STAYING CONNECTED
Staying Connected provides vital one-to-one support for young people aged 11 - 19 years and families, facing multiple challenges, experiencing crisis and hardship.
This engagement is via face to face, online via Zoom and emails, or on mobile phones using messages and telephone calls, to maintain contact with them, talk about how they are feeling and to provide advice, mentoring and signposting to additional support services.
We provide, where necessary, access to clothing, food packages and essential items.
This projects aims to:
Combat loneliness and isolation
Improve positive outlook by providing something to look forward to
Improve confidence and self-esteem
Increase happiness and positivity
Increase recognition, understanding and coping mechanisms for mental health and well-being
Improve communication skills
Signpost to additional support services
Provide trips and positive activities
Impact
133
young people engaged in 2022/23
87%
improved their emotional wellbeing & mental health
83%
received holistic 1 to 1 support
46%
volunteered in the community
86%
improved relationships with family and friends
72%
improved their physical health
88%
improved engagement with youth services
91%
improved employability opportunities
68%
improved education attainment
64%
improved attendance at school/AP
73%
improved behaviour at school/AP
83%
reduced risk of harm to self
72%
reduced risk of harm to others
90%
improved awareness of street/gang risks/safety
72%
reduced offending
80%
reduced street activity/gang involvement
Feedback
“My teenage son has been fortunate to have access to the services that YAA provides to the community. Growing up in our community without the right guidance and direction could be detrimental to our youth.
The Staying Connected mentoring sessions my son has received has helped him navigate his way safely around the community and make the right choices. Having the Hut to go to and having these adults that the youths trust and respect keeps them off the streets and keeps them safe.
My son has attended numerous trips with YAA during the school holiday periods which he has really enjoyed and it would be great if this could continue. I would like to thank Louis and the team at YAA for all the work they do with our youths, I’m not sure where they would be without them.”
““I have done so many things with YAA, from trips during school holiday’s, attending regular sessions, playing football for the YAA tournaments, and getting regular 1 to 1 mentoring. I’ve also been part of Peer Mentoring where I’ve been mentored by older peers and I also had the opportunity to mentor to younger peers.
If it wasn’t for YAA, I would have missed out on so much and I know that I probably would have got involved in negative things.””
“Thank you for all the support you have provided to TB, you are one of a few that he trusts. When ending his order with YOT a he expressed he only wanted to work with one person and that was you because of all the support he had received when he was younger. He really valued your support and he felt out of all the professionals he has known he’s able to open up and talk.”
Case studies
CC, 17 year old boy
CC, 17 years old, lives in North London with his siblings and works part time in a local restaurant. His teenage years were a struggle as his father was not in the picture, and his mum died of cancer when he was just 12. This was really difficult for him, affecting his ability to concentrate in school, and stay out of trouble.
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Around the time his mum died, he started attending YAA. He grew very close to staff, who he now considers family. The one to one mentoring sessions helped him to come to terms with his bereavement and to channel his emotions in a better way.
“I had a lot of problems with people in school, I was a nuisance in class and had many arguments and fights. This was a build-up of my sadness turning into anger and I struggled with that, holding that in. This affected my learning as well.”
After he was sent to Alternative Provision for being involved in a fight in school, his mentor helped him get back into a mainstream school to continue his education through further mentoring and one to one sessions. He is now undertaking”
After he was sent to Alternative Provision for being involved in a fight in school, his mentor helped him get back into a mainstream school to continue his education through further mentoring and one to one sessions. He is now undertaking his A-levels, continues working part-time, and hopes to go to university.
CC attributes the consistency of the support provided by us to help him focus on studying and stay away from involvement in criminal activities.
“Around that time, I probably would have been involved in really dangerous stuff like gangs and crime. YAA really pushed me away from that.”
FT, 15 yr old boy
FT, 15 was at risk of permanent exclusion and was in a trial transfer to another school; also known as an agreed managed move between him, the two schools, and his parents. FT struggled to engage positively in his daily activities, school work and lacked trust in others. He also lacked self esteem and self worth and usually found other means of expressing his negative emotions by distracting others and using the classroom as a playground rather than an environment to learn and grow.
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FT engaged in the Staying Connected project where he discovered a safe space to communicate without being judged. He used the group sessions to explore his feelings and share his concerns. The one to one sessions helped him smoothly transition into his new school placement. His behaviour greatly improved, he would even call the project lead to inform when he could not attend a session.
Through this project he felt 'heard'. He built some great friendships and now enjoyed being in the presence of his friends and staff. The staff set firm and clear boundaries with FT, always making the time to communicate with him in a way that he understood.
The skills he gained whilst engaging in this project were most certainly transferable. As a result, he became more confident and learnt to manage situations of conflict in school in a calm and collected manner, without crossing boundaries and falling back into the old behaviour.
FT is now looking forward to sitting his GCSEs and exploring the next steps to further his education.
IM, 15 yr old boy
IM, 15 has been part of the Staying Connected programme since the project started. He is diagnosed with ADHD which means he often finds school challenging. IM responds really positively to mentoring support and the Staying Connected lead worker has been his mentor for nearly two years.
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Unfortunately IM had to be taken out of mainstream education in early 2023 due to his in-school support being removed and him consequently struggling to manage himself in the classroom and around the school.
Since then, IM has been home-schooled whilst his family searched for a new school for him to attend.
Staying Connected has provided IM with extra mentoring sessions in this challenging time and in these sessions we have worked on managing emotions, self-esteem and self-belief and putting together a toolbox of strategies and skills to take into his next education provision and help him finish secondary school in a positive and progressive manner.
We have also encouraged IM to stay fit and active during this time and he has incorporated daily drills and fitness programmes into his life.
IM has become a key youth advisor for the Staying Connected programme and has had vital input to adapt the programme to suit the needs of other young people in crisis.
IM will be starting at a new educational provision in due course and we will continue to support him to settle in and continue progressing.
Contact
Bilal Arakji
Staying Connected Support Worker
bilal.arakji@youthactionalliance.org