2022 Main Grant -  Space2Grow #27 

AWARDS

 

Award Summary Infographic

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We are pleased to confirm £70,000 worth of either full or part funding to 11 Young Barnet Foundation members delivering projects that target children, young people and/or families whose needs are greatest and support YBF and LBB/CCG's ambition of developing and enhancing the capacity and sustainability of the local children and young people’s voluntary, community and social enterprise sector. This funding has been provided via London Borough of Barnet Family Services. 

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Maxability - £7,411 

Wheel of Youth is a project which focuses on reducing social isolation among young people with Special Educational Needs, learning or physical disabilities on the Grahame Park estate, using the medium of ceramics and pottery. The project will take place at Flightways, each week for a 14 week period, culminating in a 1 day on site showcase and a 1 days off site display.  

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London Jewish Family Centre - £6,300 

Support groups for siblings of neurodiverse children to be held after school on Thursday evenings during term time. For Jewish families in Barnet who require a culturally sensitive service and who struggle to access wider support.  

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Action Youth Boxing Intervention - £9,000 

Real Talk has been formulated to improve the physical and mental wellbeing of participants by combining Cognitive Behaviour Therapy (CBT) and boxing training. Each session is a mixture of physical exercise, visuals, worksheets and circle time group discussions where young people get to talk about issues that may be concerning them and come up with solutions to help resolve their challenges. 

The sessions are tailored to the group's needs so where required, one-to-one discussions will take place between students and our mentors if the young person does not wish to talk within the group. 

Also, where individuals may have difficulty expressing themselves in writing, worksheets and other learning aids are adaptable so they can use visuals if they feel more comfortable drawing their responses. 

On completion of the full programme, young people will receive accreditation from ASDAN and can continue on to complete the Level One Box England Award which they can use towards employment or further education. 

 

The project will take place in Saint Mary and Saint John’s School and The Pavillion PRU.  

 

Wild About Our Woods CIO - £5,502 

The ‘Woodland Wellbeing project’ will pilot the introduction of an outdoor learning programme based in nature to support children’s physical health and mental wellbeing within the primary school community of Northside School in Finchley.  

In a green open space close to the school we will create social opportunities for 4 groups of pupils to attend 10 nature based sessions each, plus offer one-to-one support to 4 school teachers to develop outdoor learning with their class, co-delivering one session with them so the whole school will experience outdoor learning.  

Early intervention and support is increasingly needed at these school to support positive mental health and physical well being.  

Utilising Forest School activities we will facilitate physical, educational, therapeutic and social activities to support their emotional wellbeing, physical stamina which in turn will help to build resilience and self esteem beyond the programme.  

Participants will be able to engage, enjoy and enhance the local woodlands while making better connections to each other and in turn themselves. The school will select the classes to take part, offer outdoor learning support to four teachers and also select a member of staff to undertake the Forest School Training to carry the school programme forward. 

 

Stonegrove Community Trust - £6,000 

The project is to deliver two days a week during term time of innovative ‘free play’ activities to pre school and primary age children. These innovative and exciting sessions are delivered using an award-winning, state-of-the-art creative play kart (the Nüdel Kart) which can be used by up to 30 x 3–12 year olds both indoors and outdoors. 

The kart, donated from Playground Ideas, consists of 200+ open-ended ‘loose parts’ which can be reconfigured in endless ways by children and encourage self-directed learning and development. 

 

Khulisa - £4,305 

Our award-winning wellbeing programme is called “Face It”. Delivered to groups of 10-12 young people in schools over a 6-week period, the intervention has been continually refined and improved since it was first delivered in the UK in 2007. 

The key elements which make it so effective, are: 

- Our facilitators are highly qualified drama therapists. We use creative arts to help young people recognise and express their feelings in a nonverbal way. This is particularly useful for children lacking emotional literacy. 

- We deliver the programme in groups, which allows us to explore dynamics such as the role of peer pressure, violence including toxic relationships, gangs and bullying cultures. Our therapists also use talking pieces and games to help them practise their communication skills in a safe space. 

