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Author: Lynne Haigh

Meet The Team: Leah Butler

Posted on by Lynne Haigh

Name: Leah

Job Title: Child Contact Centre Coordinator

Date joined YCC: March 2022

Tell us a little about yourself: I enjoy socialising with my friends and family and spend a lot of time looking after my two young nieces.

Your role in a nutshell: I facilitate contact between children and their families, where there are issues around conflict and safeguarding. I am based in Brian Jackson House where we have two contact centres.

Why do you like working for YCC? Fresh Futures supports families as a whole and you can see that we are making a real difference. The people I work with are friendly and we all work well together as a team.

What’s one of your favourite work memories? I really enjoyed the Fresh Futures away day. It was a fun day and a great way to meet new people having only been at Fresh Futures for a few months.

And finally, what advice would you give to people considering working at YCC? If you want to make a difference in people’s lives, Fresh Futures is a great place to work. 

If you would like to learn more about the services that YCC’s Child Contact team offer, click HERE.

News Update: Fresh Futures continues to offer support to refugees

Posted on by Lynne Haigh

Fresh Futures is a charity that seeks to Improve Lives and Inspire Change by supporting children, young people and their families in our communities. Our communities are made up of amazing people, who have also recently welcomed many Ukrainian families into the community.

Fresh Futures recognises that refugees and evacuees can be extremely vulnerable and disadvantaged when they arrive in the UK, and we have previously made a commitment to support them and their families where we can.

We currently support the DWP with their programme to offer work to those arriving to the UK from Ukraine, and we are constantly looking at ways we can offer help to those that need it.

We caught up with Ryan Cross, Community Anchor Coordinator at YCC, who is supporting Ukrainian refugees as part of his role. Ryan told us: “For us at YCC, it’s about support and making sure that we can work directly with people to truly understand what they need, what is working, and what isn’t working. This can range from connecting a refugee to activities in the area or supporting a community group to set up a new activity”.

Ryan is involved in arranging Coffee Mornings for Ukrainian refugees where they can drop in and speak to Ryan about any questions or concerns that they might have. Ryan is also looking to set up a thank you event for Host Families who have welcomed Ukrainians into their home recently.

Ryan also told us: “I like to think the work I am doing is leading to a far more sustainable, and accessible third sector in Batley and Spen. It also gives the community a wider understanding of what we do and what we’re capable of doing at YCC.”

Following on from our promise to do whatever we can to support refugees through our charity, on Tuesday 27th September Fresh Futures attended the ‘Kirklees Welcomes – Job Fair and Advice for Refugees’ event at Batley Library.

Fresh Futures table at the Kirklees Welcomes Job Fair on 27th September

The event was open to local employers and set up to encourage members of the public that have recently arrived in the UK from Ukraine to discuss job opportunities in the Kirklees area.

The fair was well attended and Fresh Futures were able to engage with attendees about available jobs at the charity.

Samantha Latchayya, Leadership Team Coordinator at Fresh Futures said “I met with some lovely people who have arrived from Ukraine. Many of them have transferable skills, have graduated from University, or have worked in similar environments before. We are hoping that there could be some people who are interested in our roles and might apply for the jobs.”

At YCC, we value our employees and the incredible work they do to improve lives and inspire change. Our culture promotes development and diversification across all departments, from front-line service workers to in-house administration.

If you would like more information on current vacancies at Fresh Futures please visit Work With Us – Yorkshire Children’s Centre (freshfutures.org.uk)

Thank you so much: Tesco

Posted on by Lynne Haigh

Fresh Futures would like to say a huge Thank You to the Team Managers at Tesco, Huddersfield for supporting Fresh Futures.

Fresh Futures are grateful to the team at Tesco for all their support.

Tesco works with local charities through partnerships, helping people when they need it most. The branch in Huddersfield recently reached out to Fresh Futures to offer their support to our charity and support our local communities through events.  

