YMCA Norfolk

YMCA Norfolk

Helping young people towards a brighter future

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Lauren Baxter

“YMCA Norfolk has had a direct impact on making me a stronger and wiser person.”

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“I was kicked out of home when I was 18 due to a relationship breakdown with my mum’s boyfriend. My relationship with my mum became difficult and she asked me to leave.”

Before coming to the YMCA, Liam was sofa surfing with friends around Norwich and Norfolk but kept ending up rough sleeping in a tent in a local woodland. “To be honest the whole period is a blur, it all happened because it was such a difficult and chaotic time in my life. I was also misusing substances, but after a period of time I was referred to Supported Lodgings”. 

He then moved in with a Supported Lodgings family in Norwich. Liam got on well with his Support Worker and found that he was understanding about his situation and didn’t judge him. He soon realised that he struggled to cope living with back in a family environment, due to his past, and decided to leave Supported Lodgings.

After spending almost a year living without a place to call home in Norwich, Liam began to feel like he had no future, and so his health declined. Liam started drinking every day and misusing substances in hopes to blot out the pain he was in. He was homeless and sofa surfing for a while before winter approached. Some friends living at YMCA Central Hostel told Liam about YMCA Norfolk and the support they can offer and so he went along to the Council’s Homelessness Team to be assessed again. 

When Liam moved into YMCA Central for the first time, he felt relieved that he had somewhere warm and safe to live, appreciating the support that was given. He had friends living there at the time and found that he could slowly start helping himself develop healthier coping mechanisms with a strong support network around him. 

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Liam then moved into MyPlace, another YMCA Accomodation, after growing in independence at YMCA Central. He said, “I immediately felt more relaxed due to having my own flat and more independence. I enjoyed my time there and I felt that I was also able to approach staff if I had any problems and they would listen and be there if I needed”.

Looking towards the future, Liam is very excited to reach the goal of having his own place and feels as though he’s equipped with all the skills needed to manage a tenancy. He wants to have a house in the Norfolk countryside and be a self-employed gardener and is currently doing a groundsman apprenticeship to help achieve this goal.

“I feel that YMCA Norfolk has had a direct impact on making me a stronger and wiser person. I feel like I have developed my confidence as a person and have enjoyed the independence given. I feel like I have proven myself with YMCA Norfolk staff and in turn they have given me encouragement and trusted me with independence”.

Name has been changed to protect the resident’s identity.

“Without the YMCA, I would not be the person I am or be where I am.” – James*’ Story

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After his dad passed away, James* struggled with his mental health and when facing homelessness, turned to YMCA Norfolk.

James’ dad passed away while he was still at school. Unsure how to cope, James regularly skipped school and got into trouble. He found himself on a declining path and fast accumulating rent debt, after attempting to move out of his family home.

Following his disrupted upbringing, James stayed with another local organisation for 2 years, before being referred to YMCA Norfolk. Moving into a safer and more comfortable environment at YMCA gave James the support to begin looking ahead to the future. At the end of his time in MyPlace, James decided that a referral to our Community Housing service would be the best route for him, as spoken about with his support worker.

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He said: “YMCA has changed my life in a good way. I have met friends through the YMCA and a lot of good people. They have given me a lot of support, even when I didn’t think I needed it.”

After his relocation, James, through the guidance of his support workers, began to be able to face his issues and deal with them. He began to feel ready to live independently, and started doing local voluntary work through the encouragement of his support system.

James hopes to begin paid employment and sort his previous debt, stating “all the workers that I have had with the YMCA have had an impact on my life, and have helped to shape the person I am now, without the YMCA I would not be the person I am or be where I am.”

*resident’s name has been changed to protect their identity

Local man housed after battling homelessness for 4 years.

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After struggling with street homelessness for 4 years, Daniel* has begun to get his life back on track with the support of YMCA Norfolk.

Following a very traumatic family upbringing, Daniel was placed in care as a child. Struggling to navigate the emotional aftermath of past trauma while being in the care system, Daniel sought refuge in hostels. Then, at the age of 18, Daniel began rough sleeping in Norwich. Battling mental health challenges, Daniel turned to addictions to cope and sought support from local homelessness charities.

After seeking support for rough sleeping, Daniel was helped by Housing First, a YMCA Norfolk service for those with complex needs. With tailored support, Daniel embarked on a journey towards securing a stable, long-term living situation while laying the groundwork for independent living.

