The Cupboard Project

BASIC INFORMATION

Case study date: January 2007

Local authority in which project based: Leeds

Date started: January 2000

End date if not ongoing: ongoing

Type of organisation: Voluntary youth organisation

Brief description

The Cupboard Project is a health project for young people aged 13-19 within South Leeds. It offers a range of services to improve the health and wellbeing of the most vulnerable young people, by addressing health inequalities, promoting participation in decision making and youth action, and improving services through collaboration and partnership work. Services include one-to-one support, group work, drop-ins and development work. The ‘Bling’ (Broader Learning in New Groups) programme was set up as part of a national Young People’s Development Programme (YPDP) aimed at addressing risk taking behaviour among young people aged 13 to 15. Bling offers access to volunteering opportunities such as community based projects, peer education supported through ‘Bling Friday’, consultation activity, involvement in decision making within The Cupboard and input into national and local events.

Collaboration

Originally set up by a partnership of agencies working in Leeds 10, Cupboard now works in partnership with the City Council, Leeds Primary Care Trust (PCT) and a range of voluntary groups. It is managed by South Leeds Health for All (SLHFA).

Funding

South Leeds PCT provides core funding (£40,000 p.a.) The Department of Health funded YPDP initiative provided funding of £54,000 p.a. between 2004 and 2007. Continuation funding from DoH (£35,000 to March 2008) has recently been secured under the ‘Youth Work for Health’ initiative, based on extending the YPDP model. Connexions provide additional funding for targeted work. Other local funders include Hunslet and Middleton CIT, Community Fund – Awards for All, and Breeze Opportunities Fund.

Staffing

Staff team includes a full-time project coordinator, two full-time and two part-time young people’s development workers, sessional workers, and a part-time administrator.

NATURE OF PROVISION

Which groups of young people does the project work with and why?

The Cupboard works with young people aged 13-19 from the South Leeds area. It targets those who are most likely to face health inequalities, including young people who have recently settled in this country, travellers, young people excluded from school or at risk of exclusion, young parents and young women at risk of pregnancy. It also works with homeless young people, those with learning difficulties and young people who witness domestic violence. There is an equal gender balance.

The Bling programme works specifically with young people aged 13-15. While funded under YPDP, it aimed to recruit up to 25 participants per year. Participants are predominantly female (62%) and white British (76%).

How was the need for the project identified?

A partnership of agencies working in Leeds 10 identified a need to reduce teenage pregnancies within the area in line with ‘Health of the Nation 1991’ which identified sexual health as one of five key issues to address. The project developed further in response to increasing demands from young people.

How do young people become involved? what, if any, commitment do you ask for?

Cupboard takes referrals from various local agencies, including Connexions, social services, schools, parents, 0-16 team, and self-referral. Young people accepted onto YPDP are required to take part in activities for between six to 10 hours per week over a year.

What are the main approaches used and activities offered?

Cupboard uses a young person centred approach to its work by identifying those most in need, most disadvantaged and most excluded and offering a programme of preventative work in response to their individual needs. Its interventions focus on ‘where young people are and not where they are expected to be’. The core programme of work includes one-to-one support, group work, and drop-in support focussing on key health issues including nutrition, physical activity, sexual health and emotional health.

Young people taking part in Bling are offered a range of services and activities including group work sessions offering support on issues specific to young men, young women and a mixed group providing opportunities to talk about a range of health related issues. Bling Friday is a peer education group, which trains young people in the key skills for group work, presentations and research to educate themselves and others about key health issues. A structured programme of training allows young people to work towards formal accreditation through ‘Getting Connected’ and residential work assists with team building and young people’s rights. Young people completing training go on to devise, develop and deliver their own workshops in various settings including local schools, youth projects and housing projects. The group has also made presentations to a range of adult audiences, such as South Leeds PCT Board and Belle Isle Forum, and produced various resources to promote and support their work.

Young people also take part in a range of consultation activities as part of the project’s own evaluation processes and in response to national policy/initiatives such as Youth Matters. Recent consultation activity has been undertaken with Connexions, CAFCASS (Children and Family Courts Advisory Services) and The NYA Partners in Innovation programme. Young people are regularly involved in planning, facilitating and evaluating consultation and celebration events and were involved in recruitment processes for the Children and Young People’s Commissioner and YPDP project workers.

Links with local organisations such as Groundwork has resulted in an expansion of the volunteering programme through provision of ‘taster’ style opportunities which focus on community/environmental based activities. There are also opportunities to get involved in producing a community magazine ‘Southside @ The Cupboard’.

How are young people involved in shaping the project?

The project uses informal feedback and focus groups to ensure it continues to meet young people’s expressed needs. Various initiatives have been developed in response to needs identified by young people including additional drop-in support, work with young parents and young people who are recent arrivals to the country.

Young people also feed into more formal decision making structures through representation on the project’s steering committee and the Children and Young People’s Development Group.