Lynne Haigh, Fundraising and Communications Co-ordinator at YCC, said “We were absolutely thrilled to be contacted by the team at Tesco, Huddersfield. They were really welcoming and excited to learn about Fresh Futures. After being updated on our upcoming events they quickly provided us with some incredible raffle prizes and refreshments.”

On Thursday, last week, Fresh Futures held their first ever fashion show at Brian Jackson House. Members of staff modelled clothes from Complete Clothing Company and the whole community were invited to attend. During the event everyone enjoyed refreshments provided by Tesco.

The fashion show was hosted by Complete Clothing Company at Brian Jackson House

The evening was a great success and raised an amazing £350 for Fresh Futures.

Fresh Futures relies on support from local businesses, like Tesco, and we are excited to continue forming a great relationship with them going forward.

On behalf of everyone at Fresh Futures we would like to thank Tesco, Huddersfield for supporting this event. What’s more the team at Tesco, Huddersfield also provided Fresh Futures with some incredible raffle prizes ranging from non-alcoholic beverages to Tattinger Champagne. Keep an eye out for raffle prizes going on sale as this is one not to miss.

The evening was a great success and raised an amazing £350 for YCC

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: September

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 Amarah Younas, who started volunteering just over a year ago for Child Contact!

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

  1. Name: Amarah Younas
  2. Tell us a little about yourself? Passionate, kind, and helpful is the type of person I am. I use the initiative and put in extra work to allow effectiveness is ensured. I work collaboratively within a team, as I can complete tasks and my role. I have a patient approach and calm manner which is important when dealing with challenging situations, especially at times within the Fresh Futures. 
  3. How long have you been volunteering for the charity? I have volunteered for 1 year and 1 month. 
  4. Please explain your volunteering role in a nutshell: As a volunteer, I help deliver a safe environment for children and families. This is delivered through weekly contact sessions, and supporting (sometimes through words of encouragement) the carers to positively develop the relationship with their children. 
  5. What made you want to start volunteering with YCC? During COVID-19, it was really difficult to see others not being with their loved ones, either by separation or by the passing of their loved one. After the COVID cases and isolation had reduced, I felt like I had to give something back to the community. Hence, I searched volunteering places, especially within a family setting, and came across Fresh Futures. I read more into what the organisation did and was intrigued. I wanted to be part of the support that helped individuals reunite with their loved ones. 
  6. Sum up a typical day of volunteering for you? A typical day at the contact centre entails going into 2 or 3 sessions of either supported, supervised, or MS Teams meeting (for new families starting the contact centre). Sometimes, depending on the case, I even go out in the community with the team supervisor and observe the contact between the children and their carers. By the end of the day, I assist in cleaning up the creche/contact room, in order for the rooms to be presentable for the next families. 
  7. And finally, what advice would you give to people considering volunteering with YCC? Do it! You will not regret it, it is a good challenge and you will learn many things that will increase your outer knowledge about other families, and how difficult some of their situations are. It is a rewarding experience, and you know what makes volunteering even better? It’s the team at YCC, they will always support and teach you. 

If you feel inspired to become a volunteer like Amarah, 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: Leon Alexis-Bailey

Posted on by Lynne Haigh

Full Name: Leon Alexis-Bailey


Job Title: Facilitator

Date joined YCC: December 2020


Tell us a little about yourself: In my spare time I enjoy painting, playing chess and spending time with my family. Outside of Fresh Futures I also help run out of school workshops and boot camps.


Your role in a nutshell: I teach my READY programme (a confidence building workshop) across both Huddersfield and Heckmondwike sites two days a week and carry out key worker duties, as well as health and fitness one day a week.


Why do you like working for YCC? Fresh Futures are champions of personal development and progression. Since working here, I have grown in confidence in my ability both at work and outside.


What’s one of your favourite work memories? Taking my first class in the READY programme and hearing that first “Thank you, I enjoyed that lesson.” It was a great feeling and a reminder that working with young people is my purpose.


And finally, what advice would you give to people considering working at YCC? If you want to be part of a positive movement and team mentality, then Fresh Futures is that movement.

If you think you would like to work in a College environment please check out our current vacancies, HERE.