News and stories

We are thrilled to share that 2 young people from our Creative Wellbeing programme have successfully completed their Arts Award Bronze certificates!

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Two members of The Grove @ Bedminster Down, Alfie and Ellis aged 12, were awarded their Arts Award Bronze certificates for their participation in our 12-week Creative Wellbeing Programme, developing creative ways to improve mental health through reflective and expressive workshops.

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This 12-week project has been kindly funded by Groundwork UK and Comic Relief, and saw 13 young people aged 8 - 19 take part in a series of activities and workshops, learning about local artists, taking part in community social-action, and delivering a skill-sharing badge making workshop to young people at Ashton Vale Club for Young People. Young people also had the opportunity to work towards their Arts Award Bronze and Explore certificates during the project.

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We wish to congratulate all of the young people who have taken part in our creative programmes and look forward to giving others the opportunity to gain their Arts Award in 2022.

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For more information please email the Creative Team on creative@youngbristol.com or call on 0117 929 2513.

Bristol City's Robins Foundation and Young Bristol bring the BS14 X Robins Foundation programme to young people ages 12-19 living in South Bristol.

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The BS14 X Robins Foundation launching Friday 11th February 2022, will bring positive sports activities to young people at BS14 Youth Club. The program will include issue-based discussions, provide opportunities to gain new skills and improve techniques, make new friendships, and explore future opportunities. The program is inclusive and accessible to all.

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Young Bristol looks forward to working with the Robins Foundation, providing sport and learning opportunities to the wider community.

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The weekly program will take place:

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• Every Friday, 6:30pm-8:30pm at BS14 Youth Club, Stockwood Lane, BS14 8SJ

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Interested in joining the program? No need to book, just turn up!

We are delighted to announce the appointment of Andy Kimber, Head of Operations at Young Bristol. 

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The Head of Operations is a new Role that has been created to assist Young Bristol’s expanding team in delivering on its 2022-25 Five Key Strategic Priorities, ensuring YB continues to play a leading and expanding role within Bristol’s Voluntary Sector. 

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Andy Kimber has been involved with young people throughout his career. Always with an interest in sports, he worked with young people all around the world as a snowsports instructor and outdoor activity instructor. He combined this love with youth work for a youth charity affecting positive change in young people using snowsports and life-skills. Andy previously worked for Young Bristol in 2019 as their Youth and Community Lead, before going into teaching for 2 years. He joins us with a passion to help all young people to discover their potential and provide a supportive network for them to thrive.

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This appointment comes at an exciting time – supporting Young Bristol’s developing work with children and young people across Bristol, and will see the Head of Operations play a vital role in ensuring Young Bristol delivers on its 2022-25 Vision, Mission and Strategic Priorities. 

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We hope you will join us in welcoming Andy Kimber to the Young Bristol team!

"You can see how our work continues to change lives; and it is these stories that inspire all of us to do more."

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We are very proud to publish this year's Impact Report for 2020-21, which demonstrates the positive impact Young Bristol are continuing to have on so many children and young people, in and around Bristol.

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This year's Impact Report was launched at our President's Meeting on Wednesday 1st December 2021. The President's Meeting welcomed our staff team, Trustee Board and Vice Presidents to discuss our Impact during 2020-21 and Young Bristol's 2021-24 Strategy development.

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The meeting explored how Young Bristol has consulted with children and young people, our supporters, national bodies and stakeholders, together with the wider community throughout 2021. It is really important for the team at Young Bristol to reflect on how far we have come over the years, helping us to build our future aspirations for the organisation, to be able to respond to future needs and keep young people at the heart of everything that we do.

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Our impact

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*"The way the youth sector has come together, both locally and nationally has shown how we can work together to respond to the needs of young people."

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Young Bristol has been at the core of Bristol’s communities for over 90 years, adapting and evolving when faced with challenges, to ensure that we are there in local communities, providing safe spaces, empowering and inspiring children and young people to overcome and achieve great futures.

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This has been a year unlike any others, as we were faced with the unprecedented challenge of supporting young people during a pandemic and multiple national lockdowns. At a time when we knew that young people desperately needed safe spaces to go to, opportunities to connect with their friends and to try something new; we were not able to open the doors of our clubs and activity programmes for large periods of the year. With that in mind, I am incredibly proud of the way that the Young Bristol team adapted its way of working to continue to meet the needs of young people.

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The effects of the pandemic on young people are significant, but are not new, and have served to highlight the issues of loneliness, wellbeing and poor employment prospects that so many young people across the city were sadly already facing. There are no quick answers to these issues, but we know the preventative value and long term impact of our work, and we remain committed to providing quality open access provision in our local communities.