- We also provide time for 1-1 debriefs and reflections, allowing each young person to embed their learning and explore their personal issues on a deeper level. 

 

Each programme is delivered over a 6-week period, using art, drama and debating techniques to connect with young people’s emotions. Each young person receives a total of ~25 hours or 7 days of contact time. This is split between time spent in a group (~90%) and 1 to 1 (~10%) with our highly qualified art and drama therapists. After the programme, where needed or appropriate, young people are referred onto local partner services 

 

Saracens Foundation - £3,834 

‘Support Her’ will deliver workshops developing an understanding of mental health and wellbeing, teaching preventative coping strategies to girls' at secondary school age. The project aims to prevent the long-term negative impacts of poor mental health on physical, cognitive, emotional and social wellbeing. The workshops will be co-designed with specialist input from mental health professionals to ensure the validity and suitability of information communicated through these workshops. 

 

Support Her will be offered to state secondary schools across Barnet, with priority given to schools in areas of high deprivation. We will work collaboratively with the schools, CAHMS and other local mental health services to identify at risk age groups or individual students. 

‘Support Her’ will have an effective legacy by upskilling young people to become mental health advocates within their schools. They will have the ability to identify signs of mental health, report concerns to designated school leads and support their peers to access professional support when required. 

 

Community Network Group CIC - £9,000 

Provision of extracurricular club activities for Farsi speaking migrant children in North Finchley, to include Art, Chess, Music, Drama and Debating across 22 Saturdays during the coming year.  

Head Held High - £9,000 

We will run 3 x "The Best You" 6 - week behaviour-change programmes with The Ben Kinsella Trust, targeting 30 young people at risk of exclusion and possibly affiliated with criminal activity. The course is broken down into 6 x 1.5-hour workshops led by two motivational coaches. We work on transforming aggressive behaviour, overcoming obstacles, discovering one's goals, creating a winning personal statement, C.V, and interview techniques. The groups of up to 10 young people receive one-to-one coaching and are set weekly tasks to improve their lives. During the 5th week, the group is taken to The Ben Kinsella Trust to learn about the impact of knife crime and we aim through this powerful session to prevent young people from getting involved in that world and also realise how precious their lives are. 

On completion, each participant receives a certificate of achievement and character reference whenever needed to help with future employment opportunities. 

 

Arts Depot Trust Ltd - £5,000 

This year 10-12 young people with learning disabilities will start on our 10 week, 1 day per week, SEN (group learning) work experience programme. Participants are referred by Barnet & Southgate College, The Village School, Shafetsbury and Oaktree Schools, and 90% earn a Bronze Arts Award providing a valuable addition to their CV. This programme builds self-confidence and new friendships, and introduces young people to the roles and responsibilities involved in running a busy arts centre. 

 

During the programme we will match 5 of the young people to host organisations who will provide 10 week work placements, 1 day per week, where the young people will work independently on task based activities. 

In 2022 four placements were provided by icandance, Face Front Theatre and two by artsdepot. Camden Arts Centre, Alexandra Palace and Chicken Shed Theatre have expressed an interest in hosting a placement. 

 

We Are Grow - £4,648 

An upscaled second year of our 6-month outdoor learning programme known as the ‘GROW-COOK- SHARE’ (GCS) project at the GROW Farm between March-September 2023. 

GCS aims to empower families to make healthy lifestyle choices, encourage future local growers, and improve physical and mental well-being. 

GCS will be delivered for 12 families (2 more than in 2022) who experience barriers to healthy living, and access to green spaces. Families will be made up of up to 6 individuals. 

GCS will take families on a shared journey of learning how to grow their own food using (already built) dedicated large raised beds on the GROW Farm. Each family will be given their own bed to look after and grow food on for the duration of the project. Expert guidance will be led by our facilitators to support best practice in sustainable food growing, and additional workshops on cooking and nutrition 

will be delivered. Through learning about and experiencing whole family health benefits, this project aims to increase the likelihood of new habits in healthy eating and cooking, time spent outdoors, and general well-being developing. 

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