Stuart Bassham has long been a supporter of YFM, and he is now spending 4 months on a placement here with us. Stuart works for Waitrose and was successful in being awarded this placement by going through the Golden Jubilee Trust. This means Waitrose pay him his normal salary, but he is working for YFM, and it costs us nothing!

Stuart started in February and his remit is….

• Office, IT, working practices etc, specifically looking to set up a network, database etc
• Volunteer network
• Basics food bank
• Fundraising
• Researching a sustainable business idea

Stuart is well under way with sourcing the best networking system for us and we are looking forward to having that up and running, and learning how to use it effectively. He has submitted a couple of funding bids which we are waiting to hear back from, he has redesigned the office and the reorganisation will take place shortly.

A course for parents, to help them manage their children’s angry outbursts, starts after Easter. For more information phone or email Kelly at the office – kelly@youthandamiliesmatter.org.uk

We are holding a 2 day playscheme on 3rd and 4th April, for children aged 5-11. It is a day full of fun and activities for a small fee of £8.50 per day. For more information or to book your child on, phone Allison at the office or email alli@youthandfamiliesmatter.org.uk

We are planning to run a parenting course for parents of primary aged children. If you would be interested in finding out more please phone the office or email info@youthandfamiliesmatter.org.uk

We are very fortunate to have received some generous personal donations over the last few months, which will have a big impact on the support we are offering, and enable us to keep offering this vital support.

We have also been successful in getting a grant from Hampshire County Council Children’s Services towards our youth work provision, as well as Youth Support Services for the Wednesday after school drop-in.

A team of cyclists rode from Lands End to Totton on the weekend of 25th May. It was one of the hottest weekends this year, so that combined with the wind in their face and the massive hills in Cornwall made this an epic feat!! They did brilliantly and raised over £5,000. A massive thank you to them all. This money will go towards the continued work of supporting children and families in our local community. To see a picture click here.

Thank you to everyone who supported the cyclists. We are very grateful to Adam Architecture for their sponsorship of the Jerseys, to RW Armstrong for the support van, fuel and insurance, Simplyhealth for their sponsorship of an employee, Trant for their support, and Ordnance Survey for their sponsorship of an employee.

We are really pleased to welcome Anna Gordon to the YFM team as a fundraiser. Anna is working on bids to local grant making trusts, and other organizations, to help keep the work of YFM funded. For more information about Anna, see the staff page.

If anyone is interested in running the Great South Run in October, on behalf of YFM, please get in touch.

A course starts on Thursday mornings, from 20th September, 10-12 here at Testwood Baptist Church. The course looks at topics such as communication, rules & boundaries, conflict resolution. If anyone would like more information, please contact the office on 02380 860320.

Sheila Burton (educational psychologist) is coming to do a session on Building secure relationships. If you would like more information, please contact the office.

We are really pleased that Kirsty Bassham has joined the team as our new full time youth worker. She will be working alongside Brigitte, running the Streetwise project, mentoring young people in school as well as setting up new projects. For more information about Kirsty, see the staff page.

The playscheme for 5-11 year olds ran at the beginning of the summer holidays. We had 40 children on most days. Chris Davis from Southampton City Mission supported us with this week long playscheme. The children had a fantastic time, as did the staff and volunteers. The next activity day will be during the Christmas holidays.

The activity days for the 11-14 year olds went really well. There was a wide variety of activities they got involved in, including bushcraft skills, laserquest, a trip to Thorpe Park, Wide Game. They all had a great time.

We hosted another fashion show from Travelling Trends on 14th October. We had 5 fantastic models, who showed off the range of winter clothing. With tickets sales and commission from the sale of clothes, we raised £546. Thank you to everyone who came to support YFM.

Two of our local supporters ran the Great South Run on 30th October to raise money for YFM. Thank you to Steph and Graham, who raised at least £250, with more still to come in. A massive thank you to them, and to all who sponsored them. This funding will go towards our work in the community with children, young people and families.

We would like to thank Oakfield for their support in raising £112.73 for YFM, at their end of school production in July.

Lyndlynch Infant School have chosen YFM as their charity of the year. Mrs Barber, their headteacher recently did a skydive in support of YFM. She has raised £360, which will go towards supporting our schools worker doing 1:1 mentoring with children. We would like to say a huge thankyou to Mrs Barber and to Lydlynch Infant school for their support.

The Activity Week for 11-14 year olds was a fantastic week, giving the young people the chance to enjoy sailing, canoeing, swimming, as well as playing silly games and generally having lots of fun.

The Over 30s and Under 30s charity football match was a great success, with the Overs winning the game! They raised £325 for YFM, to support family work. Thank you to everyone involved in the event.

The new bus has now been finished – have a look under Schools & Youth Work-Streetwise tab to see a picture

To see a copy of our latest vision document, please download here.