How does the project respond to the needs of different young people, particularly the most marginalised?

The project has a strong track record of prioritising those young people in greatest need and targeting resources accordingly. Targeted support is provided to a range of groups both as part of the core work and through dedicated programmes such as YPDP and, more recently, the ‘Common Ground’ programme for young people who have recently settled in England.

OUTCOMES OF WORK

Does the project contribute to the five Every Child Matters outcomes for young people?

Making a positive contribution – through provision of a range of volunteering and decision-making opportunities

Being healthy – project offers programmes focusing on fun and physical activity, and a range of support services covering issues including healthy eating and cooking, mental and emotional health, drugs and smoking.

Staying safe – one-to-one and group support in areas such as bullying and risk taking behaviour. ‘Common Ground’ programme focussed on safety in the community as a means of supporting those who have recently settled and facing potential conflict in their communities.

Achieve economic wellbeing – young people aged 16-plus are supported in their transition from school to work/college, including opportunities to learn new skills through volunteering and work experience placements at the Cupboard.

Enjoying and achieving – Bling provides opportunities to gain national accreditation.

What skills do young people gain through the project?

Young people gain improved knowledge and understanding across a range of health related issues. Peer educators develop skills in group work, presentations, and research, while those involved in magazine production learn to work as a team and increase their IT skills.

How are young people's progress and achievements measured, recorded and celebrated?

One-to-one sessions are used to review young people’s individual progress. Young people compile portfolios for accreditation through ‘Getting Connected’ scheme. Individual case studies are also produced and included in annual evaluation reports. The project also awards its own inhouse certificates. It includes individual case studies in evaluation reports, and celebrates young people’s achievements through parties and events.

What has changed for other young people, organisations or the wider community as a result of the project?

The project’s work contributes to wider developments around community health. It supports young people’s progression from involvement in the work of the project to taking their next (often big) steps to making positive contributions to the local community.

MEASURING EFFECTIVENESS

How is the project evaluated?

South Leeds Health for All undertook an evaluation of the project in 2004 on behalf of the PCT.

The Bling project is evaluated as part of the YPDP national evaluation carried out by the Social Science Research Unit (SSRU). The NYA undertook annual assessment visits in support of the national evaluation and maintain regular contact with the project in their role as training and coordination agents.

The project is currently working towards adopting a management information system which will use baselines and distance travelled techniques to assess progress.

What are the findings of any evaluations to date?

Evaluation carried out in 2004 found that ‘young people have been engaged fully at all levels of the project’ and ‘the strength of the project is that the principles underlying the work run throughout…’

What changes/developments have occurred as a result of evaluation?

Many changes and developments have been based on the project’s own perceptions, largely in response to needs identified by young people themselves. A recent example is a new service focusing on working with young people moving on from education to employment, attempting to fill some of the gaps identified through mainstream services.

What has worked well and why?

Cupboard’s holistic approach means that the young people build up a strong relationship with the project and have an increased ense of identity, factors which encourage them to get involved in voluntary activity.
Cupboard can offer opportunities for progression beyond Bling – a range of activities, including volunteering are also offered to young people 16-plus.

What has been difficult and why?

Young people’s other commitments – the need for flexibility.
It can be difficult to encourage those who do not have a strong identity with the project – for instance those referred from schools - to become involved in volunteering activities.

PARTNERSHIP AND STRATEGIC IMPACT

What other agencies do you work with?

The project works in partnership with many agencies from both statutory and voluntary sector including PCT, Cockburn and South Leeds High School and LEAP Children’s Society.

What does your organisation bring to partnership work?

The Cupboard has a dedicated team of workers with a range of talents and experience. They have developed an understanding of young people’s needs in the local area.

Has this partnership resulted in greater collaboration or increased understanding between partners?

A strong multi agency steering group has developed to provide clear direction to the project’s work.

Have you experienced any particular difficulties in partnership working?

Some difficulties arise from the different approaches taken to working with young people – partners often have different perspectives on what is meant by ‘young people centred’.

How do you disseminate the learning from the project?

Work in partnership with The NYA and DoH has provided numerous opportunities to share good practice and increase the project’s profile nationally. Young people recently took part in an NYA planning and dissemination event celebrating Partners in Innovation, including facilitating workshops and acting as panel members.

Locally, the project shares its successes through the local press and the community magazine.

Has the learning from this work influenced wider organisational/service strategies?

The project has influenced youth policy and local services provision for young people. Examples include input into Adolescent Health Conference, European Conference on Every Child Matters and local consultations around Connexions and Youth Matters.

What plans do you have to sustain/develop this work?

Youth Work for Health funding will support core activities and further work building on the YPDP model.

The project is looking at ways of securing long term core funding, ideally through combined PCT and youth service streams once commissioning services are in place.

CONTACT DETAILS

Flavia Docherty, The Cupboard Project, 92 Windmill Road, Leeds LS10 3HJ. Tel: 0113 276 2720. Fax: 0113 2776868