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Looking to the future, we want to build on what we have learnt from the last year and to invest in our people, facilities and partnerships to meet the increasing demand for our support. With that in mind, I have been really pleased to see the way that the youth sector in Bristol came together through this period and we are looking forward to working as part of the Bristol Voluntary and Community sector (VCS) youth work group to develop and deliver its new strategy.

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As we look ahead, I am pleased to share our 2020 – 21 Impact Report, which demonstrates the passion, drive and commitment of the staff team, trustees, fundraising committee and volunteers behind Young Bristol. Thank you for your fantastic and continued support, and I hope you enjoy reading our impact in this year’s report.

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Jamie Cameron

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CHAIR OF YOUNG BRISTOL

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Our key highlights

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Some of our key highlights from this year’s Impact Report include:

• 2,025 young people supported by our programmes during COVID-19
• 20,492 reached on 69 interactive videos on social media
• 629 face-to-face and online sessions delivered
• 56 qualifications awarded by young people ages 8 – 25
• 16 communities supported across Bristol and the surrounding areas
• 4 new communities received youth provision during 2020 – 21
• The Queen’s Award for Voluntary Service was awarded to Young Bristol, the highest award a voluntary group can receive in the UK

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Download our 2020-21 Impact Report

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Designed by Fontology Studio.

New partnership with Redpoint Bristol will see Young Bristol's Outdoor Employment Programme trainees work at the Indoor Climbing Centre!

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Young Bristol's FREE Outdoor Employment Programme is open to young people ages 16 – 25 across Bristol. This scheme supports young people to gain qualifications, meet new friends, and build a future towards a positive employment as an outdoor instructor, with our partnered local outdoor centres.

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Five trainees from our Outdoor Employment Programme have begun their training and work experience at the Indoor Climbing Centre. It is fantastic to be collaborating with local outdoor pursuit centres, supporting our city's young people in gaining access to employment opportunities. A massive thanks to Redpoint Bristol for all their support!

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If you're aged between 16 - 25 and want to get involved with the Outdoor Employment Programme, contact Phil Harris at ph@youngbristol.com. We will be recruiting new trainees in early December!

“There are loads of benefits to working with Young Bristol, in terms of business, as well as culture and morale” – Chris Sheard, founder of SR2 Recruitment.

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Corporate partnerships are important to Young Bristol and aim to be mutually beneficially to the parties involved; encouraging team building, meeting corporate social responsibility objectives, securing positive PR and supporting corporates to reach new audiences. Our partnerships aim to ensure shared value and impact.

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Local business SR2 (Socially Responsible Recruitment) winners of ‘Best New Agency’ at the Recruiter Awards 2020, are a recruitment company founded in 2017 in Bristol, specialising in IT and Engineering recruitment. It is important to SR2 as a business to be socially responsible, contributing to society by prioritising people and giving back to the local community. And so during 2020-21, the company chose Young Bristol to be one of two of SR2’s Charity of the Years. At SR2 it is core to the business to not only support charities and make a difference financially, but to also ensure that there is staff involvement during the partnership, and that the charity they support is in line with their corporate beliefs.

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Young Bristol has been on SR2’s radar because of its great reputation and being in the press as an award winning charity, said Chris, owner of SR2. SR2’s process of selecting a charity partner is always through staff recommendations, ensuring that the team feel connected to the cause they are helping. The ethos of Young Bristol really stood out to SR2 as a children’s charity that is driven in creating opportunities, and being active in helping young people find their potential.

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The proactive and outdoor approach of Young Bristol is also very much in-line with the interests of SR2, as staff can go out and volunteer in the community, which is great in ensuring staff from SR2 can see the difference that their support is having. It is very important to SR2 “to not just write a cheque”, but to be as involved as possible in the charity; and Young Bristol provides multiple opportunities to do so, which results in “ a definite increase in staff engagement”, adds Chris.

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During 2020, SR2 donated over £8,300 to Young Bristol, as well as six members of their team getting involved in Young Bristol’s fundraising event, raising an additional £600! Events like the Road to River Duathlon have been a great way for staff to volunteer and get involved with the charity, so early on in the partnership.

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2021 saw the partnership continue, with SR2 planning to engage with further volunteering opportunities to benefit the local community such as workshops to improve CV writing and employability skills, as well as taking part in a recent fundraising challenge which saw their team cycle virtually from Bristol to Berlin… and back.

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SR2 this week surprised the Young Bristol team, donating £41,716.38 to Young Bristol and Jessie May Trust. This outstanding charitable donation will support Young Bristol's Outdoor Employment Programme and Creative Programme, developing confidence and allowing a safe space for expressive working, and providing young people with new skills, unique opportunities and a direct pathway into employment.

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SR2’s partnership with Young Bristol continues to have a positive impact, with Chris adding, *“Our partnership with Young Bristol feels like a good fit for us and even in the current climate, is a partnership that can grow”. Thank you SR2!

