Sustainability Forum
Author: YorkshireChildrensCharityAdmin
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Service spotlight: Safety Rangers
This January we have selected Safety Rangers for our service spotlight.
Safety Rangers is an interactive, accident prevention event aimed at Year 5 pupils that attend school in Kirklees.
The event runs four times a year for two weeks at a time, welcoming a different local school every day.
Pupils that attend Safety Rangers take part in several fun and interactive courses throughout the day, that teach them important life-skills and build confidence. These include:
- Home and seasonal Fire Safety
- Anti-Social Behaviour
- Road Safety
- Emotional Health and Wellbeing
- Physical Health and Nutrition.
The classes are taught by experienced professionals from establishments such as West Yorkshire Police, West Yorkshire Fire and Rescue Service, Huddersfield Town Football Club, and Northorpe Hall Child and Family Trust.
Here’s what some of the teacher’s had to say following our events in 2021:
‘Very engaging and interactive giving children a real awareness of current local issues’
‘Safety Rangers was very informative as well as challenging for children, it made them think about what they do and how they do it. It’s been great to see a change in attitude and behaviour towards these subjects’
‘The variety of scenarios was really good. All the activities appealed to all children. All the staff and services were very friendly’
Did you know: In October 2021, Tracey Brabin, Mayor of West Yorkshire attended the Safety Rangers event and took part in all of the different sessions with the children.
For more information on the Safety Rangers events, please visit our website, email [email protected] or call 01484 519988.
Thank you so much: Navy Professional
This January, Fresh Futures would like send a huge thank you to Rebecca Crawforth (Owner & Director of Navy) and her team at Navy Professional.
Navy is a professional beauty product supplier located in Bircotes, South Yorkshire.
In December, Navy selected Fresh Futures as their chosen charity and did some incredible work to raise awareness of the charity and raise money to help fund the services which we provide.
Throughout the festive period, Navy ran several incentives for YCC:
- The first action was a sale of their Limited Edition Albert Bears, of which £5 from each sale went directly to Fresh Futures.
- Secondly, Navy held an event, selling their Naf X Navy Cuticle Oil whereby 10% of all sales were donated to Fresh Futures.
- Thirdly, Navy sent out a Christmas card with all of their online orders, which included our logo.
- Finally, Navy held a super special Christmas event in Doncaster, which included a Christmas Grotto. All proceeds from this event were also donated to Fresh Futures.
Overall, Navy raised over £1,300.00 for the YCC, on top of the work they carried out to raise awareness of our charity through social media posts and Christmas cards.
To learn more about Navy, visit their website, or follow them on Instagram.
MORE Success stories from 2021
At the end of 2021, we shared with you our 2021 in numbers paper – a document that illustrated the incredible reach that Fresh Futures had over the last 12 months (you can view this by clicking HERE or scrolling down)
But that’s not everything that we did. As we reflect on the incredible year that the charity had in 2021, and look towards a prosperous 2022, we would love to share with you some more great things that the charity achieved in 2021 – thanks to our massively dedicated team of over 100 employees, and wonderful volunteers!
- In 2021, Fresh Futures successfully launched several campaigns for local communities, including the Winter Warmer coat collection for refugees, the transformation of the Brian Jackson House outdoor public area, and the Gift Appeal for all of our service users.
- Looking at Fresh Futures as an employer, Fresh Futures implemented a 24/7 employee assistance programme for all staff, free of charge, and rolled out the Role and Reward scheme which saw the majority of staff receiving a pay increase suited to their roles.
- Furthermore, YCC established an Employee Forum to help keep employee satisfaction a top priority, furlough was removed with all staff returning to the office, and we proudly welcomed lots of new staff to each of the ever-growing teams. This include new members of the Leadership Team, and a new Fresh Futures Chair.
- Publicly, YCC’s domestic abuse department appeared on BBC Look North, we had a very special visit from the Major of West Yorkshire during our Safety Rangers event, and we dramatically increased our presence on social media (#WeAreYCC!).
