ACUSA

Public benefits

Purpose 1 What are the benefits that flow from the purpose? - Young people will have the opportunity to engage in sports and leisure activity which will benefit their all round health and well being and social confidence - Young people who are currently participating in a broad range of urban sports using illegal venues will no longer be at risk

of coming to the attention of various authorities such as the police and the criminal justice - Improved community relations and less community strive and tension - Promote interest in and the value of community volunteering, enhancing the skills base and availability of volunteers in the Ballymena area to underpin and support ‘Not for Profit’ organisations. How are these benefits capable of being demonstrated? ACUSA’s capacity to do so is currently limited by the fact that the proposed centre has not yet been built and as such the targeted patrons are not engaged. However there are some benefits that can be currently stated: - The volunteers who have engaged in various activities that have helped with the fundraising appeal - The project is modelled on the very successful Hemel Hempstead XC project in England which has been up and running successfully for over 2 years. Who are the intended beneficiaries? - Young people of all ages - Single parents - Schools - Communities - Statutory and voluntary support agencies. Purpose 2 What are the benefits that flow from the purpose? - Young marginalised people feel empowered by a sense of self worth and value - By utilising peers from a similar background with similar interests, hobbies and experiences we are able to effectively engage with young people on the margins who historically have proven extremely difficult to engage - Less money needs to be spent on statutory provision that deals with the physical manifestations of youth exclusion and marginalisation, - Urban sports are given more profile - The concept of volunteering and volunteer input is enhanced and given street credibility through the example being set by young ACUSA volunteers. How are these benefits capable of being demonstrated? - The volunteers who have signed up and are already supporting the fundraising drive - The personal development that these young people have gained via their participation in ACUSA - ACUSA will appoint an appropriate independent evaluator to benchmark and carry out longitudinal research which will enable the measurement of ‘distance travelled’ by all stakeholder groups and individuals - ACUSA will have agreed, transparent and measurable outputs and outcomes. Who are the intended beneficiaries? - Young people from across County Antrim and further afield - Communities from which these young people come - Families and those with parental responsibilities - Statutory and other providers - ACUSA volunteers. Is there any harm or potential for harm as a result of the purposes being carried out? There is potential for harm where volunteers are engaging with ‘troubled’ young people. However ACUSA will take every step possible to marginalise the potential for this to happen by - All volunteers reporting their whereabouts to a shift manager - All volunteers having mobile phones - Wherever a risk assessment identifies the need volunteers working in pairs - Wherever possible holding meetings in public places during daylight hours. All required policies and procedures will be in place and will apply equally to all aspects of ACUSA’s work. Does anyone gain a private benefit as a result of the purposes being carried out? There will be private gain in that a number of staff will be employed by ACUSA on both an f/t and p/t basis and there will be opportunities for self employments as trainers, mentors and coaches. Offering these services will help the ACUSA centre to generate more income which in turn will benefit the charitable objectives of the organisation.

What your organisation does

We work to get skateparks built in Northern Ireland and to promote active lifestyles and welfare through urban sports. We also seek to build the capacity of marginalised young people in order that they can play an active part in the strategic and operational management of all aspects of the project.