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Despite Daniel’s resilience, developed from years of rough sleeping in cold winters and harsh conditions, Daniel was struggling with his mental health. Because of his support needs, Daniel struggled to maintain the right standard of living to cope in a hostel environment.

Housing First uses a harm-reduction approach to provide clients with housing support, but also wrap-around care that addresses their past experiences and supports their future wellbeing. The mission of Housing First is to focus on the individual, giving them the flexibility, intensive support, and time they need to rebuild their life. At YMCA, we believe that everyone has the right to affordable housing, but we also understand that not every accommodation works best for an individual. Housing First works long-term to find the best housing solution for that individual.

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Daniel was first found in these shoes walking the streets, and the YMCA team bought him some trainers as part of our initial support with Daniel.

With his support worker’s help, Daniel set up a bank account, went to the GP, and began seeking support for his mental health. Our team worked alongside other local organisations, Pathways, NCC, mental health trust, social services to ensure that Daniel remained supported by his local community.

After years of steadfast support from the Housing First team, Daniel has a place in a supported living unit where he can access 24-hour support and continue his steps to a more stable life. He’s looking forward to rebuilding his life and gaining professional support to work through his previous trauma.

*resident’s name has been changed to protect their identity

Celebrating the YMCA Norfolk team at our Staff Day Awards

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YMCA Norfolk gathered together over 100 staff members for its annual staff day at The Space, a social enterprise conference centre in Sprowston.

YMCA Norfolk hosted their staff from across all their services in an afternoon of celebrating. It was an opportunity to reflect on the past year, share thoughts for the future, and recognise the achievements of their team. Staff were also spotlighted for their dedication to the organisation, with some staff celebrating 5, 10, and even 30 years working for YMCA Norfolk.

During the awards segment of the day, four awards were given to staff who embody the ethos of YMCA Norfolk and help transform the lives of young people across Norfolk. Below are the winners of those awards.

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The Spirit of YMCA Norfolk Award
Winner: Esther Nixon

Esther is the Manager of Therapeutic and Family Services and embodies all that YMCA Norfolk stands for. After taking on the Communities Team last year, Esther has dedicated her time to transforming the wellbeing of young people and families, while also growing the team with kindness and compassion. She works hard to put others first, and makes both staff and clients feel valued, listened to, and appreciated.

Staff Member of the Year
Winner: Sharon Willimott

Sharon has dedicated many years to supporting and uplifting families, often going above and beyond to ensure that families and young people feel supported. In the past year, Sharon has helped young parents keep custody of their children, families in crisis access funds they needed, families find a home fit for purpose, and so much more… She works within YMCA Norfolk’s families team to continue to transform young lives every single day.

Team of the Year
Winner: My Place and Community Housing Norfolk

YMCA Norfolk provide over 240 young people with a safe place to stay every night; two of these accommodation options include My Place and Community Housing. My Place and Community Housing have dealt with lots of change over the past year, but handled it with grace and resilience. Despite being a small team, they continue to place young people at the heart of everything they do to support them on their journey to independent living.

Fundraising Team of the Year
Winner: Chaplaincy Team

Megan Saunders, and the YMCA Norfolk Chaplaincy Team, successfully won Fundraising Team of the Year, thanks to Megan’s incredible efforts during their Sleep Easy campaign. Putting herself out of her comfort zone and braving the cold, Megan successfully raised over £500 which will support YMCA Norfolk’s ongoing work to help homeless young people in the community

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YMCA Norfolk secures £500k grant from the National Lottery Community Fund for 3-year ‘Life Ready Work Ready’ programme

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YMCA Norfolk is delighted to announce that they have been awarded £490,298 in grant funding from the National Lottery Community Fund to deliver a county-wide training, education and employment programme.

Life Ready Work Ready will reach homeless and vulnerable young people, aged 16-25, across Norwich, Great Yarmouth and King’s Lynn, providing vital coaching support alongside their current housing operations. 

The Life Ready Work Ready project strives to break the cycle of homelessness and improve young people’s ability to sustain future employment, gain independence, raise aspirations and create an appetite for further education, training and personal development.

Set to launch in January 2024, Life Ready Work Ready will provide support to an anticipated 432 young people over a 3-year period and create 5 new job roles across the organisation.