- Following the two lockdowns, Fresh Futures refurbished the community café space in Brian Jackson House and the charity, Healthy Hearts opened ‘Full Circle Café’ which now hosts lots of community events.
- The Fresh Futures charity shop in Heckmondwike reopened to the public, YCC’s services reintroduced face-to-face groups and in-house services, and the Brian Jackson Colleges overcame all Covid-19 related hurdles to achieve strong results for the college pupils.
- Finally, the charity had its RESPECT accreditation renewed, secured further funding to continue many services for at least another 12 months, introduced Recognise, Reflect, Change; a new accredited intervention programme by DAPP, and welcomed on board dozens of awesome volunteers to support more events and reach more local people in need.
WOW!
Meet the team: Samantha Latchayya
It’s #MeetTheTeam time.
Full Name: Samantha Latchayya
Job Title: Leadership Team Coordinator
Time in the role: 10 Months
What’s something people don’t know about you? I absolutely love languages and can speak French, Spanish and Mauritian Creole.
Your role in a nutshell: I work with the Leadership Team and Board of Trustees to coordinate all meetings, projects and events, to ultimately facilitate the effectiveness of the charity. I’m also in the Safety Group and Employee Forum. Finally, I run the charity’s social media channels which is really fun!
Why do you like working for YCC? I’ve always loved to plan and organise things– inside and outside of work, so this role suits me to a tee. Every single day at Fresh Futures is different, which makes the work really exciting. Finally, the people who work here are so friendly that I always look forward to going into the office!
What’s one of your favourite work memories? I really enjoyed the Staff Thank You event that was held in Summer 2021. We took over an entire pub’s venue and ordered in dozens of pizzas! The theme of the event was VIP and we all had VIP wristbands and a red carpet to walk down. It was a great opportunity to unwind with our colleagues and have a good catch up after a tough year.
And finally, what advice would you give to people considering working at YCC? Prepare to be very busy, but also to have lots of fun at the same time! One great thing about Fresh Futures is that the hierarchy is really flat, so you can put forward your ideas and opinions and make a real difference – which is massively rewarding!
Contact Details: [email protected] | 07546 307 658
#WeAreYCC
Fresh Futures celebrates a great 2021
Today we are looking back at all of the amazing things Fresh Futures has achieved this year.
This highlights just some of the incredible ways we have helped the local communities in 2021 across our departments.
We are incredibly grateful for all of the support we have received from our followers, making what we do possible, and we are ready to take on 2022!
Volunteer of the Month – January
It’s really important that we take the time to recognise our volunteers – as without them, the charity would not be able to help so many people across the community.
Each month we recognise a Fresh Futures Volunteer that has gone above and beyond in their role. Kicking off 2022, is Tracey Twizell, who volunteers as a face-to-face befriender. We caught up with Tracy earlier this month and asked her a few questions…
Name: Tracey Twizell
Tell us a little about yourself? I am 58 years old and was lucky enough to retire from working four years ago, along with my husband Michael.
How long have you been volunteering for the charity? I have been volunteering now for three years.
Explain your volunteering role: My role as a volunteer is to try and visit my befriender once a week, plus a cosy telephone chat one or twice a week. I have also done shopping on occasion for her, and if I have been baking, I will take some cake or home-made soup to my befriender.
What made you want to start volunteering with YCC? When I first retired, I found I had a lot of time on my hands and I knew I wanted to help someone, although at the time I didn’t know how.
Sum up a typical day of volunteering for you? Initially I would visit my befriended every Wednesday afternoon pre-Covid. Then, we could only telephone which still worked for us, and now it’s a mix of both of these forms of keeping in touch.
And finally, what advice would you give to people considering volunteering with YCC? I would just like to say that I find the older generation have so much to offer, both in life experiences and humour. I find it so rewarding being in their company, and they should most definitely not be dismissed as the past generation. If anyone is considering volunteering, I would highly recommend it and I hope you are as lucky in your chosen befriended as I have been.
If you are considering becoming a face-to-face or telephone befriender, please contact Lucy, YCC’s Volunteering Development Officer, on 07849 398829 or [email protected].