We are delighted to announce the appointment of four new Trustees to the Young Bristol Board.

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These appointments come at an exciting – as well as challenging time for the charity, supporting Young Bristol's developing work with children and young people across Bristol. We continue to build on the importance that Young Bristol's Board has a broad representation of skills, background and experiences; as well as a shared passion for our mission.

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Meet the Trustees

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Victoria Matthews, Trustee, Victoria joined the Board of Young Bristol in 2021, she currently oversees the management of the Bristol & West of England Initiative at Business West, bringing together city and community leaders. Victoria works with stakeholders across the city, representing employers and key sectors across the economy, to ensure our region is the best place to live, learn and work. Victoria helps shape and influence our city and also sits on the Bristol Women’s Commission. Victoria previously studied politics at Cardiff University and is passionate about ensuring equality and diversity is at the heart of decisions and making sure our city’s young people have a voice. Out of work you can find Victoria walking her dog, baking or cycling. (Image ID: 13337)

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Charles Wyld, Trustee, Charles joined the Board of Young Bristol in 2021, having previously been involved through Bristol Youth and Community Action. He has served as Trustee/Governor for a number of organisations in Bristol and elsewhere, and was Chair of St George’s Bristol for 6 years. Following a career in Law, Charles now acts as Consultant/Adviser/Trustee to a range of businesses, families and charities; helping with governance and strategic planning. He was High Sheriff of the City of Bristol in 2019. As a father of three sons, he knows the value of activities in the outdoors! (Image ID: 13318)

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Marcus Graham, Trustee, Marcus Graham is the head of Transaction Services at Smith & Williamson’s Bristol office. Marcus had various positions in not-for-profit organisations in London before relocating to Bristol with his young family in 2016. He is committed to Bristol and to contributing his skills to support the provision and development of opportunities for young people in the city. (Image ID: 13323)

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Mark Hammond, Trustee, Mark spent four decades working in social and private sector housing and support, focusing particularly on meeting the needs of young people leaving local authority care. He has chaired and served on the governing bodies of a range of community-based charities and voluntary organisations. Growing up in coastal Kent, Mark spent much of his spare time at the local youth club and outdoor pursuits centre. He learned there about the importance of safe, supportive environments that enable young people to be challenged and develop through new activities. Mark moved to Bristol in 2019 to help care for his new granddaughter. (Image ID: 13320)

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A special recognition

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Young Bristol would also like to share our biggest thanks to Trustee Robin Geller, who this year retired from Young Bristol's Board. We would like to thank Robin for dedicating her time, effort, support, and guidance, in particular surrounding her work on Governance, throughout her time as Trustee of Young Bristol. We are thrilled however to be welcoming Robin into her new supporting position of Vice President. (Image ID: 8277)

Young Bristol have today been honoured with The Queen’s Award for Voluntary Service, the highest award a voluntary group can receive in the UK.

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Young Bristol is an outstanding provider of community-based youth services that positively and sustainably impact the lives of young people aged 8 – 24 years.

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Founded in 1928, Young Bristol has evolved into one of Bristol’s leading youth charities, providing 9 Community Youth Clubs and a Youth Club on Wheels, Outdoor Activities, as well as Sports, Creative, Employment and Educational programmes in communities across the city.

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Volunteers are at the centre of our work; working with young people during their critical non-school hours to offer a choice of opportunities, experiences, education, training and accredited learning.

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Lee Williams, CEO of Young Bristol commented, “On behalf of everyone connected with Young Bristol, including the many volunteers who support our work in so many ways, we are deeply honoured to receive this prestigious Award. 

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"Our army of volunteers make a profound and lasting impact on the lives of the children and young people we work with, supporting, inspiring and empowering them to succeed.”

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We are delighted to announce that two new Trustees have been appointed to the Young Bristol Board.

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These appointments build on the importance that Young Bristol has a broad representation of skills, backgrounds and experiences on our Board, to help steer the charity as we develop and diversify our services.

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Carolyn Jenkins, Trustee

Carolyn has many years’ experience across a broad range of commercial disciplines and industry sectors. She currently divides her time between working on commercialisation projects at the University of Bristol, holding roles as Director/Observer on the boards of various University spin out companies, and other freelance and charitable activities. Carolyn joined Young Bristol as a Trustee in December 2019, and is committed to Bristol and supporting the development of young people in the city.

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Jenny Singleton, Trustee

Jenny works at a local secondary school as a Deputy Head with responsibility for School Development. She has recently moved back to Bristol having worked in and around London as a Maths teacher and pastoral leader for over twenty years. Jenny is delighted to be back in the city where she grew up and is committed to supporting the work and aims of Young Bristol. She enjoys running, particularly in the Bristol 10K and is currently completing her Doctorate in Education at UWE. Jenny is also a governor at Claremont Special School.