Positive Futures, part of the Trent Bridge Community Trust’s headline scheme, has already directly benefited just shy of 300 young people during it’s first two years in Hawtonville, Newark.
Working in partnership with Nottinghamshire County Council and the area’s local schools, 2,000 extra curricular hours have been donated to educating young people at their time of need.
Speaking at the end of year celebration event to mark the achievements of its young people – and hand out the coveted blue hoodies - Positive Futures Co-ordinator Mandy Wright highlighted the successes of the first 24 months of the project.
“We have engaged with over 271 young people aged between 8 and 16 years, 57% boys and 43% girls,” said Wright.
“We have provided over 40 separate activity sessions, including 1 to 1 Mentoring, 1 to 1 Educational Support and of course what the young people enjoy most, the activities.
“We have delivered 933 sessions which equates to over 2000 contact hours.
“We have invested in supporting young volunteers, who have between them given back over 1000 hours to positive Futures.
“They have achieved qualifications in Sports Leadership, First Aid and Sports Volunteering.
“We have taken 24 young people on residential trips which, for some, were their first experience of being away from home and their only holiday for the year.
“Our philosophy for the project is allow young people to experience new things, things they may not get the chance to do, so we have provided trips outside of Newark ranging from nature reserve exploration to wake boarding at Holme Pierrepont.
“These are experiences which will have created memories that will stay with them for years to come.
“We don’t, of course, achieve all of this on thin air. We apply for funding and we work with partners to draw down money to support our work.
“We have successfully brought in over £47,000 to support the project and helped Newark & Sherwood District Council bring in an additional £80,000 to support work with young people and families in Newark.”
“The work that Mandy and her team are doing in and around the Hawtonville estate is making a real and tangible difference to the lives of our young people and their families,” Head of Community Sport Tracey Francis added.
“I think the best way to describe it is, when a parent was asked for her daughter to be referred to our project she thought, ‘oh no, not another mundane programme, they never work.’
“However, the story of her little girl was truly inspirational.
“She is now working well in school and has received additional one-to-one support from our resident teacher.
“She has engaged with all our activities, is settled and is a happy and vibrant member of the project.
“In the words of this parent ‘positive futures are now part of our family, we are very grateful, and - as it says in the name - you give them ‘a positive future.’
“In my opinion comments like that are what success really looks like.”
For more information on Positive Futures, visit the Trent Bridge Community Trust site here.