John Lee, YMCA Norfolk CEO, commented:

“We are thrilled to have been awarded this significant amount of funding to continue our critical work in addressing the barriers that our young people face when accessing training, education and employment.

“Through building a thorough 5-stage programme, which supports project participants from stage 1 (pre-contemplation) to stage 5 (action into independence), clients will receive support which is not only bespoke to them and their goals, but also allows them to take part in training and attain qualifications at a pace that best suits them.

“Our youth and communities’ team have worked extremely hard to develop the Life Ready programme, and thanks to this new lease of funding, we are positive that its delivery will result in sustainable, long-term outcomes for our clients.”

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The National Lottery Community Fund recently launched its new strategy, ‘It starts with community’, which will underpin its efforts to distribute at least £4 billion of National Lottery funding by 2030. As part of this, the funder has four key missions, which are to support communities to come together, be environmentally sustainable, help children and young people thrive and enable people to live healthier lives.

Young people enrolled in YMCA Norfolk’s Life Ready Work Ready programme will engage in a variety of learning opportunities including independent living and budgeting courses as well as attaining knowledge around vital life skills such as gardening and cooking. Participants will also learn self-help and self-care skills through attending a mixture of 1-2-1 and group sessions with YMCA Norfolk’s passionate youth engagement team.

The ultimate goal of the programme is to empower young people to live independently, gain employment, and have a better understanding of how to access wider resources, including services managed by other charities, enterprises and health professionals.

Young people will also have the opportunity to mentor others, be part of the charity’s service development and have a voice in shaping future projects.

Jason Beattie, YMCA Norfolk Business Development Director, said:

“We are delighted that The National Lottery Community Fund has recognised our work in this way. Now, thanks to National Lottery players we will be able to further expand our operations and press on with our plans to broaden the range of training and education opportunities available to our clients.

“As an organisation we fortunate to already have strong partnerships with other charities, funders, councils and authorities across the county. We firmly believe that the more connected we are, the more impact we have, and we’re so grateful that the National Lottery shared this vision with us.”

YMCA Norfolk is actively seeking to grow their housing and youth provisions, with the executive board continuously exploring new ways to expand operations and reach those most in-need.

Part of this expansion includes a recruitment campaign, in which the charity are seeking to appoint a new Housing Director and Chief Finance Officer to support their continual growth. 

Further details on both job roles can be found at www.ymcanorfolk.org

Our new campaign to celebrate staff and volunteers 

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This campaign celebrates the small things their staff and volunteers do that have a huge impact in transforming the lives of young people across the county. 

The YMCA has been established in Norfolk since 1856 supporting and advising various communities. Now, it provides accommodation for young people facing homelessness, provides wellbeing support in the community, runs youth clubs, and has its own Community Hub on Aylsham Road with a cafe, soft play and nursery. 

The #thanksYMCA campaign is designed to showcase the wide range of work YMCA Norfolk does. Their aim is to make people more aware of the impact they have locally and how they can get involved. #thanksYMCA will run throughout September, with quotes from young people being shared on YMCA Norfolk’s website and social media. This campaign was created with the incredible support of Creativity Unbound, a creative marketing agency specialising in charities and good causes.  

YMCA Norfolk’s CEO, John Lee, said “The #thanksYMCA campaign means so much to me, to honour the dedication and support that our team provide for young people across Norfolk. It’s been amazing to read quotes about how people’s lives have been transformed.” 

Get Involved 

YMCA Norfolk are inviting anyone who shares their passion for the community of Norfolk to get involved by: 

  1. Donating Financially – Your generosity continues to transform lives and allows us to reach more young people in this county. 
  1. Fundraising – Whether you want to host your own event, or get involved with ours, sharing more about the work we do has an incredible impact. 
  1. Joining Our Team – You’ll be hearing about the impact our team has in supporting your community, perhaps consider getting more involved by volunteering or applying for a role. 

The #thanksYMCA campaign shines the light on the impact anyone can have on someone’s life, by showing them that they are heard, seen, and valued.  

Follow YMCA Norfolk on social media (@YMCANorfolk on Facebook, X, Instagram, and LinkedIn) for updates and to share your support using #thanksYMCA. Or visit https://www.ymcanorfolk.org/thanksymca/ to find out more.