Building communities and big opportunities

This week, Young Bristol is celebrating National Trustee Week, which is an annual celebration of the achievements and incredible work Trustees offer to our charity, between Monday 4th November - Friday 8th November.

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Young Bristol's Board of Trustees are a group of volunteers who help to drive our developing work with children and young people across Bristol.  We are pleased to work with 11 trustees, who are responsible for the strategic direction and development of the charity.

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Here are some stories directly from our Trustee's:

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Jamie Cameron has been a Trustee for Young Bristol since 2011! He was initially attracted to work with us as he wanted to be a part of our commitment to providing new opportunities for all young people!

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Since becoming a Trustee, Jamie has been involved in a wide variety of projects, from fundraising events and developing partnerships to large-scale volunteering projects and working on the development of our strategy.

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Jamie has had many highlights during his time as a Trustee. However, a stand out memory was witnessing, first-hand, the true, positive impact that we have on the lives of young people! When his son tried kayaking for the first time, he was nervous to sit inside a kayak. Now, he proudly considers himself a kayaker, after just a few sessions.

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"Since becoming a trustee at Young Bristol, I have developed a really interesting network of people and who I have been able to get to know and learn from. I have also gained really valuable experiences of working in different ways."

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Kassim Hanid has been a Trustee for Young Bristol since 2011! With a background in youth work, Kassim was initially attracted to join us as he wanted to help keep youth work alive in Bristol and support our offer to be accessible to a diverse group of young people living in Bristol.

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Since becoming a Trustee with Young Bristol, Kassim has been involved with supporting our strategic development, recruiting other Trustees, providing advice and offering a listening ear to our staff regarding the issues that young people face and youth work.

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A key highlight for Kassim whilst working with Young Bristol has been seeing the immense progress the charity has made since he started with us as a Trustee. He has been part of the many highs and lows that we have experienced over the years, and has thoroughly enjoyed being on board for our journey so far.

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"Through serving on Young Bristol's Board, I have met other Trustees who I would never have met, or worked alongside in my life."

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Thank you to our Board of Trustees for your continued support and voluntary efforts to support Young Bristol and the young people of Bristol! Find out more about our Board of Trustees here!

We are delighted to announce that are recruiting for Young Bristol’s growing Programme and Delivery team! This is an exciting opportunity to be part of a Bristol-based, well-respected, growing and dynamic charity, with a long and proud history!

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As an organisation, our mission is to be an outstanding provider of high-quality, community-based youth services and innovative programmes that positively and sustainably impact the lives of young people

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By joining our dedicated team, you can help make positive impact on the lives of young people:

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YB Youth Club on Wheels Youth Leader

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The YB Youth Club on Wheels Youth Leader is part of our growing Programme and Delivery team, where you will deliver engaging, energising and educational programmes to young people on our unique mobile provision. You will act as a role model for young people, encompassing our values and help young people to make positive choices across a number of local Bristol communities we work in.

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The YCOW Youth Leader will report to YB’s Youth Club on Wheels Lead. This is an exciting opportunity to join an award-winning Bristol-based charity with a long and proud history - championing the power of youth work, especially for those young people who need us most.

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Young Bristol are an equal opportunities employer. We are committed to inclusion across race, gender, age, religion, identity and experience.

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We recognise that people with different backgrounds , skills, attitudes and experiences bring fresh ideas and perceptions and we wish to encourage these differences to make our programmes more relevant and approachable, particularly so our young people feel represented within our organisation.

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To find out more about our role and apply, click here!

Now more than ever before, young people and families across Bristol need the support of charities like Young Bristol.

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Next year, you can make a difference by taking on a challenge whilst supporting a local cause. Whether you want to take part in a fun run, build up your physical fitness with a half marathon, or push yourself to the limits with an Ultra challenge - grab your trainers and get fundraising!

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"The day was perfect for running and it was great to meet everyone running for Young Bristol - the build up was made easier knowing you're raising money for a worthwile cause.”

