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Status
Received: 21 days late
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Income
£457.1K
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Spending
£459.1K
Public benefits
The purposes of the organisation are to advance education for young people and adults and also to promote the benefit of young people in the Lower Falls area of West Belfast (herein called 'the area of benefit') and to educate and assist such young people through their activities, so they grow to full maturity as individuals and members of society
and that their conditions of life may be improved. The direct benefits which flow from this purpose include the development, education and inclusion of marginalised, at risk young people. The benefits also include offering young people who have disengaged from or been excluded from mainstream education an alternative setting in which to achieve their learning potential with additional support mechanisms in pace. The organisation works in tandem with statutory agencies, social workers and education welfare. Our second purpose focuses on relieving the needs of young people in particular. Newstart achieves this via offering wraparound, holistic support to the young person and their family. We run a Parent’s Group and offer training and volunteer opportunities for parents to support the positive development of their relationship with their young person, while we proactively work with the young person to address any issues they may be contributing to in the home including substance misuse or aggression. The direct benefits which flow from this purpose include strengthening families, thereby providing the young people we work with a positive support structure in the home to positively reinforce the development work we are engaged in with them inside the Centre. Further benefits include a more developed and cohesive network of service providers offering support, guidance and engagement for young people and their families. We also advance the education of adult learners lone parents, economically inactive and unemployed people through the provision of courses, support and opportunities. The benefits of our purposes are evidenced through the accredited achievements of our annual cohort of young people and our partnership working arrangements with statutory referral agencies such as schools, Education Welfare and the Local Education Authority Options Panel. It is also evidenced through ongoing nature of this partnership work and the organisation’s experience and success in re-engaging of at risk and often volatile young people and through the ongoing participation by our parents in the activities outlined above and in our yearly project evaluation and consultation process. Benefits are evidenced through the ongoing nature of Newstart’s partnership work with statutory and voluntary agencies, schools and community organisations. These agencies refer young people through to our services and in turn we are able to signpost them to specialist organisations if they are in need of a particular type of support. We engage in joint projects across Alternative Education Providers and local schools in building resilience through adventure learning, bringing innovative methods from the community level and into the mainstream. Adult learners benefit from a unique comprehensive suite of programmes incorporating Personal and Professional Development, Vocational Enhancement, Academic Accreditation which has been developed over a period of 20 years in response to the specific educational / training needs which fits the profile of our community at local level. It is envisaged that this comprehensive programme will not only ensure that our users gain meaningful employment, but will also have the added value of equipping them with the transferable skills to remain in sustainable employment for life. This benefits the community as a whole leading to authentic change and genuine long-term opportunity for sustainable employment, breaking the cycle of disadvantage, which is what led to unemployment and economic inactivity in the first place. A private benefit may arise from the development of a local volunteer base, supplemented with skills and training but also furthers our purpose of supplementing the Voluntary, and Community systems in their work. Since many of our volunteers are young people and/or placement students, developing their skills also promotes the benefit of young people. There is no harm flowing from the charities purposes.
... [more] [less]What your organisation does
Lower Falls Newstart Project is an Alternative Education Centre which takes a multi disciplinary and innovative approach to the formal and informal education of participants who, for a wide variety of reasons, found / find themselves outside the mainstream school system while providing access to support services for them and their families. The
team at Newstart promotes (re)engagement in education and training to realise potential and improve life opportunities and choices. We provide an innovative approach to the education of young people and a holistic, wraparound support service for them and their families. The multidisciplinary team at Newstart works at enabling young people to re-engage with education, to become independent and to re integrate into the communities in which they live. It deals with issues such as drug and alcohol misuse, mental health difficulties, behavioural challenges, violence in the home. We take referrals from all the statutory organisations, including the Youth Justice Agency, and we operate 6 days a week. Sessions are provided to cater for different aptitudes, abilities, one-to-one and education packages tailored to meet the needs of the individual. We also provide a range of courses, support and opportunities for adult learners, lone parents, economically inactive and unemployed people. Newstart is also involved in facilitating seminars, research, lobbying and campaigning. We view learning as life long and mentor the young people and adult learners to reassess their position within their community and wider society. Our Mission statement is “Realising Potential” and our primary aim is to address the needs of our service users by adopting a holistic approach.
... [more] [less]The charity’s classifications
- The advancement of education
- The relief of those in need by reason of youth, age, ill-health, disability, financial hardship or other disadvantage
Who the charity helps
- Adult training
- Parents
- Unemployed/low income
- Volunteers
- Youth (14-25 year olds)
How the charity works
- Advice/advocacy/information
- Education/training
- Youth development
