer like Tracey, or if you would like to volunteer in any way for our charity, please contact Lucy on 01484 519988 or email [email protected]

News Update: Fresh Futures awarded Household Support Grant by tsl Kirklees

Posted on by Lynne Haigh

We are excited to report that tsl Kirklees recently awarded Fresh Futures a grant of £2,000 as part of the Household Support Grant 2022. We were able to use this money to help reduce hardship and offer access to essential supplies and services to eligible families and individuals through our Safety In The Home service.

Due to the cost-of-living crisis it was evident when speaking to families, they were having to make difficult choices and unfortunately sacrifice essential items.

With the help of the grant, we were able to offer extra support to 16 families and individuals by providing the following items:

  • 2 electric cookers
  • 3 washing machines
  • 1 fridge
  • 1 fridge Freezer
  • 1 single mattress
  • 1 landing / stairway carpet
  • 2 set of warm bedding inc. fitted sheet, duvet cover, mattress protector
  • 2 lots of autumn / winter clothing for 2 children
  • 1 drying rail
  • 5 ALDI shopping vouchers
  • 2 Morrisons voucher
  • 2 Deichmann vouchers for school shoes
  • 1 gas prepayment top up
  • 1 electric prepayment top up

All the families we were able to support were extremely grateful and we received some wonderful feedback:

“This charity has really helped me. They have stayed in contact and are always friendly on phone. Thank you again for all your support”.

“Thank you so much to the team – I honestly appreciate everything you’ve done for me and my family from day 1”.

At Fresh Futures we actively refer families and individuals on to other services they require. We are proud to report that we were able to sign up six families to the Healthy Start Scheme whist supporting them through the Household Support initiative. Healthy Start is a government scheme to improve the health of lower income pregnant women, and families with young children, that receive benefits and universal credits.

Fresh Futures works closely with other organisations such as Locala, HomeStart, Community Plus and many more. Working in partnership with such organisations means we can reach more families and individuals that need our support. A great example of this collaborative work was when HomeStart identified a family where Mum needed further help and Fresh Futures we able to step in and provide her with a washing machine as part of the Household Support Grant. Here is what the Mum said about the support we provided “I was struggling as a single parent, especially with the cost of living going up and a washing machine wasn’t something I would ever have been able to afford, I was having to travel to Bradford to wash my babies clothes, using public transport which was extremely difficult, it has made such a difference to me to be able to do my own washing at home – I’m so happy with my new washing machine, thank you”.

Fresh Futures enjoys working with other organisations to make a difference

If you have any questions about the safety in the home service, please contact us on [email protected] or 01484 415465