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Justin, Bath Half Marathon runner

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Calendar of 2024 events:

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• The Winter Green Man Ultra - Saturday 1st March 2025, Bristol
• Bath Half Marathon - Sunday 16th March 2025, Bath
• AJ Bell Bristol Run - Sunday 11th May 2025, Bristol
• Cheddar Gorge Challenge - Sunday 8th June 2025, Bristol
• Tough Mudder - Saturday 16th August 2025, Gloucester

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Running for Young Bristol is straightforward - and FREE! We'll cover the place cost for you, and you will get your own complimentary Young Bristol branded vest. All we ask is that you pledge to fundraise for us!

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If you would like to find out more information about these events, click here!

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"Fundraising for Young Bristol was a real privilege. What’s more, as soon as I explained to people what the charity does, and how it does it, they immediately “got it” and could see how their financial support would make a real difference in a real community.”

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Erik, London Marathon runner

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‍How your support will make a difference.

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Here in Bristol, Young Bristol continues to respond at the frontline with great initiatives to keep young people engaged, inspired, empowered and active. 

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• £50 pays for a young person to go on a residential experience
• £260 pays for two evenings of Youth Work for 50 young people with a qualified youth worker
• £350 pays for one young person on our Outdoor Employment Programme to gain a First Aid qualification‍
• £1,250 allows the Youth Club on Wheels to deliver sessions in a community with no provision for a whole month

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Our Fundraising Team are here to support you! If you are interested in signing up to run for Young Bristol, or take part in a race not listed above then please contact our friendly team. Get in touch with our Fundraising Team on 0117 929 2513 or email info@youngbristol.com.

On Tuesday 15th October, we were delighted to see our Youth Club on Wheels feature on BBC's The One Show, highlighting the profound and life-changing work that the team behind this programme have delivered over the past five years!

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Our Youth Club on Wheels is a mobile youth service, providing detached support to young people aged 8-19 in hard-to-reach areas of the city and rural areas where there is currently no youth provision! Our sessions offer a number of activities to get involved with, including: sports, creative arts and the opportunity to learn new life skills!

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A parent from Speedwell's Youth Club on Wheels session explained:

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"Not only does it get them out the house and keep them off the street, it keeps them busy doing really good, fun and safe activities"

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The feature focuses on the vital work that our Youth Club on Wheels has provided to young people across a number of Bristol communities, offering them a safe space, engaging activities, a free meal, and a sense of belonging!

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Since its launch in 2019, the Youth Club on Wheels has supported nearly 1,000 young people and has become increasing popularity across the eight communities we currently serve. Both young people and parents have responded positively to our sessions, where we have also offered access to positive role models and a space where young people can thrive.

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Shea Stew, Youth Club on Wheels Lead added:

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"We create our own family whereever we are"

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During our sessions, we were joined by presenter Ashley John-Baptiste. From his own experiences growing up in care, Ashley understands the importance of youth work and positive role models, and was amazed to see the life-changing impact a youth provision like ours can have on the lives of young people.

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We were also joined by Leigh Middleton, CEO of NYA, who highlighted that many local youth clubs are closing down and revealed the need for more youth work to be available for young people in their communities.

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Ashley John-Baptiste, presenter from The One Show explained:

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"A warm space, a safe space and a meal here can make the world of difference"

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We would like to thank BBC's The One Show for the amazing opportunity to share the Youth Club on Wheels incredible work! If you missed our piece, you can watch it here!

This week, Young Bristol welcomed our staff team, Trustee Board and volunteers to BS14 Youth Club to discuss our Impact since releasing our 2022-25 strategy as well as developing how we achieve our 2025-28 strategy.

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The meeting explored how Young Bristol has consulted with children and young people, our supporters, national bodies, stakeholders, and the wider community to achieve our strategic priorities for 2022-2025.

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Our Strategy Development Meeting also focused on our new strategic priorities and gave our team and volunteers the opportunity to shape how we plan to achieve our goals over the next three years.

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Thank you to everyone that attended our Strategy Development meeting!

Last week, we were delighted to invite the team from Nine Feet Tall to BS14 Youth Club, where four incredible employees dedicated their day to help us improve our facilities for the benefit of young people!

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During their voluntary day, the generous volunteers from Nine Feet Tall helped by weeding around the club and trimming back the overgrown hedges surrounding our multi-sports court. This has improved our court's appearance and created a safer environment for our staff and young people.

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The team also assisted in our well-being garden, pruning and clearing the space, ready for new flowers to be planted.

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Thank you to the team at Nine Feet Tall for your support last week.

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If you are interested in volunteering for Young Bristol, click here to learn more about all of our voluntary opportunities!

We are delighted to announce Brandon and Brooke from the Hengrove Youth Club on Wheels session are the winners of our 2024 Film Making Competition!

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Last month, we hosted a Film Making Competition across our Community Youth Club and Youth Club on Wheels network. Young people from each club were encouraged to create a short film using a mobile phone, tablet or camera, to entered into our competition.

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We received a number of entries from across our club network, our judges chose one winner from the range of amazing creative skills that were showcased in the competition!

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The winners of our competition are Brooke and Brandon, two young people from our Hengrove Youth Club on Wheels session! In their film, the pair discussed urban exploring and the number of issues surrounding it. Both our winners were awarded with a £15 Amazon gift card each.

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Congratulations both! Keep an eye out for our next competition in November!

Young Bristol are incredibly proud to announce that Kat, Club Leader at BS14 Youth Club, was awarded the 'Outstanding Leader of the Year' award at the NABGC Awards Evening 2024.

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The 'Outstanding Leader of the Year' Award is presented to a leader at a local youth club, who has helped make the club a special and impactful place for young people over the last year. The successful leader would have helped the club to grow and develop, from raising funds, developing programmes as well as ensuring positive differences are made within young people’s lives and the wider community.

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We would like to congratulate Kat from BS14 Stockwood Youth Club, who was awarded the 'Outstanding Leader of the Year'' Award at the NABGC Awards Ceremony 2024!

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Kat was nominated as 'Outstanding Leader of the Year' award as she has acted as a rock and constant positive role model to the 305 young people attending BS14 Stockwood Youth Club over the past year. Her main focus at the club is how she can create a wide and diverse offer for young people, and has done amazingly well in doing so by leading the only Looked After Children provision in Bristol, being involved in Holiday Club activities, ensuring young people receive a hot meal each day and has undertaken a Level 2 and 3 qualification in Youth Work to help develop her skills.

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Andy Kimber, Head of Operations said:

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Kat has been an amazingly positive influence on the Club. She has taken on leading the Club with such energy and professionalism that the sessions have increased in numbers; as well as engaging and developing a diverse offer for young people and their families. Young people have been able to take part in such a range of activities this year, thanks to Kat’s activeness in ensuring young people know about external offers to broaden their horizons.”

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Young Bristol would like to recognise Cheralee, Jesse and Natasha, who were also nominated for the 'Outstanding Leader of the Year' award as well as Eli and Gracie, who were nominated for the 'Young Person of the Year' award.

Community-based youth charity Young Bristol has become the third South West charity to win a place on the region’s Noble Deeds programme.

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Set up in 2021 by Bristol-based SME Noble, the Deeds programme provides digital marketing training & support to not-for-profits, helping them deliver vital services in the area. Increasing in-line with Nobles’ own turnover, this year the support package stands at £25,000. Young Bristol will use this to upskill its marketing team and ensure its services reach the young people who need them the most.

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Supporting children and young adults aged 8-25 during their critical out of school hours in some of the most challenging areas of the city, Young Bristol’s mission is to provide innovative programmes that create a positive and sustainable impact on the lives of young people.

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With eight community youth clubs across Bristol, a mobile youth club on wheels, outdoor activity centres and an employment programme just part of what the charity offers, the support from Noble will help the Young Bristol team prioritise where its digital marketing efforts will make the most impact. As well as helping the team to learn new skills and maximise their knowledge of social media, SEO and other digital promotion techniques for a lasting impact beyond the Deeds programme.